 Townley was born in Hobart, Tasmania, and educated at Elizabeth Street State School and Hobart High School, and at Hobart Technical College.He qualified as a pharmaceutical chemist in 1928 and in 1930 found a job looking after quality control for a Sydney baker.In 1931, he married Hazel Florence Greenwood and they later moved back to Hobart where he formed a partnership with his brother, Rex, that eventually owned three pharmacies.