Captain Samuel Irwin Townsend (409)
| Date of Birth: | 1766 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | 21 Oct 1849 |
| Generation: | 5th |
| Residence: | Skibbereen, Co Cork ? |
| Father: | Lieutenant General Samuel Townsend [403] |
| Mother: | Aikenhead, Elizabeth |
| Spouse: |
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| Issue: | |
| See Also: | Table IV ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Samuel Irwin Townsend
Married 1st 1796 in St. James Church, Piccadilly, London. Katherine Thomas (1) was the daughter of David Thomas of Wellfield, Brecknockshire. Married 2nd 1817.
Samuel was commissioned into the 1st Foot Guards on 14 July 1783. He was promoted Ensign on 22 September 1795 and Lieutenant on 28 August 1799 (London Gazette 15179). According to the A List of the Officers of the Army and of the Corps of Royal Marines, Samuel was placed on half pay on 16 July 1803.
The Australian marriage certificate for Samuel's son, Edward, shows that he was born in Skibbereen, Co Cork, and his father is shown as Samuel Irwin Townsend a “Captain in the Grenadier Guards”. Thus Samuel would appear to have returned to Ireland after he was placed on half pay. How long he remained there is unknown for when his first wife died in 1817 he was living in Upper Berkley Street, London. In 'An Officer of the Long Parliament' there is a handwritten note at the end of Chapter X that reads "1804 Westcarbery Infantry included 47 cavalry and 100 infantry under Samuel Townsend, Captain." This could apply to Samuel Irwin or to his cousin Samuel Townsend [405] who was much involved in quelling Whiteboy disturbances.
The Tithe Applotment Books in the National Archives of Ireland were compiled between 1823 and 1837 in order to determine the amount which occupiers of agricultural holdings over one acre should pay in tithes to the Church of Ireland. An entry in 1829 shows Samuel U(?) Townsend owning land at Skeem East (St Kames Island) with a tithe value of £1-15s-9d. This entry could refer to Samuel Townsend [412]. An 1833 entry for the Parish of Drinagh records tithes due as follows - John Townsend (Myross) £11-11s-1d, Samuel Townsend £5-7s-3d and Rev Wm Townsend £2--14s-11d. John Townsend refers to [507], Samuel T could also refer to [412] or [6A03] and Wm T refers to [6B02].
In a letter (2) to his mother dated 25 December 1849, Edward Townsend [620] who was stationed in Poona, India, at the time, mentioned that he had seen the announcement in a newspaper of the death of 'Uncle Sam' on 21 October at Walcot Place, London. This must refer to Samuel as the Gentleman's Magazine 1849 Volume 32 records that Samuel died in Lambeth aged 74 on 21 October 1849.
Samuel is not shown in Burke's Irish Family Records but is shown by Judge John FitzHenry Townsend [250] and in 'An Officer of the Long Parliament'.
(1) Katherine was born in 1774 and according to The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, Volume 87, Part 2, died aged 43 on 18 September 1817 in Upper Berkley Street, London.
(2) Llanvapley Papers.