Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet

2021-07-23T01:15:34Z

2603:6011:9547:9E33:E4AC:AF71:DA01:EB7F: /* Career */

{{Other people|Richard Temple}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name = Sir Richard Temple
|honorific-suffix = [[Baronet|Bt]] [[Order of the Star of India|GCSI]] [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]
|image = Richard_Temple 1826-1902.jpg
|office1 = [[Governor of Bombay]]
|term_start1 = 1877
|term_end1 = 1880
|predecessor1 = [[Philip Edmond Wodehouse|Sir Philip Wodehouse]]
|successor1 = [[Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet|Sir James Fergusson]]
|birth_date = 8 March 1826
|death_date = 15 March 1902 (aged 76)
|alma_mater = [[East India Company College]]
}}
'''Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|GCSI|CIE|PC|FRS}} (8 March 1826 – 15 March 1902) was a British colonial administrator in [[British Raj|India]].

==Early life==
Temple was the son of Richard Temple (1800–1874) and his first wife Louisa Anne Rivett-Carnac (d. 1837), a daughter of [[James Rivett-Carnac]]. His paternal ancestor, William Dicken of [[Sheinton]], [[Shropshire]], married in the middle of the 18th century the daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Temple, 5th Baronet (1694–1760), of the [[Temple baronets|Temple baronets of Stowe]]. Their son assumed the surname Temple in 1796, and inherited the Temple manor-house and estate of The Nash, near [[Kempsey, Worcestershire|Kempsey]] in [[Worcestershire]]. Richard Temple (born 1826) inherited the estate on his father's death in 1874.<ref name=TTObituary />

==Career==
[[File:Sir Richard Temple Vanity Fair 15 January 1881.jpg|thumb|right|upright|<center>"Burra Dick"<br />Temple as caricatured by Spy ([[Leslie Ward]]) in [[Vanity Fair (British magazine)|Vanity Fair]], January 1881</center>]]

After being educated at [[Rugby School|Rugby]] and [[East India Company College|the East India Company College at Haileybury]], Temple joined the [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]] Civil Service in 1846. His hard work and literary skill were soon recognised; he was private secretary for some years to [[John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence|John Lawrence]] in the [[Punjab region|Punjab]], and gained useful financial experience under James Wilson. He served as [[Chief Commissioner]] for the [[Central Provinces]] until 1867, when he was appointed Resident at [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]]. In 1867 he was made Knight Commander of the [[Order of the Star of India]] (KCSI). In 1868 he became a member of the supreme government of India, first as foreign secretary and then as finance minister.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

He was made lieutenant-governor of [[Bengal Presidency]] in 1874, and initiated ineffective policies during the [[Bihar famine of 1873–74|famine of 1874]], importing half a million tons of rice from [[British rule in Burma|British Burma]] to bring substantial relief to the victims of the famine. The [[Government of the United Kingdom|British government]], dogmatically committed to a ''[[laissez-faire]]'' economic policy, castigated Temple for interfering in the workings of the market. He was then appointed by the Viceroy of India as a plenipotentiary famine delegate to Madras during the famine of 1877 there. Seeing this appointment as an opportunity to "retrieve his reputation for extravagance in the last famine," Temple implemented new relief policies which ultimately failed to relieve widespread starvation.<ref name=Davis>{{cite book |last=Davis |first=Mike |title=Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World |url=https://archive.org/details/latevictorianhol00davi_311 |url-access=limited |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-85984-382-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/latevictorianhol00davi_311/page/n17 36]–37}}</ref> In 1877, a poor crop harvest in Britain raised prices of grain, while India exported twice as much wheat than the previous year. In addition to the colonial government's refusal to suspend taxation, this led to severe food shortages, particularly in areas supplied by railroads and granaries. Implementing what was known as the "Temple wage", which was not scientifically-derived, Temple tried to determine the minimum amount of food required by "men doing heavy labor" per day. In [[labour camp]]s established for construction of railroads and canals, the diets of workers were just one pound of rice a day (unsupplemented by meat or vegetables) providing 1,627 calories a day- 2,200 calories less than recommended for Indian males doing heavy labour in the 21st century.<ref>[[Eugene Linden (author)|Eugene Linden]]: [https://www.theglobalist.com/the-global-famine-of-1877-and-1899/, 6 Sep 2006.</ref>

