James Temple
| James Temple | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1606 Rochester, Kent |
| Died | 17 February 1680 Elizabeth Castle, Jersey, Channel Islands |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Busbridge (married 1627) Joanna van Tromp |
| Children | John (bef 1629) Alexander (1629) James (1630) Thomas (1631) Mary (1632) Peter (1633) |
| Parent(s) | Sir Alexander Temple Mary Sommer |
James Temple (1606–1680) was a puritan and English Civil War soldier who was convicted of the regicide of Charles I. Born in Rochester, Kent, to a well-connected gentry family, he was the second of two sons of Sir Alexander Temple, although his elder brother died in 1627. As a child, Temple moved with his father from Rochester to Chadwell St Mary in Essex and then to Etchingham in Sussex, where he settled.
Temple gained military experience as a member of the Duke of Buckingham's expedition to the Isle of Ré in 1627. As a puritan, he joined the Parliamentary army at the outbreak of the Civil War and fought at the Battle of Edgehill. He rose to become a colonel and commanded Tilbury Fort, an important defensive position on the approach to London by river. He was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Bramber in September 1645 to replace an ejected Royalist. He sided with the army in opposing any compromise with the King, and was appointed as a judge at the trial of King Charles I of England. Temple attended most of the court sessions and was the 28th (of 59) to sign the King's death warrant. After the restoration of Charles II, he was convicted of regicide, but avoided execution and was imprisoned on Jersey, where he died.
Temple was born to Sir Alexander Temple and Mary Sommer while his parents were living in the parish of St. Margaret's in Rochester, Kent in the house previously owned by his mother's first husband. His family was closely related to the Temple family of Stowe House. The family belonged to the gentry, having a reasonable income, without being members of the aristocracy. His father had been knighted at the Tower of London by James I following the King's accession to the English throne - one of many members of the gentry who were knighted during the first years of the King's reign.
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