John Temple (1731 – 17 November 1798) was the first British consul-general to the United States and the first British diplomat to have been born in what later became the United States. He was sometimes known as (but not universally acknowledged to be) Sir John Temple, 8th Baronet.

Early life

John Temple was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 1731. His father, Robert Temple (1694–1754), was a captain in the British army, and his mother was Mehitabel Nelson (1691–1775) of Boston.

Career

In 1762, he was appointed lieutenant governor of the

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was an English colony and later a British province in New England. It corresponds to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was named after the Englis ...

and surveyor general of customs. Temple was politically aligned with the populist faction in Massachusetts politics, and strongly opposed to the domination of colonial rule by Thomas Hutchinson and the Oliver family. Temple may have played a role in the Hutchinson letters affair of 1773 that inflamed political tensions in Massachusetts and led to the recall of Hutchinson, who was then governor of the province. In 1785, he was appointed consul-general to the United States, and remained in this post in New York City until his death (succeeded by

Thomas Henry Barclay Thomas Henry Barclay (October 12, 1753 – April 21, 1830) was an American lawyer who became one of the United Empire Loyalists in Nova Scotia and served in the colony's government. Early life Thomas Henry Barclay came from a prominent New York ...

Baronetcy

Following the death of

Sir Richard Temple, 7th Baronet ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

in 1786, John Temple claimed the Temple Baronetcy of Stowe on the basis of a declaration by

George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham (17 June 1753 – 11 February 1813), known as George Grenville before 1779 and as The Earl Temple between 1779 and 1784, was a British statesman. Background and early life Grenville w ...

, but his claim is disputed. It is not recognised, for instance, by '' Cracroft's Peerage'', which considers the baronetcy to be dormant. However, his claim seems to have been generally recognised during his lifetime and his son's, for example by ''

Burke's Peerage Burke's Peerage Limited is a British genealogical publisher, considered an authority on the order of precedence of noble families and information on the lesser nobility of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1826, when the Anglo-Irish genea ...

''. His eldest son Grenville succeeded to his claim to the baronetcy.

Personal life

In 1767, he married Elizabeth Bowdoin (1750–1809), daughter of

James Bowdoin James Bowdoin II ( ; August 7, 1726 – November 6, 1790) was an American political and intellectual leader from Boston, Massachusetts, during the American Revolution and the following decade. He initially gained fame and influence as a wealth ...

, who later became

Governor of Massachusetts The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The governor is the chief executive, head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonw ...

. Together, they were the parents of: * Sir Grenville Temple, 9th Baronet (1768–1829), who married Elizabeth Watson. After his death, he was buried in the

English Cemetery, Florence The English Cemetery in Florence, Italy (Italian, ''Cimitero degli inglesi'', ''Cimitero Porta a' Pinti'' and ''Cimitero Protestante'') is an Evangelical cemetery located at Piazzale Donatello. Although its origins date to its foundation in 1827 ...

. * Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple (1769–1825), who married Thomas Lindall Winthrop (1760–1841), who later became the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. * Augusta Grenville Temple (1779–1852), who married William Lambe Palmer of England, a

British army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

captain with the

18th Light Dragoons The 18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first formed in 1759. It saw service for two centuries, including the First World War before being amalgamated with the 13th Hussars to form the 13th/18th Roy ...

. Temple died 17 November 1798.

Descendants

Through his eldest son Sir Grenville Temple, he was the grandfather of Sir Grenville Temple, the 10th Baronet (1799–1847), who published "Travels in Greece and Turkey and the Mediterranean", in 1843. He is also, through his daughter Elizabeth Bowdoin Temple an ancestor of US Politician

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, John 1731 births 1798 deaths 18th-century British diplomats Temple baronets