James or Jim Townsend may refer to: James Townsend (New Zealand settler) (1790–1866), English cricketer, wine merchant and settler in New Zealand's South Island James Townsend (British politician) (1737–1787), Lord Mayor of London 1772 James Townsend (New York politician) (1729–1790), U.S. Congressman-elect from New York James Townsend (Oklahoma politician), member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives James Townsend (psychologist) (born 1939), mathematical psychologist Jim Townsend (footballer) (1945–2020), Scottish footballer (Heart of Midlothian FC) Jim Townsend (Irish politician) (1937–2021), member of the Irish Senate Jim Townsend (Michigan politician), member of the Michigan House of Representatives James William Emery Townsend (1838–1900), better known as Lying Jim Townsend, American storyteller James Townsend Saward (1798–?), English forger James Matthew Townsend (1841–1913), African Methodist Episcopal minister and state legislator from Indiana James G. Townsend, politician in New Mexico James Robert Townsend, American patent attorney