At the age of 15, he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn, on 4 May 1515, in the 7th of Henry VIII. He went to study law at one of the four Inns of Court and became a barrister. [5][6]
On Dec 3rd of the 35th of King Henry VIII, he and his brother Gyles were granted lands, tenements, and advowson of the vicarage of at least two locations. They were Buckenham Priory Manor and St Faith's or Horsham Priory Manor. A week later they granted both to their eldest brother Sir Roger. [7][8]
In 1539 he and his father Sir Roger Townshend joined the Duke of Norfolk to attend the reception of the arrival of Anne of Cleves, the future Queen Consort of England. He was listed as a Sargeant at Law in 1540. In the 37th of King Henry VIII, he was elected autumn reader of the society of Lincolns Inn. [2][9]
Sir Robert along with his father fought at the Siege of Boulogne. They sailed to Calais and marched to the town of Boulogne where they laid siege to it in 1544. In that same year, upon returning from Boulogne he was, constituted the Chief Justice of Chester. He was appointed Chief Justice of the Marches and Wales. On the Trinity of that year, he was Knighted by the King at Hampton Court. He continued his role as the Chief Justice of Chester and Wales, throughout the reigns of King Edward VI and Queen Mary Tudor. [2][4][6][10][11][12]
He married Alice Poppy the daughter and sole heir of Lord Robert Poppy Esq of Twyford, Norfolk. [3][9] Robert Poppy was the Lord of Twyford and with Alice being his sole heir, Twyford was brought to Sir Robert through his marriage to Alice. [13] Sir Robert and Alice his wife had 12 children, 6 sons, and 6 daughters. [14]
His father Sir Roger died in 1551. His father bequeathed his "Chayne of Gold" to him, referring to him as his son Sir Robert Townshend Knt. [9][14]
At the time of Sir Robert's death he possessed the manor and rectory of Twyford and Gayst, and advowsons of the vicarages of the churches, the Manors of Swanton, Foxley, and Southwell in Norfolk, and the priory and house of St. Augustine in Ludlow, Salop. [14]
He died on the 8th of February 1556/7, in the 3rd and 4th of Queen Mary I, and King Philip. [2][3][6][9] He was buried in the high chancel of Ludlow Church, in a marble altar tomb. He is in full armor with Dame Alice his wife and their children are carved around the base of the tomb. An arch above it with a beautiful stained glass window. Beneath the window is the inscription: [14]
Memento Mori Respice Finam A. D. 1581
(around the coping of the top of the tomb)
Here lyeth the body of Sir Robert Towneshende, Knight, Chief Justice of the Councill in the Marches of Wales & Chester and Dame Alice, his wife, daughter and one of the heirs of Robert Poppy, Esq., who had between them 12 children, 6 sons, and 6 daughters lawfully begotten
Notes
In 1752 the calendar in England changed from old style to new style. Previous to 1752 the new year began on March 25th in 1752 it was changed and began January 1st. Dates prior to 1752 occurring between January 1st and March 25th will be recorded as dual years to reflect the change.
At least one source refers to Sir Robert as the third son of Sir Roger Townshend. Every other source refers to him as the second son.
The Townshend surname has undergone several and varied spellings. Some of the earliest spellings were Tounneyshende, Townenshende, Townshende, etc. In the 1500's they made the decision to drop the first and last 'e' in Towneshende and the 'h'. Soon after it was decided that spelling did not reflect the significance that they were land-holders or town-holders. Hend means to grasp or hold, hence Towns hend would be to hold the town. [15] It was at that point that they added the 'h' back to their surname. [14] Documents showing his surname spelled Townshend in legal documentation can be seen at the National Archives Manor house and a watermill conveyed to Robert Townshend 1542Robert Townshend Sergeant at law Manor of Flitcham 1543Robert Townshend Sergeant at law: Keeper of the Palace of the Bishop of Norwich. In another reference the Visitation of Norfolk record in 1563 names Robert Townshend and Alice Poppy the parents of Thomasine, wife of William Rugge. [16]
The Latin phrase on his monument "Memento Mori Respice Finam" means, remember that you will die consider the end.
Queen Mary of England married the King of Spain and King consort of England. Their reigns are usually reflected as dual regnal years due to the difference in their year of reign. An example their reign is usually referred to as the 3rd and the 4th of Mary I and Phillip, or the 2nd and the 3rd, etc.
