Lieutenant-Colonel H. Stuart Townend OBE MA (24 April 1909 – 26 October 2002) was a British military officer, athlete, headmaster, and politician.

Townend was the first headmaster to educate an heir to the British throne, having founded Hill House School in 1951.

[citation needed] In 1930 he won a gold medal at the British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, in the 4x440 yard relay.

He retired from the army in 1947 to become housing chairman of the London Olympics, organising the accommodation at short notice for the athletes and officials attending the event to be held the following year.

[citation needed] Townend championed a "stripped down to basics" approach to independent education that enabled him to keep his fees among the lowest in the country.