• Name: Townsend, Francis
• Gender: Male
• Birth Date:
• Death Date: 25  March  1819
• Occupation: journalist

On 25 March 1819 Godwin records Townsend's death as 'Townsend, W Herald, dies'. Francis Townsend was the editor of the Windsor Herald (see The Times, 27 March 1819). Townsend was a member of his Majesty’s College of Arms and helped Godwin obtain a copy of a document referred to in ‘the Life of Chaucer prefixed to Urry’s edition of his works,’ a document which according to Godwin would question the received date for Chaucer’s birth: ‘a roll in a cause of chivalry between [sir Richard le] Scrope and [sir Richard] Grosvenour, 10 R. 2. communicated to Mr. Urry by John Anstis Esq; Garter Principal King at Arms’ (Urry, qtd. in Godwin’s Life of Chaucer xix-xx).

In the 1796 list, Townsend is listed as 'Townsend Herd' The ‘d’ is in superscript, indicating ‘Townsend Herald’. The liost indicates that Godwin meets Townsend in 1802. No earlier references (other than to the 1796 list) have been coded. Contact begins with three visits in 1802 (all linked to Philips(publisher and editor of the Monthly Magazine)), seven in January 1803, and a further five that year, including visits with him to the Herald's College, the Records Office and the Tower. In 1808, during a trip to Slough, Godwin calls on Townsend. The 1809 meetings are bunched between 20-24 December, suggesting a visit to London. Although it is possible that other Townsends are involved it is equally possible that the references are consistently to Francis Townsend and we have coded them as such.

A Francis Townsend is Dragon Rouge at the College of Arms (or Herald's College) from 1820-1833. This is the son of Francis Townsend, publisher of the Windsor Herald, and may account for the entires for Townsend junr and the Townsend listed in 1827. Gentleman's Magazine (1866) vol. 221, p. 836 These have not been coded.

This code has not been used for other Townsend entries in the diary.
S J Townsend 14 July 1788
Townsend Serjt 6 September 18
08 Townsend Junr 13 January 1816
Townsend 20 August 1827
It is possible that the 1816 entry is a reference to Francis Townsend's son, and that he 'graduates' to Townsend after his father's death. But these have been left uncoded.

• The Times, 27 March 1819.
• Gentleman's Magazine (1866) vol. 221, p. 836.
• William Godwin, Life of Chaucer 1804 edition, volume 1, xix-xx

This table lists the people this person is most frequently noted with in the diary.