F. H. Townsend

Frederick Henry Townsend (1868–1920), also F. H. Townsend, was born on 25 February 1868 in London. He attended the Lambeth School of Art. Townsend lived in London and exhibited at the Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Society of Painters & Etchers, New English Art Club, New Gallery, and Fine Art Society, London. In 1915 he was elected to the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers. Townsend is best remembered for his satirical illustrations in The Illustrated London News, The Graphic, The Tatler, The Sphere, and Punch. In 1905 Townsend became the Art Editor for Punch. However, he was also a prolific and eclectic book illustrator. In addition to popular adventure fiction such as H. Rider Haggard and Sir Frederick Marryat, he also illustrated new editions of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1896) and Shirley (1897) Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1897), and Sir Walter Scott’s Rob Roy (1897). He joined the Special Constabulary during WWI and created several anti-German cartoons. He died on 11 December 1920 in London.

Further Reading

Houfe, Simon. “Frederick Henry Linton Jehne Townsend 1868-1920.” The Dictionary of British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists 1800-1914. Woodbridge, Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1981. 482. Print.

Townsend, F. H. "Punch" drawings. London: Cassell, 1921. Print.

Simkin, John. “Frederick Henry Townsend”. Spartacus Educational. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.

Waters, Grant M. “Townsend, Frederick Henry, A.R.E., (1868–1920).” Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900- 1950. Eastbourne: Eastbourne Fine Art, 1975. 331. Print.