John Temple (judge)
Encyclopedia
Sir John Temple was an Irish lawyer, courtier and politician who sat in the Irish House of Commons at various times between 1641 and 1677 and in the House of Commons of England
from 1646 to 1648. He was Master of the Rolls in Ireland
.
, provost of Trinity College, Dublin
, and his wife Martha Harrison, daughter of Robert Harrison of Derbyshire. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and spent some time travelling abroad. On his return entered the personal service of Charles I and was knighted.
as Master of the Rolls in Ireland
and was admitted a privy councillor. When the rebellion broke out in October 1641 he served the government in provisioning the city. On 23 July 1642 he was elected Member of Parliament
for County Meath, being described as of Ballycrath, County Carlow. He tended to support the Parliamentary side and in August 1643 he was suspended from his office by the lords justices Borlase and Tichborne, acting on instructions from King Charles. He was imprisoned in the castle with Sir W. Parsons, Sir A. Loftus, and Sir R. Meredith. The main charge against him was of writing in May and June two scandalous letters against the King, which suggested the King had favoured the rebels. After a year's imprisonment he was exchanged, and in 1645 was chosen MP for Chichester
in the Long Parliament
of the English House of Commons. in compensation for the harsh treatment he had undergone. He received special thanks for the services he had rendered to the English interest in Ireland at the beginning of the rebellion.
In 1646 Temple published his Irish Rebellion; or an history of the beginning and first progresse of the generall rebellion raised within the kingdom of Ireland upon the … 23 Oct. 1641. Together with the barbarous cruelties and bloody massacres which ensued thereupon, which created an immediate and great sensation. Its statements were received with unquestioning confidence, as the work of a professed eye-witness who could speak with authority, and did much to inflame popular indignation in England against the Irish. Subsequently the truth of many of its statements have been questioned and it became viewed as a partisan pamphlet rather than an historical treatise. The Irish were so incensed against the book that one of the first resolutions of the parliament of 1689 was to order it to be burnt by the common hangman.
In 1647, after peace was concluded between Ormonde and parliament, Temple was appointed a commissioner for the government of Munster, and on 16 October 1648 was made joint commissioner with Sir W. Parsons for the administration of the Great Seal of Ireland. However, he voted with the majority on 5 December 1648 in favour of the proposed compromise with King Charles, and was excluded under Pride's Purge
. For the next four years he took no part in public affairs, living quietly in London.
As a result of his personal experience of the outbreak of the rebellion, Temple was appointed on 21 November 1653 as a commissioner "to consider and advise from time to time how the titles of the Irish and others to any estate in Ireland, and likewise their delinquency according to their respective qualifications, might be put in the most speedy and exact way of adjudication consistent with justice." When this work was completed, he returned to England in 1654, and, expressed his willingness to resume the regular execution of his old office of Master of the Rolls. In June 1655, he returned to Ireland with a highly recommendatory letter in his favour from Cromwell addressed to the lord-deputy Fleetwood and council of state. He received an increased official salary, and from time to time was given several grants of money for special services rendered by him. In September 1654 he was joined with Sir R. King, Benjamin Worsley, and others in a commission for letting and setting of houses and lands belonging to the state in the counties of Dublin, Kildare, and Carlow, and on 13 June 1656 he was appointed a commissioner for determining all differences among the adventurers concerning lands, etc. In recompense for his services he received on 6 July 1658 a grant of two leases for twenty-one years, the one comprising the town and lands of Moyle, Castletown, Park, etc., adjoining the town of Carlow, amounting to about 1,490 acres, in part afterwards confirmed to him under the act of settlement on 18 June 1666; the other of certain lands in the barony of Balrothery West, co. Dublin, to which were added those of Lispoble in the same county on 30 March 1659 for a similar term of years. He obtained license to go to England for a whole year or more on 21 April 1659.
At the Restoration in 1660, Temple was confirmed in his office of Master of the Rolls, sworn a member of the privy council, appointed a trustee for the '49 officers, and on 4 May 1661 was elected, with his eldest son William Temple, to represent County Carlow in parliament. On the 6 May he obtained for the payment of a fine of £540, a reversionary lease from the queen mother Henrietta Maria of the park of Blandesby or Blansby, Pickering, Yorkshire, for a term of forty years. He received a confirmation in perpetuity of his lands in co. Dublin, including those of Palmerstown, under the act of settlement on 29 July 1666; to which were added on 20 May 1669 others in counties Kilkenny, Meath, Westmeath, and Dublin. Other grants followed, including 144 acres formerly belonging to the Phœnix Park on 3 May 1672, and certain lands, fishings, etc., in and near Chapelizodon on 16 November 1675. He was appointed vice-treasurer of Ireland in 1673.
Temple married Mary Hammond, daughter of Dr. John Hammond, of Chertsey, Surrey. She died at Penshurst in Kent in November 1638. They had in addition to two sons and a daughter who died young, Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, Sir John Temple
, Martha and Mary, who married twice.
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
from 1646 to 1648. He was Master of the Rolls in Ireland
Master of the Rolls in Ireland
The office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland originated in the office of the keeper of the Rolls in the Irish Chancery and became an office granted by letters patent in 1333. It was abolished in 1924....
.
Background and education
Temple was born in Ireland, the son of Sir William TempleWilliam Temple (logician)
Sir William Temple was an English Ramist logician and fourth Provost of Trinity College, Dublin.-Early life:He was educated at Eton College, and passed with a scholarship to King's College, Cambridge, in 1573. In 1576 he was elected a fellow of King's, and graduated B.A. in 1577-8 and M.A. in...
, provost of Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, and his wife Martha Harrison, daughter of Robert Harrison of Derbyshire. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and spent some time travelling abroad. On his return entered the personal service of Charles I and was knighted.
