Charles Townshend (28 August 1725 – 4 September 1767) was Chancellor of the Exchequer of Great Britain from 2 August 1766 to 4 September 1767, succeeding William Dowdeswell and preceding Frederick North.
Biography[]
Charles Townshend was born in Raynham Hall, Norfolk, England on 28 August 1725, the grandson of Charles "Turnip" Townshend. He had a strained relationship with his parents, but he graduated from Leiden University in the Netherlands in 1745 and represented Great Yarmouth in Parliament from 1747 to 1756 as a member of the Whigs. In 1756, he switched to the Saltash constituency, and he came to represent Harwich from 1761 onwards. In 1766, he became Chancellor of the Exchequer, taxing glass, paint, paper, and tea in the "Townshend Acts". He died suddenly in 1767 at the age of 42.