Richard Temple
Richard Temple was a Whig politician and member of the Parliament in Great Britain.
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History
Richard Temple was the eldest son of Richard Temple (same name), baronet of Stowe.
Temple was a commissioned officer and fought in the Nine Years' War and Williamite War.
His father died in 1697, leaving him to inherit his titles. He also won his father's constituency and entered the House of Commons.
Temple also fought in the War of Spanish Succession.
With the Hanoverian succession and a Whig victory in 1714 elections, Temple was appointed ambassador to Austria. He was also created baron of Cobham, and would be raised to viscount Cobham in 1718.
Temple came to oppose Walpole's foreign policy, and from retirement he patronized the political opposition. Most notably he mentored Pitt, but he also supported his nephews Richard Grenville and George Grenville. The political circle he fostered at Stowe House came to be known as the Patriot Whigs and the Cobhamites.