page_title: Robert Towns
hierarchical_section_title: Robert Towns
caption_attribution_description: English: Robert Towns (c. 1794 – 11 April 1873) was an Australian businessman, pastoralist, and founder of Townsville, Queensland. Towns also owned the plantation 'Townsvale’ at Veresdale, Queensland and built the first structures, a store and wharf, at Logan Village, Queensland.
context_page_description: Robert Towns was a British master mariner who settled in Australia where he became a businessman, sandalwood merchant, colonist, shipowner, pastoralist, politician, coolie and Kanaka slave trader, whaler and civic leader. He was the founder of Townsville, Queensland.
  After a career at sea as a master mariner based in Britain, Towns came to Australia in 1843 as the agent for London merchant Robert Brooks. He also became a merchant in his own right in Sydney with involvement in the sandalwood and pelagic whaling trades. He was an importer of sugar and tea, and an exporter of wool, whale oil, cotton and other commodities. He became a pastoralist and pioneered the cultivation of cotton in Queensland.
  The head office of Robert Towns & Company was in Sydney with branch offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Dunedin and Townsville. His far flung trading connections saw him do business with merchants in Mauritius, India, Ceylon, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, New Zealand, New Caledonia, China, the New Hebrides, California and Chile.
context_section_description: Robert Towns (10 November 1794 – 11 April 1873) was a British master mariner who settled in Australia where he became a businessman, sandalwood merchant, colonist, shipowner, pastoralist, politician, coolie and Kanaka slave trader, whaler and civic leader. He was the founder of Townsville, Queensland.
  After a career at sea as a master mariner based in Britain, Towns came to Australia in 1843 as the agent for London merchant Robert Brooks (MP). He also became a merchant in his own right in Sydney with involvement in the sandalwood and pelagic whaling trades. He was an importer of sugar and tea, and an exporter of wool, whale oil, cotton and other commodities. He became a pastoralist and pioneered the cultivation of cotton in Queensland.
  The head office of Robert Towns & Company was in Sydney with branch offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Dunedin and Townsville. His far flung trading connections saw him do business with merchants in Mauritius, India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), the Philippines, New Zealand, New Caledonia, China, the New Hebrides, California and Chile.
caption: Robert Towns, by unknown artist
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