Richard Wellington Townshend (April 30, 1840 – March 9, 1889) was a lawyer and U.S. Representative from Illinois.

Born near Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Townshend moved to Washington, D.C., in 1846.

He served as prosecuting attorney for the twelfth judicial circuit of Illinois 1868-1872.

Townshend said that the Jim Crow era South (controlled by his fellow Democrats) had "turned her face to the sun of freedom".

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress