In 1931, he married Hazel Florence Greenwood and they later moved back to Hobart where he formed a partnership with his brother, Rex, that eventually owned three pharmacies.

He returned to Australia and commanded the 35 ton patrol boat HMAS Steady Hour, which assisted in destroying a Japanese midget submarine during the attack on Sydney Harbour in June 1942.

[1] Townley was opposed to Ben Chifley's bank nationalisation and won the Australian House of Representatives seat of Denison in the 1949 election for the Liberal Party of Australia.

Robert Menzies valued his opinion and appointed him to a series of portfolios, starting with Social Services in May 1951, although Paul Hasluck considered Townley a "teacher's pet" and claimed that he had only "slight" administrative abilities.

Townley left the ministry after the 1963 election, and on 17 December it was announced that he would succeed Howard Beale as Australian Ambassador to the United States.