John Temple

Sir John Temple (1600 – 14 November 1677) was an Anglo-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.

Background and education Temple was born in Ireland, the son of Sir William Temple, 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 he entered the personal service of Charles I and was knighted.

Legal career Temple returned to Ireland and on 31 January 1640 succeeded Sir Christopher Wandesford as Master of the Rolls in Ireland and was admitted to the Privy Council of Ireland. When the Irish Rebellion of 1641 broke out in October he served the government in provisioning the city. On 23 July 1642, he was elected Member of the Irish House of Commons 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, Sir John Borlase and Sir Henry Tichborne, acting on instructions from King Charles. He was imprisoned in Dublin Castle with Sir William Parsons, Sir Adam Loftus, and Sir Robert Meredyth. 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. 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. 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 Britain 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. and Voltaire. The Irish were so incensed against the book that one of the first resolutions of the Patriot Parliament of 1689 was to order it to be burnt by the common hangman. They had in addition to two sons and a daughter who died young:

Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, the distinguished diplomat