William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple
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The Right Honourable The Lord Mount Temple PC |
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| President of the Board of Health | |
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In office 13 August 1855 – 9 February 1857 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Preceded by | Sir Benjamin Hall, Bt |
| Succeeded by | William Monsell |
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In office 24 September 1857 – 21 February 1858 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Preceded by | William Monsell |
| Succeeded by | Charles Adderley |
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Paymaster-General and Vice-President of the Board of Trade |
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In office 12 August 1859 – 9 February 1860 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister | The Viscount Palmerston |
| Preceded by | James Wilson |
| Succeeded by | William Hutt |
| First Commissioner of Works | |
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In office 9 February 1860 – 26 June 1866 |
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| Monarch | Victoria |
| Prime Minister |
The Viscount Palmerston The Earl Russell |
| Preceded by | Hon. Henry FitzRoy |
| Succeeded by | Lord John Manners |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
13 December 1811 Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire |
| Died |
16 October 1888 (aged 76) Broadlands, Hampshire |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Harriet Gurney (d. 1843) (2) Georgina Tollemache (d. 1901) |
William Francis Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple PC (13 December 1811 – 16 October 1888), known as William Cowper (pronounced "Cooper") before 1869 and as William Cowper-Temple between 1869 and 1880, was a British Liberal Party politician and statesman.
Born at Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire, Cowper was the second son of Peter Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper, and the Hon. Emily Lamb, daughter of Peniston Lamb, 1st Viscount Melbourne (since his mother had several lovers there is some doubt about his true paternity). He was the younger brother of George Cowper, 6th Earl Cowper and nephew of Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. His father died in 1837 and in 1839 his mother married another Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, who became Cowper's stepfather. He was educated at Eton. After entering the Royal Horse Guards in 1830, he was promoted Captain five years later, eventually attaining the rank of brevet Major in 1852.
In 1835, Cowper was elected Liberal Member of Parliament for Hertford, a seat he held for the next thirty-three years, and became private secretary to his uncle Prime Minister Lord Melbourne. He was appointed a Groom in Waiting in 1837, and in 1841 served for three months as a Lord of the Treasury under Melbourne, only resuming office five years later as a Lord of the Admiralty when the Whigs returned to power under Lord John Russell. He again held this post under Lord Aberdeen from 1852 to 1855, and in the latter year was made Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department by his stepfather Lord Palmerston when he became Prime Minister. In August that same year he was appointed President of the Board of Health, and sworn of the Privy Council. Four years later he became Vice-President of the Board of Trade and Paymaster General, only serving for a year before Palmerston appointed him First Commissioner of Works.
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