Family and Education

b. c.1740, 1st s. of John Tempest, of Sherburn and Wynyard by Frances, da. of Richard Shuttle-worth, M.P. of Forcett, Yorks. and Gawthorpe, Lancs.  educ. Westminster, Jan. 1750, aged 8; Emmanuel, Camb. 21 Oct. 1758, aged 18.  m. 25 May Anne, da. of Joseph Townsend, M.P., of Honington, Warws, 1s. d.v.p.  suc. fa. 1776.

Offices Held

Biography

In 1768 Tempest was returned unopposed at Durham in place of his father. In Parliament he regularly voted with the Opposition till the fall of North; voted for Shelburne’s peace preliminaries, 18 Feb. 1783, and against Fox’s East India bill, 27 Nov. 1783. He was a member of the St. Alban’s Tavern group which in January 1784 attempted to bring about a union of parties, and after its failure went into opposition, voting against Pitt throughout the Parliament of 1784-90. He is not known to have spoken in the House.

Tempest died 13 Aug. 1794, according to the Gentleman’s Magazine (1794, p. 772) ‘a commoner of nearly the first landed property in England’.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: Mary M. Drummond

Notes