Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham

The Viscount Cobham
Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham depicted byJean-Baptiste van Loo,c. 1740
Born	(1675-10-24)24 October 1675 Parchim,Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Died	14 September 1749(1749-09-14)(aged 73) Stowe House
Buried	Stowe
Allegiance	Kingdom of England(1685–1707) Kingdom of Great Britain(1707–1749)
Service/branch	English Army British Army
Years of service	1685–1749
Rank	Field Marshal
Battles/wars	Williamite War in Ireland Nine Years' War War of the Spanish Succession War of the Quadruple Alliance

Arms of Temple of Stowe:Or, an eagle displayed sable

Richard Temple, 1st Viscount CobhamPC(24 October 1675 – 14 September 1749) was a British soldier andWhigpolitician. After serving as a junior officer underWilliam IIIduring theWilliamite War in Irelandand during theNine Years' War,he fought underJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough,during theWar of the Spanish Succession.During theWar of the Quadruple AllianceTemple led a force of 4,000 troops on a raid on the Spanish coastline which capturedVigoandoccupied it for ten daysbefore withdrawing. In Parliament he generally supported the Whigs but fell out withSir Robert Walpolein 1733. He was known for his ownership of and modifications to the estate atStoweand for serving as a political mentor to the youngWilliam Pitt.

Military career

Born the son ofSir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet,and his wife Mary Temple (née Knapp, daughter of Thomas Knapp), Temple was educated atEton CollegeandChrist's College, Cambridge,and wascommissionedas anensigninPrince George of Denmark's Regimenton 30 June 1685.After becoming acaptaininBabington's Regimentin 1689, he fought underWilliam IIIduring theWilliamite War in Irelandagainst theJacobiteIrish ArmyofJames II.He was present at theSiege of Namurin July 1695 during theNine Years' War.

The Park at Stowe, part of the Temple estate

Temple succeeded his father as 4th Baronet in May 1697 and asWhigmember of parliamentforBuckinghamlater that year: he continued to represent either Buckingham orBuckinghamshirefor the next 16 years.Promoted tolieutenant colonelon 10 February 1702, he was given his own regiment to command.He fought underJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlboroughat the Battle of Venlo in September 1702 and at the Battle of Roermond in October 1702 during theWar of the Spanish Succession.He also took part in theBattle of Oudenardein July 1708 and theSiege of Lillein Autumn 1708.

For his good conduct at Lille he was sent home to present the despatches toQueen Anne.In Parliament he supported the Whigs and voted for theForeign Protestants Naturalization Act 1708which allowed Protestants fleeing from the continent to enter Great Britain.Promoted tomajor-generalon 1 January 1709, he fought again at theBattle of Malplaquetin September 1709 and was promoted tolieutenant generalon 1 January 1710.In Parliament, in accordance with Whig party policy, he voted for the impeachment ofHenry Sacheverell,a clergyman who had criticised the party, in March 1710.

In recognition of his service in the field, Temple was appointed colonel of thePrincess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Dragoonsin April 1710.From 1711, he made dramatic changes to his family estate at Stowe; the work was carried out under the guidance ofJohn Vanbrugh,a skilledarchitect,and the future royal gardener,Charles Bridgeman.

In 1713, theHarley Ministrystripped Temple of his colonelcy for voting against theTreaty of Utrecht.However, afterGeorge Iascended the throne following theHanoverian Succession,Temple became ambassador toViennaand was createdBaron Cobhamin October 1714.He became colonel ofThe Royal Regiment of Dragoonsin 1715 andConstable of Windsor Castlein 1716.He was made a Privy Councillor in July 1716and createdViscount Cobhamin April 1718.

William Pitt the Elder

Temple was a mentor and Patron to a number of young Whigs, the most notable beingWilliam Pitt.Collectively they became known asCobham's Cubs.Two of them, Pitt and Temple's nephewGeorge Grenvillewent on to be prime minister. In September 1719, during theWar of the Quadruple Alliance,Temple led a force of 4,000 troops on a raid on the Spanish coastline which capturedVigoandoccupied it for ten daysbefore withdrawing.

Temple generally supported the government ofSir Robert Walpoleonce it came to power in April 1721 and was rewarded with the colonelcy of theKing's Own Regiment of Horselater that year.He becameGovernor of Jerseyin May 1723andLord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshirein March 1728.

Later life

Temple fell out withPrime MinisterRobert Walpole in 1733 and formed a faction in the Whig Party to oppose theExcise Billwhich resulted in his being stripped of his colonelcy again.He was promoted to fullgeneralon 27 October 1735.

Temple provided patronage to the rising star of the Whig Party,William Pitt,securing him acornet's commission in his regiment. The group of Temple's young supporters were known asCobham's Cubsand includedRichard Grenville,George GrenvilleandGeorge Lyttelton,as well as Pitt. After Walpole's fall as prime minister in 1742, they turned their attacks on his replacement – a government led byLord WilmingtonandLord Carteret.

Temple's signature and seal on a marriage settlement of 1734

Promoted tofield marshalon 10 July 1742,Temple became colonel of the1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guardsthat same day,colonel ofViscount Cobham's Regiment of Horsein 1744 and colonel ofViscount Cobham's Regiment of Dragoonsin June 1745.He died at Stowe on 13 September 1749 and was buried there.

Family

In September 1715 Temple married Anne Halsey, daughter ofEdmund Halseywho had owned theAnchor Brewery:her inheritance allowed Temple to maintain the Stowe estate; they had no surviving children.(Their daughter, Elizabeth, was born on 1 September 1738, and baptised at St James' Church, Westminster, on 28 September. She died shortly before her 4th birthday and was buried on the family estate on 16 July 1742). Cobham came to an agreement with his heirs, distant cousins on whom the estate would have been entailed, on order to favour the family of his sisterHester Grenville.Hester's eldest son would take the name Grenville-Temple and eventually inherit the title2nd Viscount Cobhamand the estates ofWottonandStowe.

Legacy

Temple was admired byAlexander Pope,and Temple's gardens were praised by Pope in hisEpistle to Burlingtonas a wonder. Pope wrote a "moral epistle" to Temple in 1733 and published it in the same year asAn Epistle to the Right Honourable Richard Lord Visct. Cobham.Pope praises Temple as a practical man of the world whose "ruling passion" was service to his country, whatever the cost.Basil Williamssaid Temple "had all the coarse, roystering bluffness of the hardened old campaigners of that time".

Sources

• Heathcote, Tony (1999).The British Field Marshals 1736–1997.Pen & Sword Books Ltd.ISBN0-85052-696-5.
• Hoppit, Julian(2000).A Land of Liberty? England 1689–1727.Oxford: Clarendon Press.ISBN978-0198228424.
• Rodger, N. A. M. (2006).Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815.Penguin Books.
• Williams, Basil (1914).The Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham.London: Longmans, Green, and Co.

Further reading

• Beckett, J. V. (1994).The Rise and Fall of the Grenvilles: Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos, 1710 to 1921.Manchester University Press.
• Bevington, Michael (2002).Stowe: The Garden and the Park.Paul Holberton.
• Gerrard, Christine (1994).The Patriot Opposition to Walpole: Politics, Poetry, and National Myth, 1725–1742.Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Temple, Albert R. (1976).Lord Cobham: The Life of Sir Richard Temple, Viscount (1765–1749).The Temple Family Association.
• Wiggin, L. M. (1958).The Faction of Cousins: A Political Account of the Grenvilles, 1733–1763.Yale University Press.