Thomas Scott Townsend (27 April 181226 August 1869) was one of the most eminent land surveyors of Australia's early colonial period. Focused on the south-eastern region of the continent, Townsend was responsible for producing surveys of many areas, including the original set-out details for many towns in New South Wales, including Albury and Wagga Wagga.
He also produced the first detailed survey of the Australian Alps, and was the first European colonist to actually stand atop Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mountain. Australia's second highest mountain, Mount Townsend, was named after him.
Thomas Scott Townsend was born on 27 April 1812 in the English county of Buckinghamshire on April 27, 1812 as the youngest of 11 children to Ann and William Townsend. They lived in this pastoral district to the north-west of London where William was a small landholder. After leaving schooling around the age of 15, Townsend is believed to have worked for his elder brother Joseph's surveying business and acquired there his foundational surveying skills.
It is likely that he left England for the Australian colony of New South Wales in March 1829 when 16 years old, sailing as a seaman's apprentice on the convict transport ship Waterloo.
Townsend obtained his initial surveying employment in the colony of New South Wales in April 1831 in the role of draftsman for the Surveyor General's Department. In 1836 he was promoted to the position of Assistant Surveyor, and in September 1839 was made Acting Surveyor-in-Charge of the Port Phillip District (later to become the Colony of Victoria).
Townsend produced prodigious survey data for the early Victorian and New South Wales colonial administrations, including the original set-out details for the nacent towns of Albury, Cooma, Eden, Wagga and Yass, among others.
He was responsible for producing the first detailed survey of the Australian Alps (Snowy Mountains), and was the first European colonist to actually stand atop Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mountain.
In August 1845 Townsend relocated from Port Phillip to Sydney, where he was promoted to the senior position of Surveyor. His final position within the Colonial Administration was Acting Deputy Surveyor General, which he was appointed to in December 1853.
Beginning in early 1854, Townsend showed signs of a developing mental illness which was to lead to him requesting extended leave from his surveying duties. He officially retired his Government position in early 1857 due to ill health, and soon after returned to England. There he lived in seclusion for a number of years, greatly afflicted by paranoia, before dying by suicide in London on 26 August 1869.
Australia's second highest mountain, summit elevation , was given the name "Mount Townsend" in 1885 by the Austrian alpinist Robert von Lendenfeld.