Townsend, Richard (1821–84), mathematician, was born 3 April 1821 at Baltimore, Co. Cork, eldest son among six sons and two daughters of Thomas Townsend of Smithville, near Castletownsend, and his wife Helena, daughter of John Freke of Baltimore, deputy governor of Co. Cork during the rebellion of 1798 and agent and friend of Lord Carbery. Thomas Townsend had served in the Baltic as a commander in the Royal Navy. Richard went to school in Castletownsend and Skibbereen, Co. Cork, before entering TCD (1837), where he won many academic prizes before graduating in mathematics (BA 1842, MA 1852). His excellence in mathematics was recognised and he was elected fellow of TCD (1845) and later appointed college tutor (1847), becoming one of the most popular in the college. As was common for many Trinity academics at that time, he was ordained deacon in 1860. Two years later (1862) he was appointed assistant professor in natural philosophy, and then professor in 1870.
Geometry was one of the main branches of mathematics at the Trinity school of mathematicians during the nineteenth century, and Townsend continued that tradition. His most notable publication was the two-volume Chapters on the modern geometry of the point, line and circle (1863, 1865), a treatise on the history of pure geometry, and largely derived from his lectures in the college. He contributed many papers to the Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal and some to Hermathena and the Proceedings of the RIA. In 1866 he was elected FRS. A brilliant teacher, he had the ability to promote enthusiasm and interest in all students, and his work contributed to the reputation of Trinity as a centre for mathematical excellence at that time.
Described as ‘a splendid looking man’ (Athenaeum, ii (1884), 532), he was remembered as being particularly kind to students and generous to his friends. He married his mother's niece Mary Jane Barrett, but they had no children. She died before him in 1881. Suffering from a heart condition for some years he died at the age of 63 at his home, 54 Leeson St., on 16 October 1884 and was buried at Mount Jerome cemetery. There was a large cortège at his funeral, including hundreds of students. A mathematical prize was founded at TCD in his memory.