Legal career
Temple returned to Ireland and on 31 January 1640 succeeded Sir Christopher WandesfordChristopher Wandesford
Christopher Wandesford , was an English politician administrator, Lord Deputy of Ireland at the end of his life.-Life:He was the son of Sir George Wandesford of Kirklington, Yorkshire, and was born on 24 September 1592....
as Master of the Rolls in Ireland
Master of the Rolls in Ireland
The office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland originated in the office of the keeper of the Rolls in the Irish Chancery and became an office granted by letters patent in 1333. It was abolished in 1924....
and was admitted a privy councillor. When the rebellion broke out in October 1641 he served the government in provisioning the city. On 23 July 1642 he was elected Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for County Meath, being described as of Ballycrath, County Carlow. He tended to support the Parliamentary side and in August 1643 he was suspended from his office by the lords justices Borlase and Tichborne, acting on instructions from King Charles. He was imprisoned in the castle with Sir W. Parsons, Sir A. Loftus, and Sir R. Meredith. The main charge against him was of writing in May and June two scandalous letters against the King, which suggested the King had favoured the rebels. After a year's imprisonment he was exchanged, and in 1645 was chosen MP for Chichester
Chichester (UK Parliament constituency)
Chichester is a county constituency in West Sussex, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
in the Long Parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
of the English House of Commons. in compensation for the harsh treatment he had undergone. He received special thanks for the services he had rendered to the English interest in Ireland at the beginning of the rebellion.
In 1646 Temple published his Irish Rebellion; or an history of the beginning and first progresse of the generall rebellion raised within the kingdom of Ireland upon the … 23 Oct. 1641. Together with the barbarous cruelties and bloody massacres which ensued thereupon, which created an immediate and great sensation. Its statements were received with unquestioning confidence, as the work of a professed eye-witness who could speak with authority, and did much to inflame popular indignation in England against the Irish. Subsequently the truth of many of its statements have been questioned and it became viewed as a partisan pamphlet rather than an historical treatise. The Irish were so incensed against the book that one of the first resolutions of the parliament of 1689 was to order it to be burnt by the common hangman.
In 1647, after peace was concluded between Ormonde and parliament, Temple was appointed a commissioner for the government of Munster, and on 16 October 1648 was made joint commissioner with Sir W. Parsons for the administration of the Great Seal of Ireland. However, he voted with the majority on 5 December 1648 in favour of the proposed compromise with King Charles, and was excluded under Pride's Purge
Pride's Purge
Pride’s Purge is an event in December 1648, during the Second English Civil War, when troops under the command of Colonel Thomas Pride forcibly removed from the Long Parliament all those who were not supporters of the Grandees in the New Model Army and the Independents...
. For the next four years he took no part in public affairs, living quietly in London.
As a result of his personal experience of the outbreak of the rebellion, Temple was appointed on 21 November 1653 as a commissioner "to consider and advise from time to time how the titles of the Irish and others to any estate in Ireland, and likewise their delinquency according to their respective qualifications, might be put in the most speedy and exact way of adjudication consistent with justice." When this work was completed, he returned to England in 1654, and, expressed his willingness to resume the regular execution of his old office of Master of the Rolls. In June 1655, he returned to Ireland with a highly recommendatory letter in his favour from Cromwell addressed to the lord-deputy Fleetwood and council of state. He received an increased official salary, and from time to time was given several grants of money for special services rendered by him. In September 1654 he was joined with Sir R. King, Benjamin Worsley, and others in a commission for letting and setting of houses and lands belonging to the state in the counties of Dublin, Kildare, and Carlow, and on 13 June 1656 he was appointed a commissioner for determining all differences among the adventurers concerning lands, etc. In recompense for his services he received on 6 July 1658 a grant of two leases for twenty-one years, the one comprising the town and lands of Moyle, Castletown, Park, etc., adjoining the town of Carlow, amounting to about 1,490 acres, in part afterwards confirmed to him under the act of settlement on 18 June 1666; the other of certain lands in the barony of Balrothery West, co. Dublin, to which were added those of Lispoble in the same county on 30 March 1659 for a similar term of years. He obtained license to go to England for a whole year or more on 21 April 1659.
At the Restoration in 1660, Temple was confirmed in his office of Master of the Rolls, sworn a member of the privy council, appointed a trustee for the '49 officers, and on 4 May 1661 was elected, with his eldest son William Temple, to represent County Carlow in parliament. On the 6 May he obtained for the payment of a fine of £540, a reversionary lease from the queen mother Henrietta Maria of the park of Blandesby or Blansby, Pickering, Yorkshire, for a term of forty years. He received a confirmation in perpetuity of his lands in co. Dublin, including those of Palmerstown, under the act of settlement on 29 July 1666; to which were added on 20 May 1669 others in counties Kilkenny, Meath, Westmeath, and Dublin. Other grants followed, including 144 acres formerly belonging to the Phœnix Park on 3 May 1672, and certain lands, fishings, etc., in and near Chapelizodon on 16 November 1675. He was appointed vice-treasurer of Ireland in 1673.
Family
Temple died in 1677, and was buried beside his father in Trinity College near the campanile, having that year made a benefaction of £100 to the college to be laid out in certain buildings, entitling him and his heirs to bestow two handsome chambers upon such students as they desired.Temple married Mary Hammond, daughter of Dr. John Hammond, of Chertsey, Surrey. She died at Penshurst in Kent in November 1638. They had in addition to two sons and a daughter who died young, Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, Sir John Temple
John Temple (politician)
Sir John Temple was an Irish politician, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and Attorney General for Ireland....
, Martha and Mary, who married twice.