His services were recognised with a [[baronet]]cy in 1876.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24354 |date=15 August 1876 |page=4532}}</ref> In 1877 he was made [[List of governors of Bombay|Governor]] of [[Bombay Presidency]], and his activity during the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War|Afghan War]] of 1878–80 was untiring.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1880, when Temple was nearing the end of his service in British India, it was proposed that a commemorative statue for his 33 years in the [[Indian Civil Service (British India)|Indian Civil Service]]{{efn|The Indian Civil Service was established in 1858 after the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]]. Temple's 33 years includes his time in the civil service of the East India Company, which preceded this.}} be erected. The standing marble statue was completed by Thomas Brock in 1884. It shows him carrying his cloak over his arm and an elaborate 19th-century dress uniform with swags, ties and medals. They are, in fact, the costume of a Grand Commander of the Star of India, the formal attire for Governors of the Presidencies. The statue was unveiled with much pomp at the North end of Bombay's Oval. It was moved in August 1965 to the grounds beside the Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Byculla, Bombay (Victoria and Albert Museum).<ref>{{Cite book|title=British Sculpture in India: New Views and Old Memories|last1=Steggles|first1=Mary Ann|last2=Barnes|first2=Richard|publisher=Frontier|year=2011|isbn=978-1-872914-41-1|location=Norfolk, UK|page=195}}</ref>

Five years later, in 1885, Temple was returned as a [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] for the [[Evesham (UK Parliament constituency)|Evesham division]] of Worcestershire. Meanwhile, he produced several books on Indian subjects. In parliament, he was assiduous in his attendance, and he spoke on Indian subjects with admitted authority. He was not otherwise a parliamentary success, and to the public, he was best known from caricatures in ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'', which exaggerated his physical peculiarities and made him look like a lean and hungry tiger. In 1885 he became vice-chairman of the [[London School Board]], and as chairman of its finance committee, he did useful and congenial work. In 1892 he changed his constituency for the [[Kingston-upon-Thames (UK Parliament constituency)|Kingston]] division, but in 1895 he retired from parliament. In 1896 he was appointed a [[Privy Councillor]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Temple had kept a careful journal of his parliamentary experiences, intended for posthumous publication; and he self-published a short volume of reminiscences. He died at his residence at [[Hampstead]] on 15 March 1902, from heart failure.<ref name=TTObituary>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Death of Sir Richard Temple |day_of_week=Tuesday |date=18 March 1902 |page_number=4 |issue=36718| }}</ref>

==Publications==

Works by Temple include:<ref name=TTObituary />
*''India in 1880''
*''Lord Lawrence''
*''Men and Events of My Time in India''
*''Oriental Experience''
*''Essays and Addresses''
*''Journal at Hyderabad''
*''Palestine Illustrated''
*''John Lawrence'', a monoraph on [[John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence]]
*''James Thomason'', a monograph on [[James Thomason]]
*''The Lake Region of Sikkim, on the Frontier of Tibet'', a lecture in 1881<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Temple|first=Richard|date=1881|title=The Lake Region of Sikkim, on the Frontier of Tibet|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1800507|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography|volume=3|issue=6|pages=321–340|doi=10.2307/1800507|jstor=1800507|issn=0266-626X}}</ref>
*{{cite book|author=Sir Richard Carnac Temple|title=Journals Kept in Hyderabad, Kashmir, Sikkim, and Nepal|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.55440|year=1887|publisher=W. H. Allen}}

Temple also edited the 17th-century seaman [[Thomas Bowrey]]'s ''A Geographical Account of Countries Round the Bay of Bengal, 1669 to 1679'', published in 1905.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Geographical Account of Countries Round the Bay of Bengal, 1669 to 1679 |first=Thomas |last=Bowrey |author-link=Thomas Bowrey |editor-first=Richard |editor-last=Temple |year=1905 |publisher=Hakluyt Society |url=https://archive.org/details/ageographicalac00bowrgoog}}</ref>

