Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple, 2nd Viscountess Cobham (''née'' Temple; –1752) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

noblewoman. She was the mother and grandmother of the Prime Ministers

George Grenville George Grenville (14 October 1712 – 13 November 1770) was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an ...

and

William Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs (British political pa ...

Life and family

She was the daughter (and eventual co-heir) of Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Bt. (1634–1697), of

Stowe, Buckinghamshire Stowe is a civil parish and former village about northwest of Buckingham in the unitary authority area of Buckinghamshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Boycott, Dadford and Lamport. Stowe House is a Grade I listed country hou ...

, and his wife, Mary Knapp. Hester married

Richard Grenville Sir Richard Grenville (15 June 1542 – 10 September 1591), also spelt Greynvile, Greeneville, and Greenfield, was an English privateer and explorer. Grenville was lord of the manors of Stowe, Cornwall and Bideford, Devon. He subsequently ...

of Wotton in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

on 25 November 1710, and became the mother of five sons, all of whom served as members of parliament: *

Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, (26 September 171112 September 1779) was a British politician. He is best known for his association with his brother-in-law William Pitt who he served with in government during Britain's participatio ...

(1711-1779), MP. *

(1712-1770), MP; was

Prime Minister of Great Britain The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pri ...

from 1763 to 1765. He married Elizabeth Wyndham and had children. (George's son,

William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of ...

, also became prime minister.) *

James Grenville James Grenville (12 February 1715 – 14 September 1783) was a British politician. He was born at Wotton House, Buckinghamshire in 1715 into the influential Grenville political family and was one of five brothers who went into politics. He was ...

(1715-1783), MP; served as a minister under his brother-in-law

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

. He married Mary Smyth and had children. *

Henry Grenville Henry Grenville (11 September 1717 – 22 April 1784) was a British diplomat and politician. Grenville was born into a family of politicians. His father was Sir Richard Grenville, MP; one of his elder brothers was Earl Temple, a governmen ...

(1717-1784), MP; married Margaret Eleanor Banks and had children. *

Thomas Grenville Thomas Grenville (31 December 1755 – 17 December 1846) was a British politician and bibliophile. Background and education Grenville was the second son of Prime Minister George Grenville and Elizabeth Wyndham, daughter of Sir William Wyndh ...

(1719-1747), MP; a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

officer, who died at sea, aged 28, unmarried. Her daughter,

Hester Hester is both a female given name and a surname. As a given name Hester is a variant of Esther. As a surname it is of Germanic origin and uncertain meaning, possible roots being the Middle High German ''heister'' beech tree indicating residence ne ...

(1720-1803), was the wife of

William Pitt the Elder William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...

and mother of

, who both became prime minister. Hester was the sister of

Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham (24 October 1675 – 14 September 1749) was a British soldier and Whig politician. After serving as a junior officer under William III during the Williamite War in Ireland and during the Nine Years' War, he ...

, whose title she inherited under a special

remainder In mathematics, the remainder is the amount "left over" after performing some computation. In arithmetic, the remainder is the integer "left over" after dividing one integer by another to produce an integer quotient (integer division). In algebr ...

in 1749; on 18 October of the same year, her husband being long dead, she was created 1st Countess Temple. Lord Cobham had excluded from succession his nephews

Temple West Vice-Admiral Temple West (1713 – 9 August 1757) was a British naval officer, best known for his role as second-in-command to Admiral John Byng during the Battle of Minorca in 1756. Early career and family West was a younger son of Rev. Dr. Ri ...

and

Gilbert West Gilbert West (1703–1756) was a minor English poet, translator, and theologian in the early and middle eighteenth century. Samuel Johnson included him in his ''Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets''. Biography The son of Richard West, he was ...

(who were sons of his elder sister Maria and Richard West), and also his other sister Penelope.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, Hester Grenville, 1st Countess 1690 births 1752 deaths People from Aylesbury Vale Earls Temple 2 Cobham British countesses Hereditary peeresses created by George II Daughters of baronets Hester Grenville Parents of prime ministers of the United Kingdom