The Lord Mount Temple | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of the Board of Health | |
| In office 13 August 1855 – 9 February 1857 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Preceded by | Sir Benjamin Hall, Bt |
| Succeeded by | William Monsell |
| In office 24 September 1857 – 21 February 1858 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Preceded by | William Monsell |
| Succeeded by | Charles Adderley |
| Paymaster General and Vice-President of the Board of Trade | |
| In office 12 August 1859 – 9 February 1860 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Preceded by | James Wilson |
| Succeeded by | William Hutt |
| First Commissioner of Works | |
| In office 9 February 1860 – 26 June 1866 | |
| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston The Earl Russell |
| Preceded by | Hon. Henry FitzRoy |
| Succeeded by | Lord John Manners |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1811-12-13)13 December 1811 Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire |
| Died | 16 October 1888(1888-10-16) (aged 76) Broadlands, Hampshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Harriet Gurney (d. 1843) (2)Georgina Tollemache (d. 1901) |
| Parent(s) | Peter Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper Emily Lamb |
William Francis Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple,PC (13 December 1811 – 16 October 1888), known asWilliam Cowper (pronounced "Cooper") before 1869 and asWilliam Cowper-Temple between 1869 and 1880, was a BritishLiberal statesman.
Born atBrocket Hall, Hertfordshire, Cowper was the second son of Peter Cowper, 5thEarl Cowper, and the Hon.Emily Lamb sister of Lord Melnourne, Prime Minister (since his mother had several lovers there is some doubt about his true paternity). He was the younger brother ofGeorge Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper and nephew of Prime MinisterLord Melbourne. His father died in 1837 and in 1839 his mother married future prime minister,Lord Palmerston, who became Cowper's stepfather.[1] He was educated atEton. After entering theRoyal Horse Guards in 1830, he was promotedCaptain five years later, eventually attaining the rank of brevet Major in 1852.[1]
In 1835, Cowper was elected LiberalMember of Parliament forHertford, a seat he held for the next thirty-three years, and became private secretary to his uncle Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. He was appointed aGroom in Waiting in 1837, and in 1841 served for three months as aLord of the Treasury under Melbourne, only resuming office five years later as aLord of the Admiralty when theWhigs returned to power underLord John Russell. He again held this post underLord Aberdeen from 1852 to 1855, and in the latter year was madeUnder-Secretary of State for the Home Department by his stepfather Lord Palmerston when he became prime minister. In August that same year he was appointedPresident of the Board of Health,[2] and sworn of thePrivy Council.[3] Four years later he becameVice-President of the Board of Trade andPaymaster General, only serving for a year before Palmerston appointed himFirst Commissioner of Works.[4]
In 1866, on the fall ofLord Russell's government, Cowper left office for good. Two years later he was returned toParliament forHampshire South, and held this seat until 1880.[4]
Cowper-Temple was involved in the1870 Education Act which set up Board Schools (state primary schools, run by elected local school boards) throughout England. He was responsible for theCowper-Temple clause, an amendment which became Section 14 of the Act. In order to overcome the concerns of Nonconformists that their children might be taught Anglican doctrine, the clause proposed that religious teaching in the new state schools be non-denominational, which in practice meant learning the Bible and a few hymns. Section 7 of the Act also gave parents the right to withdraw their children from any religious instruction provided in board schools, and to withdraw their children at that or other times to attend any other religious instruction of their choice.[5]
When his mother died in 1869, he inherited a number of estates under his stepfather's will, and so took that year under Royal licence the additional surname of Temple. The properties included a 10,000-acre estate onSligo's Mullaghmore peninsula with its unfinishedClassiebawn Castle, commissioned by his stepfather, which he completed by 1874. In 1880 he was raised to the peerage asBaron Mount Temple, of Mount Temple in theCounty ofSligo.[6] This was a revival of the junior title held by theViscounts Palmerston, which had become extinct along with the viscountcy on his stepfather's death in 1865.
Apart from his political career Lord Mount Temple organized ecumenical conferences at Broadlands.[7] One of the regular speakers there wasGeorge MacDonald.[4][citation needed]
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Lord Mount Temple was twice married. He married first Harriet Alicia, daughter ofDaniel Gurney, in 1843. After her early death the same year, he married second, in 1848,Georgina Tollemache, daughter of Admiral John Richard Delap Tollemache, and a sister ofthe 1st Baron Tollemache. Both marriages were childless. He died on 16 October 1888, aged 76, at his home ofBroadlands, Hampshire, and was buried at nearbyRomsey.[1] His peerage became extinct on his death. Lady Mount Temple died in October 1901, aged 79.[8]
His estates (excluding Shelley House, Chelsea, lived in and inherited by his wife) had already passed to or were inherited by his nephew, the Rt. Hon.Evelyn Ashley,[4] the second son ofAnthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. His probate was sworn the next year at£76,123 (equivalent to about £10,700,000 in 2023); and his wife's in 1903 at £8863.[9]
The Canadian Pacific passengerSS Mount Temple, launched in 1901, was named for him. The British rock bandThe Cooper Temple Clause were also named after him.[citation needed]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Pollard, Albert Frederick (1901). "Cowper, William Francis". InLee, Sidney (ed.).Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant Title last held by Viscount IngestreViscount Mahon | Member of Parliament forHertford 1835–1868 With:Viscount Mahon 1835–1852 Thomas Chambers 1852–1857 Sir Walter Townshend-Farquhar, Bt 1857–1866 Robert Dimsdale from 1866 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forHampshire South 1868–1880 With:Lord Henry Montagu-Douglas-Scott | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Civil Lord of the Admiralty 1846–1852 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Civil Lord of the Admiralty 1852–1855 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department 1855 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Board of Health 1855–1857 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Vice President of the Council 1857–1858 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Board of Health 1857–1858 | |
| Preceded by | Vice-President of the Board of Trade 1859–1860 | Succeeded by |
| Paymaster General 1859–1860 | ||
| Preceded by | First Commissioner of Works 1860–1866 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baron Mount Temple 1880–1888 | Extinct |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
