Townson History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

Early Origins of the Townson family

The surname Townson was first found in Durham where they held a family seat from very ancient times, it is believed before the Norman Conquest in 1066.

Early History of the Townson family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Townson research. Another 50 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1473, 1496, 1575, 1608, 1620, 1621, 1650, 1656, 1661, 1676, 1736 and 1862 are included under the topic Early Townson History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Townson Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Tonson, Townson and others.

Early Notables of the Townson family

Notable amongst the family name during their early history was

Robert Townson, Tounson or Toulson (1575-1621), English divine, Bishop of Salisbury, son of 'Renold Toulnesonn,' and uncle of Thomas Fuller (1608-1661.) 1

Townson Ranking

In the United States, the name Townson is the 16,702^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Townson family to Ireland

Some of the Townson family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 58 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Townson migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Townson Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Townson, aged 26, who arrived in Virginia in 1634 aboard the ship "Bonaventure" coming via St. Domingo 3
Mrs. Thomazine Townson, aged 18, who arrived in Virginia in 1634 aboard the ship "Bonaventure" coming via St. Domingo 4

Townson Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Douglas Townson, who landed in America, in 1903
Edward Townson, aged 23, who settled in America from London, England, in 1908
Bertha Townson, aged 32, who landed in America, in 1913
George Cranford Townson, aged 41, who landed in America from West Kirby, England, in 1916
Elisabeth Townson, aged 27, who landed in America from London, England, in 1919
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Townson migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 5

Townson Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Mr. James Townson, (b. 1606), aged 29, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Peter Bonaventure" arriving in Barbados and St Christopher (Saint Kitts) in 1635 6

Contemporary Notables of the name Townson (post 1700) +

Ronald "Ron" Townson (1933-2001), American vocalist, original member of The 5th Dimension
Max A. Townson, American politician, Mayor of Cullman, Alabama, 2008- 7
Kenneth C. Townson, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from New York, 1928 7
Jeremiah P. Townson, American Republican politician, Candidate for Connecticut State House of Representatives from Enfield, 1902 7
Thomas Townson (1715-1792), English divine, born at Much Lees, Essex, Archdeacon of Richmond, the eldest son of John Townson, rector of that parish 8
Robert Townson (1792-1799), English traveller and mineralogist, probably a native of Yorkshire
Thomas Townson (1715-1792), English churchman and writer, archdeacon of Richmond
Hazel Townson (1928-2010), English children's-literature author of over fifty books
John Townson (b. 1835), English army officer and settler in the colony of New South Wales, Australia, 3rd Lieutenant-Governor of Norfolk Island
Kevin Townson (b. 1983), English professional footballer
... (Another 2 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Pilgrim Ship's of 1600's Retrieved January 6th 2023, retrieved from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's. Retrieved 23rd September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 26) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 30 Jan. 2019