The Temple Memoirs
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THE TEMPLE MEMOIRS eAn account of this Historic Family and its Demesnes; with 'Biographical Sletches, Anecdotes ~ Legends from Saxon Times to the present day; including a frontispiece in colours, thirty-four plates ~ two sheet pedigrees. By CoLONELJOHN ALEXANDER TEMPLE, vfuthor of ''Annals of Two extinct Families," ''Woo/ stone, a Cotswold Hamlet," assisted 6y HARALD MARKHAM TEMPLE H. F. ~ G. WITHERBY 3 2 6 High Hol/Jorn, London, 117. C. I 1925 Printed i11 Great Britain THE TEMPLE MEMOIRS QCARTERINGS OF SIR \\"ILLL\:\l TE.'.\IPLE, 5n1 B.\RO~ET, 1749-1760. 1 TEMPLE 10 WARSTE.\D 19 SCOC.\THE 2 GEDNEY. 11 S>.IITH 20 WAKESTED 3 WALKINGHAM 12 LEE 21 ARDERBOt:GIIE 4 EVERTOS 13 WILCOTTES 22 P.\RSC.\LL 5 SPE:SCER OF EVERTO:S 14 MOLLISS 23 BERWJCKE 6 SPENCER 15 HALL 24 SIJERSH.\LL 7 LEDESPEXCER 16 GREESE 25 PR.\TTEI.L 8 DEVERELL 17 GLANVILLE 9 LINCOLN 18 LYONS PREFACE Ta1s little History has been compiled in the belief that the time has now come to put on record a connected account of the fortunes and experiences of this ancient family, as it does not seem to have been hitherto attempted in detail by any writer. Its history is so intimately and closely bound up with that of England, politically and generally, during the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, that it is impossible to study the one without becoming acquainted and interested in the other, and now that the break up of their seats at Stowe and The Nash is, unfortunately, more or less complete, it seems a pity that no effort should be made to rescue from oblivion the many noteworthy facts and varied experiences of the distinguished men who have contributed to its history from time to time during past centuries, and to give details of the numerous estates, mansions, heirlooms, literary and artistic possessions that were acquired by them, and have, during the past two years, been scattered and dispersed under the hammer of the auctioneer. All the famous writings of those centuries teem with allusions to, and descriptions of, the doings and happenings of the Temples, but these have as yet never been collected and put together in a readable form. This is what tlie authors have now tried to do, and they hope that their efforts may go some way to provide those of the public who are interested in the traditions and curiosities of family history with an account, to some extent imperfect, of one of the most notable lineages that have :flourished in England in the past. JOHN ALEXANDER TEMPLE HARALD MARKHAM: TEMPLR November, 1924. 5 INTRODUCTION TH1s work does not claim to give an exhaustive account of all the infinite ramifications of this ancient family : to do that would be an almost impossible task. Fuller, in his " Worthies of England," writes that Dame Hester Sandys, the widow of Sir Thomas Temple, the first Baronet, who died in 1656, aged eighty-five, leaving five sons and nine daughters, twelve of whom married and had issue, lived to see over seven hundred of her descendants at the time· of her death; and though this may be, and probably is, a fairy tale, yet the enormous number of her immediate descendants was a notorious fact at that time. It has, therefore, seemed advisable to describe only the more prominent of the descents, adding short notices of the most notable and distinguished members and their alliances. The independent observer, who studies the history of this family, cannot fail to notice the unusual number of heiresses that have married into it during the past four hundred years. During that period the rule of primogeniture has been strictly adhered to, and the chief estates and dwelling places have all passed to the elder male of the race, yet most of the younger sons also are recorded as possessing lands of considerable value, seldom, if ever, acquired by their own exertions in commerce or other ways, but always through rich marriages. The Heralds' College have the records of over seven hundred quarterings that have come into the family, nearly all of them those of heiresses who have borne their own arms on shields of pretence on those of their husbands. The magnificent Gothic library (still existing at Stowe) bears in the centre of its vaulted ceiling a huge circular shield containing seven hundred and nineteen quarterings pertaining to the Temple, Grenville, Nugent and Chan dos families, all in Heraldic tinctures. The frontispiece of this work gives twenty-five of these quarterings to which Sir William Temple, the fifth Baronet, was certified by the 6 INTRODUCTION 7 Heralds' College to be entitled. Many more could no doubt have been discovered, bad it been worth while to have made a prolonged search among the College records. The information contained in this work has been gathered from Public Records and Wills : from original documents and books collected by the fifth, sixth and seventh Baronets of The Nash, and afterwards sorted and arranged, with many additions by John Temple of The Nash, their descendant and representative (my grandfather), whose methodical habits