Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

by Francis Cruikshank, 1855; Credit – Wikipedia

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice during the reign of Queen Victoria, from 1855 – 1858 and from 1859 – 1865. He was the only son and the youngest of the three children of Henry Temple, 2nd Viscount Palmerston and his second wife Mary Mee, daughter of Benjamin Mee, a London merchant. The 2nd Viscount Palmerston was born into the Protestant Ascendancy, a minority of landowners, clergy, and members of the professions, all Protestants, who dominated Catholic Ireland socially, politically and economically between the 17th century and the early 20th century. He was a member of the House of Commons and had settled in a house in Hanover Square in Westminster, London, England where his son Henry John Temple (henceforth called Palmerston) was born on October 20, 1784.

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston had two elder sisters:

Palmerston at age 18 by Thomas Heaphy, 1802; Credit – Wikipedia

Palmerston was educated at Harrow School where two future Prime Ministers, George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen and Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet and the poet Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron) were his fellow students. From 1800 – 1803, he studied political economy at the University of Edinburgh. While at the University of Edinburgh, Palmerston’s father died and he succeeded to his father’s title as 3rd Viscount Palmerston at the age of 17. Palmerston attended St John’s College, Cambridge from 1803–1806. During his years at university, Palmerston met Lawrence Sulivan who later became his Private Secretary and married his sister Elizabeth.

Because he had no seat in the House of Lords as an Irish peer, Palmerston began his political career as a Tory in the House of Commons in 1807. He defected to the Whigs in 1830, and became a member of the newly formed Liberal Party in 1859. Palmerston served in Cabinets as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1830 – 1834, 1835 – 1841, and 1846 – 1851), Home Secretary (1852 – 1855). He was Leader of the Opposition from 1858 – 1859.

The British Empire’s uneasy alliance with France and the Ottoman Empire in the mismanagement of the Crimean War caused Prime Minister George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen to rapidly lose popularity and in February 1855, he was forced to resign as Prime Minister. After exhausting the possibilities of several possible Prime Ministers, Queen Victoria reluctantly invited Palmerston to Buckingham Palace on February 4, 1855 to form a government. At the age of 70 years, 109 days, Palmerston became the oldest person to become Prime Minister for the first time and no one since has surpassed his record.

A peace treaty ending the Crimean War was signed on March 30, 1856 and the following month, Queen Victoria created Palmerston a Knight of the Order of the Garter. Immediately after the Crimean War, Palmerston’s government had to deal with the Indian Rebellion of 1857.  After the Italian republican Felice Orsini tried to assassinate Napoleon III, Emperor of the French with a bomb made in the United Kingdom (The Orsini Affair), the French were outraged. Palmerston introduced a Conspiracy to Murder Bill which would make it a felony to plot in the United Kingdom to murder someone abroad. At the first reading of the bill, the Conservatives voted for it but at the second reading, they voted against it. Palmerston lost by nineteen votes and was forced to resign as Prime Minister in February 1858. In 1859, Palmerston returned to power, this time in an alliance with his former rival John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, in what is regarded as the first Liberal government. Palmerston remained Prime Minister until his death in 1865, when Lord Russell succeeded him.

Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper by William Owen by William Owen circa 1810; Credit – Wikipedia

Beginning around 1807, Palmerston had a long-time affair with Emily Cowper, Countess Cowper, born The Honorable Elizabeth Lamb, the sister of William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister. Previous to this affair, Palmerston had the nickname “Cupid” for his various affairs. In 1805, Emily married Peter Clavering-Cowper, 5th Earl Cowper. Lord Cowper was rather dull and not into the social scene. Emily threw herself into the Regency social scene, became one of the patronesses of the exclusive club Almack’s, and had several affairs. Emily was frequently seen with Palmerston at Almack’s and they began a romantic relationship. Lady Emily Cowper, one of the five children born during Emily’s marriage to Lord Cowper, may have been Palmerston’s child.

Emily, Viscountess Palmerston, circa 1860; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1837, two days after the reign of Queen Victoria began, Lord Cowper died and Emily and Palmerston hoped to marry. However, both were in their 50s and Emily’s family was concerned about Palmerston’s reputation as a womanizer. After Queen Victoria was consulted and her approval was received, Palmerston and Emily married on December 16, 1839. Their marriage was a happy one and when not in their London townhouse Cambridge House on Piccadilly in Mayfair, they lived at Palmerston’s country estate Broadlands in Romsey, Hampshire, England or at Brockett Hall in Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England which Emily had inherited from her brother William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne upon his death. After her marriage, Emily remained an active hostess and Palmerston would encourage her to float his ideas among her guests and report their impressions back to him.

Lord Palmerston in 1863; Credit – Wikipedia

Palmerston remained healthy and active into his old age. An apocryphal version of his last words is: “Die, my dear doctor? That is the last thing I shall do.” He died at Brockett Hall on October 18, 1865, two days before his eighty-first birthday. Queen Victoria wrote in her journal after his death that though she regretted his passing, she had never liked or respected him: “Strange, and solemn to think of that strong, determined man, with so much worldly ambition – gone! He had often worried and distressed us, though as Pr. Minister he had behaved very well.”

Palmerston wanted to be buried at Romsey Abbey nearby his Broadlands home but the Cabinet insisted that he should have a state funeral and be buried at Westminster Abbey, which he was, on October 27, 1865, in the North Transept.  At the time, he was the fourth non-royal person to be granted a state funeral – after Sir Isaac Newton, Lord Nelson, and the Duke of Wellington. When his wife Emily died four years later on September 11, 1869, at the age of 82, she was buried with her husband and Westminster Abbey. Their grave is marked by red granite marker on the floor and nearby is a statue of Lord Palmerston dressed in his robes of the Order of the Garter.

The funeral of Lord Palmerston from Harper’s Weekly; Credit – Wikipedia

Palmerston left no heirs and upon his death his title Viscount Palmerston became extinct. Emily’s second son from her first marriage, born The Honorable William Cowper, inherited parts of his stepfather’s estates, including Broadlands, and assumed the additional surname of Temple. In 1880, he was created Baron Mount Temple, a subsidiary title held by the Viscounts Palmerston but he died childless and the peerage became extinct at the time of his death. However, the title Baron Mount Temple was created once again in 1932 for his great-nephew Wilfrid Ashley. He had no sons and the title became extinct again upon his death in 1938. However, his daughter, born Edwina Ashley, wife of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the future 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, inherited Broadlands.

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