Kenneth Peter Townend (26 April 1921 - 16 July 2001) was a British genealogist and social editor.
As a child, he suffered from meningitis, which meant he had little formal education, but did attend King's School, Pontefract.
His mother "keenly followed the doings of the Royal Family and aristocracy", and her son was surrounded by society magazines from an early age.
[1][2] Townend served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War as a writer/ clerk, and afterwards joined Burke's Peerage under L. G. Pine as an archivist.
Townend reportedly asked Jennie Hallam-Peel to "keep the Season alive" prior to his death, leading to the revamping of the Queen Charlotte's Ball.