James or Jim Townsend may refer to: James Townsend (cricketer) (1790–1866), English cricketer 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 (psychologist) (born 1939), mathematical psychologist Jim Townsend (footballer) (born 1945), Scottish footballer (Heart of Midlothian FC) Jim Townsend (Irish politician) (born 1937), 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