==Family==
Temple was twice married. First, in 1849, to Charlotte Frances Martindale, daughter of Benjamin Martindale. She died in 1855, leaving him with two young sons and a daughter:<ref name=TTObituary />
*[[Richard Carnac Temple|Richard Carnac Temple, 2nd Baronet]] (1850–1931)
*Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Martindale Temple, [[Imperial Service Order|ISC]] (1853–1905), of the diplomatic service
*Edith Frances Temple (1855–1933)
He remarried, in 1871, Mary Augusta Lindsay, daughter of Charles Robert Lindsay, of the Indian Civil Service, and a member of the family of the [[Earl of Crawford|Earls of Crawford and Balcarres]].<ref name=TTObituary /> Lady Temple was appointed a Companion of the [[Order of the Crown of India]] (CI) on its institution in 1878.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24539 |date=4 January 1878 |page=113}}</ref> She died in 1924, and they had a son from the marriage:
*[[Charles Lindsay Temple]] (1871–1929), later [[Governor of Northern Nigeria|Lieutenant-Governor of Northern Nigeria]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Temple, Charles Lindsay (1871–1929), colonial official and author |first=C. J. F. |last=Alderman |publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/63465 |year=2004 |access-date=2016-09-28}} {{ODNBsub}}</ref>

==Arms==
{{Infobox COA wide
|image = Temple (of The Nash) Achievement.png
|escutcheon = Quarterly 1st & 4th Or an eagle displayed Sable; 2nd & 3rd Argent two bars Sable each charged with three martlets Or.
|crest = On a ducal coronet a martlet Or.
|motto = Templa Quam Dilecta<ref>{{cite book|title=Burke's Peerage |date=1949}}</ref>}}

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{notelist}}
'''Citations'''
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
'''Other'''
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Temple, Sir Richard|volume=26}}
*{{cite web |title= Temple, Sir Richard, first baronet (1826–1902), administrator in India |first=David |last=Steele |publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/36452 |access-date=2016-09-28}} {{ODNBsub}}

==Further reading==
*Autobiographical Memoir: [https://archive.org/details/menandeventsofmy034939mbp Men and Events of My Time in India by Richard Temple]

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet}}
{{Wikiquote}}

* {{acad|id=TML883R|name=Temple, Sir Richard, Bart|ref=none}}
* {{hansard-contribs | sir-richard-temple | Sir Richard Temple }}
* {{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F53130|title=Temple, Sir Richard (1826–1902) 1st Baronet MP Anglo Indian Administrator|publisher=National Archives}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-gov}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Governor of Bengal|Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal]]
| before = [[George Campbell (1824–1892)|George Campbell]]
| after = [[Ashley Eden|Sir Ashley Eden]]
| years = 1874–1877
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Governor of Bombay]]
| before = [[Philip Edmond Wodehouse|Sir Philip Wodehouse]]
| after = [[Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet|Sir James Fergusson, Bt.]]
| years = 1877–1880
}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Evesham (UK Parliament constituency)|Evesham]]
| before = [[Sir Frederick Dixon-Hartland, 1st Baronet|Frederick Dixon-Hartland]]
| after = [[Sir Edmund Lechmere, 3rd Baronet|Sir Edmund Lechmere, Bt.]]
| years = [[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885]]–[[1892 United Kingdom general election|1892]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Kingston-upon-Thames (UK Parliament constituency)|Kingston]]
| before = [[John Whittaker Ellis|Sir John Ellis, Bt.]]
| after = [[Thomas Skewes-Cox|Sir Thomas Skewes-Cox]]
| years = [[1892 United Kingdom general election|1892]]–[[1895 United Kingdom general election|1895]]
}}
{{s-reg|uk-bt}}
{{s-new | creation }}
{{s-ttl
| title = [[Temple Baronets|Baronet]]<br />'''(of Kempsey)'''
| years = 1876–1902
}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Richard Carnac Temple]] }}
{{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple, Richard}}
[[Category:1826 births]]
[[Category:1902 deaths]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Governors of Bombay]]
[[Category:Lieutenant-governors of Bengal]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1885–1886]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1886–1892]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1892–1895]]
[[Category:People educated at Rugby School]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Members of the London School Board]]
[[Category:Members of the Bombay Legislative Council]]

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Sir Richard Temple, 1st Baronet