John Townsend may refer to:
- John Townsend (author) (born 1956), American psychologist and author
- John Townsend (basketball) (1916–2001), American basketball player
- John Townsend (British politician) (1819–1892), British politician and member of Parliament for Greenwich
- John Townsend (MP for Warwick), English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1597 to 1614
- John Townsend (footballer) (born 1943), Australian rules footballer
- John Townsend (Irish politician) (1737–1810), Irish MP for Dingle, Doneraile and Castlemartyr
- John Townsend (Mayor) (1783–1854), 37th mayor of Albany, NY
- John Townsend (New York City) (1789–1863), New York politician
- John Townsend (Norwich) (1608–1668), early settler of the American colonies
- John Townsend (Wisconsin politician) (born 1938), Wisconsin politician
- John G. Townsend, Jr. (1871–1964), American businessman and politician, governor and senator from Delaware
- John Kirk Townsend (1809–1851), American naturalist
- John P. Townsend (1832–1898), American financier
- John Rowe Townsend (born 1922), British children's author
- John Sealy Townsend (1868–1957), Irish physicist
- John Selby Townsend (1824–1892), American Democrat legislator and jurist from Iowa
Famous quotes containing the word townsend:
“When other helpers fail and comforts flee, when the senses decay and the mind moves in a narrower and narrower circle, when the grasshopper is a burden and the postman brings no letters, and even the Royal Family is no longer quite what it was, an obituary column stands fast.”
—Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893–1978)