↑ 2.02.12.22.3 Sir Egerton Brydges, K. J. 'Peerage of England; Genealogical, Biographical, and Historical; Greatly augmented, and continued to the present time', Vol. 2, Pg. 457. F. C. Rivington, 1812. books.google.co.uk Accessed 26 2020. Peerage of England; Genealogical, Biographical, and Historical
↑ 3.03.13.2 William Harvey , Norfolk & Norwich Archeological Society , College of Arms (Great Britain), George Henry Dashwood. 'The Visitation of Norfolk in the Year 1563', Vol 1, Pg 98. Printed by Miller and Leavins, 1878. archive.org Accessed 29 Oct 2020. The Visitation of Norfolk in the Year 1563
↑ 4.04.1 Townshend, Charles Hervey. The Townshend family of Lynn, in old and New England : genealogical and biographical. New Haven, Conn.: unknown, 1884. Pg 16. Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2004. Accessed 3 Nov 2020.
The Townshend's of Lynn Pg 15The Townshend's of Lynn Pg 16 (shared image free to view)
↑ The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn. 'Admissions Register VOL 1 1420-1799' Pg 36. Lincoln's Inn, Admissions, 1896. Admission Lincolns Inn Vol 1
↑ 6.06.16.2 Lincoln's Inn, "Volume 1 of The Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn 1420-1799: Admissions from A. D. 1420 to A. D. 1893, and Chapel Registers], Lincoln's Inn (London, England)," William Paley Baildon, editor (London, England: Lincoln's Inn, 1896; Digitized, Harvard University, 2005).
↑ Francis Blomefield. "Gallow and Brothercross Hundreds: Helloughton, or Helgheton," in An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 7, (London: W Miller, 1807), 102-105. British History Online, accessed November 3, 2020, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol7/pp102-105.
↑ 9.09.19.29.3 Townshend, Charles Hervey, 1833-1904. 'The Townshend Family', Pgs 3-4. FamilySearch International. familysearch.org. Accessed 28 Oct 2020. The Townshend Family
↑ Foss, Edward. 'The Judges of England', Vol. 5, Pg. 102/3. London Longman, 1864. archive.org Accessed 27 2020. The Judges of England
↑ Lawrence-Archer, J. H. (James Henry), 1823-1889. 'Memorials of families of the surname of Archer', Pg 19. London, J. R. Smith, 1861. archives.org Accessed 29 Oct 2020. Memorials of families of the surname of Archer
↑ Harvey, William, d. 1567. 'The Visitation of Norfolk in the year 1563' Vol. 2, Pg 21. Publisher Digital FamilySearch International. Accessed 2 Nov 2020. The Visitation of Norfolk in the year 1563
"Letters and Papers: November 1539, 21-25," in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 14 Part 2, August-December 1539, ed. James Gairdner and R H Brodie (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1895), 196-208. British History Online, accessed August 10, 2021, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol14/no2/pp196-208.
Wikipedia contributors, "Robert Townshend (judge)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Townshend_(judge)&oldid=836785435 (accessed November 3, 2020).From Wikipedia: The children and their marriages are enumerated in M. Townsend, Townsend-Townshend 1066–1909. The History, Genealogy and Alliances of the English and American House of Townsend, Revised edition (New York 1909), p.24.
I plan to start working on this profile soon. If anyone has any sources or information, I would appreciate your collaboration. I am planning to change his surname (lnab) to the correct spelling of his time, Townshend. If there are any objections to this change I would appreciate your input. A G2G question has been linked to this profile for discussion about the proposed change to correct the spelling of his lnab. The current spelling Townsend will be retained in the 'Other Name' field on this profile.
Townshend-276 and Townsend-136 appear to represent the same person because: These are clearly the same person: confusion in spelling failed to pick up the match.
Agreed Stephanie,It's pretty hard too pre-edit anything without a pre-1500 badge as well,and getting someone with the badge too pre-edit it may be challenging. Because then you will have too write every last detail as too why or why not?
Townsend-136 and Townshend-88 appear to represent the same person because: Please read the bios. Same parents, same wife, same info -- from different sources! Both say he started law school in 1515. Therefore he cannot have been born in 1512-- the one that says he was 30 years younger than the other is clearly wrong about his DOB. The person proposing the merge shouldn't have to pre-edit -- and risk being thought to have manipulated the result.
Thanks,
Laura
This profile has Project Protection but is not part of a project. The England Project would like to co-manage this profile with you.
Would you please add
to the trusted list, and then set the England Project as a manager. You can read more about the England Project's managed profiles here: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:England_Project_-_Project_Protected_Profiles.
Thanks
Jo Fitz-Henry England Project Managed Profiles Team coordinator
Our Townsend-136 links with this one as grandparental Lineages