Horatio Townsend (623)
| Date of Birth: | 31 Aug 1802 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | dunm 15 Jun 1864 |
| Generation: | 6th |
| Residence: | Dublin |
| Father: | Horatio (Horace) Townsend [607] |
| Mother: | Elizabeth Trelawney Townsend [410] |
| Spouse: | Unmarried |
| Issue: | None |
| See Also: | Table VI ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Horatio Townsend
Horatio was born in Curzon Street, London and his birth is registered at St George's, Hanover Square (1).
Alumni Trinity College Dublin from Co Cork and Kerry 1593-1860 in Dr Casey's Collection records that Horatio entered Trinity College, Dublin, on 6 November 1820 aged 17 as a pensioner who paid a fixed sum annually for his studies. The TCD Graduation List records that he qualified BA in Spring 1824. Richard Townsend [517] and Horatio Townsend [5D02] were undergraduates at Trinity at the same time.
'The Register of Admissions to Grays Inn 1521-1889' records that "Horace Townsend, A.B., Trinity College, Dublin, aged 32, second son of Horace T., late of Bridgemount, co. Cork, Esq., deceased" was admitted on 14 January 1834. He is shown in 'Belfast Street Directory 1843' (Dublin entries) as 'Townsend, Horatio, 26 Molesworth Street, Dublin. Once qualified Horatio practiced in Dublin (2) and was a great authority on the works of GF Handel. He published a small book in 1852 entitled ‘Handel’s Visit to Dublin’ - it takes a little time to download
Correspondence (3) between Isabella Townsend [5D08], Horatio's brothers John Townsend [622] and Aubrey Townsend [621] and Horatio's cousin Edward Hume Townsend [626] show him to be a difficult and troubled man who shunned the company of his close relations. This same correspondence also refers to Horatio's very close friendship with John Sealy Townsend [333] (4) and Samuel Philip Townsend [6A03]. In April 1854 Isabella wrote to John (622) about "H's distorted but inebriated imagination" and how "he had been deceived of himself and of others by the indulgence of morbid fantasies".
Starting in March 1855, following the death on 2 February that year of Horatio's mother, Elizabeth, the letters of Aubrey and Edward Hume suggest very strongly that Horatio, now the eldest surviving son, following the death of his brother Edward Townsend [620] in 1851, tried to change the terms of his mother's will "in a most devious and deceitful manner". In one letter Edward Hume wrote "H is a difficulty and we must proceed cautiously.....H will perhaps engage you in a long correspondence, that he will mingle official subjects with others and throw you off your guard and perhaps obtain from you admissions or assertions which might hereafter (in H's hands) seriously perplex us". Despite this, his close relatives were concerned for his wellbeing but every overture they made to Horatio was rejected.
Over the following years Horatio's health and disposition deteriorated and his affairs were entrusted to a Mr Hamilton in Dublin. In February 1864 Horatio's brother John visited him and managed to get him into the Pension Medicale (in Charlemount St?), Dublin, where he died of apoplexy, leaving debts of £300.
The announcement of Horatio Townsend's [623] death appeared in the Cork Constitution in June 1864. "On the 15th inst. in Charlemount Street, Dublin, of apoplexy, in the 62nd. year of his age, Horatio Townsend Esq. barrister-at-law, second son of the late Horatio Townsend Esq. formerly of Bridgemount, County of Cork".
Horatio's grandfather, Edward Synge Townsend [601], and his father, Horatio Townsend [607] married cousins and this might account in part for his strange behaviour.
(1) Horatio's maternal grandfather, Lieutenant General Samuel Townsend [403] was a churchwarden at St Georges for many years.
(2) The following were also barristers practicing in Dublin in this period: John Sealy Townsend [333], John FitzHenry Townshend [250], John Sealy Townsend [507] and Richard Townsend [513]. Horace Payne Townshend [5D12] qualified as a barrister but does not appeared to have practiced.
(3) Llanvapley Papers.
(4) The close relationship with John Sealy Townsend is understandable as he and Horatio were exact contemporaries and practiced law in Dublin.