Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend
(1675-1738), Statesman and agriculturalistLater Stuart Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 6 portraits
Charles Townshend entered politics as a young man. Despite being a very poor speaker, he led a distinguished career as a statesman and diplomat. He retired in 1730 and spent his last years at Raynham, his house in Norfolk, where he devoted himself to agricultural experiments. He was responsible for a number of innovations including the introduction of large-scale turnip cultivation into England, for which he gained the nickname 'Turnip Townshend'. His second wife, Dorothy, was the sister of the Whig prime minister Robert Walpole.
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