Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston

File:Joseph Wright of Derby. Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight. c. 1768-70.jpg

Joseph Wright of Derby. Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight. c. 1768-70. Oil on canvas, Kenwood House, London. Formerly owned by Henry Temple.

Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston, FRS (4 December 1739 – 16 April 1802), was a British politician.

Life

He was born into 'the Ascendancy', the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. His family owned a vast country estate in the north of County Sligo in the west of Ireland. He succeeded to the peerage in 1757, and was educated at Clare College, Cambridge from 1757 to 1759.

As a member of the British House of Commons, he represented the constituencies of East Looe between 1762 and 1768, Southampton between 1768 to 1774, Hastings between 1774 and 1784, Boroughbridge between 1784 and 1790, Newport, Isle of Wight between 1790 and 1796, and Winchester between 1796 and his death in 1802.

He was appointed to the Board of Trade 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 at Ferney en route. He reached Rome in 1764, and from there visited Paestum, south of Naples. He bought antiquities and paintings from Gavin Hamilton, antiquities from Giovanni Battista Piranesi, paintings from Angelica Kauffman, cameos from Giovanni Pichler and sculpture from Joseph Nollekens.

He died on 16 April 1802 and left behind his wife and children. His son, Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century.

A portrait of Henry Temple by Angelica Kauffman is held at Broadlands, Hampshire.

Further reading

• Brian Connell, Portrait of a Whig Peer. Compiled from the papers of the Second Viscount Palmerston 1739 - 1802 (1957. London)

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Francis Gashry John Buller	Member of Parliament for East Looe 1762 – 1768 With: John Buller	Succeeded by Richard Hussey John Buller
Preceded by Henry Dawkins Hans Stanley	Member of Parliament for Southampton 1768 – 1774 With: Hans Stanley	Succeeded by John Fleming Hans Stanley
Preceded by Samuel Martin William Ashburnham	Member of Parliament for Hastings 1774 – 1784 With: Charles Jenkinson John Ord	Succeeded by John Stanley John Dawes
Preceded by Anthony Eyre Charles Ambler	Member of Parliament for Boroughbridge 1784 – 1790 With: Sir Richard Sutton, Bt	Succeeded by Morris Robinson Sir Richard Sutton, Bt
Preceded by Edward Rushworth George Byng	Member of Parliament for Newport 1790 – 1796 With: Viscount Melbourne to 1793 Peniston Lamb from 1793	Succeeded by Jervoise Clarke Jervoise Edward Rushworth
Preceded by Henry Penton Richard Grace Gamon	Member of Parliament for Winchester 1796 – 1800 With: Richard Grace Gamon	Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain	Member of Parliament for Winchester 1801 – 1801 With: Richard Grace Gamon	Succeeded by Sir Henry St John-Mildmay, Bt Richard Grace Gamon
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Henry Temple	Viscount Palmerston 1757–1802	Succeeded by Henry Temple