and keen interest in family history greatly facilitated my task. Also, above all, I am indebted to the late Mr. Temple Prime, an American, who, with infinite care and labour, searched all available public records bearing on the family, and embodied his discoveries in four lengthy pamphlets and an Appendix of Wills, privately printed between the years 1887 and 1900. These works were presented to me by his sister, Miss Cornelia Pr.ime of Huntington, New York, in 1905, and copies can be seen in the British Museum. Mr. H. Markham Temple (my nephew) of the Manor House, Buckingham, has also during the past twenty-five years collected a great number of books, family papers and engravings, including lately many pictures, books, manuscripts and documents purchased by him at the final break up and sales at Stowe in 1921, and at The Nash in 1922, to which I have had access. My own collections during a long life have been considerable. Sir Richard Carnac Temple of The Nash (second Baronet of the second creation in 1876) wrote in 1898 some valuable memoranda on the pedigrees of families bearing the name of Temple : these have been of great assistance in compiling this work. Care has been taken as far as possible to record only authentic information, which can be verified by authoritative books and docu ments, public and private. Some legends and traditions that have accumulated in family records have been noticed, but not treated as history. The work has been divided into five parts : Pari I. The family descents from Saxon times till the death (in 17 49) of Lord Cobham, the fourth and last of the Baronets who occupied Stowe. 8 INTRODUCTION Part II. The Temples of The Nash, fifth, sixth, seventh Baronets from 17 49, with their descendants to present day. Part III. The Grenville Temples and their descendants, Earls Temple, Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos, etc., to present day. Part IV. Some account of the estates and houses occupied by different members of the family. Part V. Shields of arms as borne by different Temples. Appendix-Containing details of the claim of the Chandos family and their descendants to a Royal descent from King Henry VII. JOHN ALBX:ANDER TEKPLB CONTENTS PART I FAMILY DESCENTS FROM SAXON TIHES TILL 1749 CHAPTER I PAGJI Problematical claim of the Temples to a descent from the Saxon Earls of Mercia-Macaulay's summary of the status of · the family Account of Leofric and Godiva-Origin of the name of Temple- The claim discussed with quotations from the authorities on the subject-Description of the monastery built by Leofric and Godiva -Origin of the legend of Godiva's '' ride ''-Hereward '' the Wake " and the claim of other families to a descent from Leofric . 21 CHAPTER II Henry, otherwise Edwine del Temple and his descendants-Joan de Shepey a~ Shepey Magna-Tomb of Nicholas Temple in the church of that place, and window portrait of " Ricardus de Temple " -A later successor, Peter Temple of Temple Hall-His career in the Parliamentary Forces during the Rebellion and death in the Tower as a Regicide-Sir William Temple's advice to his son about his proposed purchase of Temple Hall-Description of that house Robert Temple and his son Thomas of Witney, the ancestor of all the future Temples of eminence-Alice Heritage of Burton Dassett -The family of Witney and its end-Peter Temple of Burton Dassett and Stowe-Grant to him of messuages in Buckingham (1554)-His death and burial-His sons John and Anthony . 29 CHAPTER III Sir William Temple, son of Anthony-His career in Ireland-Knighted in 1622-Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, and Master in Chancery -His death-His sons John and Rev. Thomas-The latter's career as an "Adventurer" in Ireland-His death and issue-His son Robert's heiress married Gustavus Handcock and inherits the Irish property-Their descendants assume the name and arms of Temple and are eventually merged in the family of Lord Harris of Seringapatam-Description of their arms-Sir William Temple's son John-Knighted in 1633-His career in Ireland-Sits for Chichester in the English Parliament-Expelled by Cromwell and 9 IO CON'l'ENTS PAGE: returns to Ireland as Master of the Rolls-His marriage and death Publishes a History of the Irish Rebellion-His sons William, John and Henry and daughter Martha-Her marriage and widow hood-The second son, John, ·knighted in 1663-Solicitor and Attorney-General in Ireland-Compliment paid him by Archbishop Sheldon-His marriage and issue-His son Henry, wh~e son was created Viscount Palmerston-Account of the second Viscount and notice of his career by Horace Wal pole and Johnson-His marriage and death-Account of his son Henry John, third Viscount-His wonderful rareer as an English statesman-Personal peculiarities and great popularity in England under the nickname of " Pam " - His marriage and death without issue-Second son of Sir John, Attorney-Genera}_:.His marriage-Daughters of Sir John: Dorothy married Sir Basil Dixwe11, whose relation was a Regicide; Jane Martha married (1) Lord Berkeley, (2) Earl of Portland; Frances married another Lord Berkeley .