Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston, FRS (4 December 1739 – 17 April 1802), was a British politician.

Life

Temple was a son of Henry Temple (son of

Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston ( – 10 June 1757), of East Sheen, Surrey and Broadlands, Hampshire, was an Anglo-Ireland, Irish landowner and Whig politician who sat in the British House of Commons from 1727 to 1747. Early life Temple ...

) and Jane, daughter of Sir John Barnard, Lord Mayor of London. He was born into ' the Ascendancy', the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. His family owned a vast country estate in the north of

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

in the west of Ireland. He succeeded to the peerage in 1757, and was educated at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

from 1757 to 1759. As a member of the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

, he represented the constituencies of East Looe between 1762 and 1768,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

between 1768 and 1774,

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

between 1774 and 1784, Boroughbridge between 1784 and 1790,

Newport, Isle of Wight Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island county off the south coast of England. The town is slightly north of the centre of the island, located in the civil parish of Newport and Carisbrooke. It has a quay at the head of the n ...

between 1790 and 1796, and

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

between 1796 and his death in 1802. He was appointed to the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for Business and Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

in 1765, was a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty between 1766 and 1777, and was a Lord of the Treasury from 1777 to 1782. In 1763 Temple journeyed to Italy, staying with

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

at Ferney en route. He reached Rome in 1764, and from there visited

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, in Magna Graecia. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order dating from about 550 to 450 BCE that ...

, south of Naples. He bought antiquities and paintings from Gavin Hamilton, antiquities from

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric " ...

, paintings from

Angelica Kauffman Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann ( ; 30 October 1741 – 5 November 1807), usually known in English as Angelica Kauffman, was a Swiss people, Swiss Neoclassicism, Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Remembered prima ...

, cameos from Giovanni Pichler and sculpture from Joseph Nollekens. He died on 17 April 1802 at his house in Hanover Square, Westminster, and was buried at Romsey Abbey with a monument by John Flaxman.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.150 He left behind his wife and children. His son,

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman and politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. A m ...

, was

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

in the mid-19th century. A portrait of Henry Temple by Angelica Kauffman is held at Broadlands, Hampshire.

Life

Arms

References

Further reading