James Townsend

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