William Johnson Temple facts for kids

William Johnson Temple (also known as Johnstone) (1739–1796) was an English church leader and writer. He is mostly remembered today because he wrote many letters to his friend, James Boswell, who was a famous writer himself.

Who was William Johnson Temple?

William Johnson Temple was born in 1739. His father, William Temple, was the mayor of Allerdean, a town near Berwick-on-Tweed. His mother, Sarah, passed away in 1747.

William was baptized as "William Johnson" in Berwick on December 20, 1739.

His Education and Friends

William went to the University of Edinburgh, where he met and became friends with James Boswell. They started writing letters to each other in 1758.

After Edinburgh, William went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge University in 1758. He studied there and became a scholar. In 1761, he moved to London. He and Boswell met again in London in 1762, both studying law. William even lent his rooms to Boswell for a while.

Around 1763, William's father faced financial problems. William helped him using money he inherited from his mother. He then returned to Cambridge to study for the church, earning a law degree in 1765. While at Cambridge, he also became a close friend of the famous poet Thomas Gray.

Life as a Churchman

In 1766, James Boswell introduced William Temple to another famous writer, Samuel Johnson.

Becoming a Priest

On September 14, 1766, William became a deacon in the church in Exeter. A week later, he became a priest. Soon after, he was given a job as the rector (a type of priest) of Mamhead, a church near Exeter.

Family and Challenges

By August 1767, William Temple was married. His wife brought a good amount of money to the marriage. However, the next year, he faced money troubles again. He helped his friend Boswell by correcting his book, Account of Corsica, which came out in 1768.

In 1770, William thought about separating from his wife and sold some of his property. He visited Boswell in Edinburgh that year. In 1771, he was looking for a job as a chaplain (a priest for a specific group, like in the military) abroad.

Later Church Work

In 1773, William Temple had dinner with famous people like Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, and Boswell in London. In 1775, Boswell visited him at Mamhead.

William published his first essay in 1774. He became a chaplain to Bishop Frederick Keppel, who promised him another church position. From 1776, William became the vicar of St Gluvias in Cornwall. He lived there for the rest of his life. In 1792, he helped start the Cornwall Library and Literary Society in Truro.

His Final Years

William Johnson Temple passed away at St Gluvias on August 13, 1796. His seven children put up a monument in the churchyard to remember their parents. On this monument, his middle name is spelled "Johnstone."

William Temple's Ideas

William Temple had strong opinions on many things.

Views on Literature

He thought that the literary scene in London was not as good as Edinburgh's. He did not admire Samuel Johnson as much as Boswell did. Instead, he preferred the ideas of writers like Gray and Horace Walpole.

Some people believe William Temple wrote a critical book about Doctor Johnson called The Character of Doctor Johnson (1792).

Social and Political Views

William Temple spoke out against cruel activities like bull-baiting (where dogs fought bulls).

In his younger years, he held some unusual religious views, but he later changed his mind. In politics, he supported radical reforms, meaning he wanted big changes. However, the results of the French Revolution later made him rethink some of his strong political beliefs.

His Writings

William Temple wrote several works:

• An Essay on the Clergy, their Studies, Recreations, Decline of Influence, published in 1774.
• On the Abuse of Unrestrained Power (published without his name), 1778.
• Moral and Historical Memoirs (also published without his name), 1779. This book included Unrestrained Power.
  • These memoirs suggested that people should travel less, avoid too much luxury, and not read too many different kinds of books.
• A short pamphlet about Jacobinism (a political movement), possibly from 1792.

William Temple was also working on a book called The Rise and Decline of Modern Rome, but he never finished it. Some of his letters are kept in the Egerton MS. His personal diaries were published in 1929.

Letters with James Boswell

William Temple wrote about his friend Thomas Gray in a letter to Boswell shortly after Gray died in 1771. Boswell published this letter without permission in the London Magazine in 1772. Other writers, like William Mason and Samuel Johnson, later included it in their own books about Gray.

Finding the Letters

The letters between Boswell and Temple were found by chance in Boulogne, France, in the late 1830s. A book called Letters of James Boswell, addressed to the Rev. W. J. Temple came out in 1856. It contained 97 letters and was very important for understanding Boswell's life. More editions came out later, including one in 1908 by Thomas Seccombe.

In the 20th century, even more letters were found. These included some from Boswell to Temple and 338 letters from Temple to Boswell. This helped researchers learn even more about their friendship.

His Family

William Temple married Anne Stow. She passed away on March 14, 1793, when she was 46 years old. They had many children, either eight or eleven, depending on the historical record.

One of their sons, Francis Temple (who died in 1863), became a vice-admiral in the navy. Another son, Octavius Temple (who died in 1834), was the governor of Sierra Leone. Octavius was also the father of Frederick Temple, who later became a very important church leader himself.