Sir William, was born in London in the year 1628. The family from which he sprung was ancient, and is said to have assumed its surname from the manor of Temple, in the hundred of Sparken Hall, in Leicestershire. Temple. He was first sent to school at Penshurst, in Kent, under the care of his uncle, the celebrated Dr Hammond, then minister of that parish; but at the age of ten he was removed to a school at Bishop-Stortford, in Hertfordshire. When he had acquired a sufficient knowledge of Greek and Latin, he returned home at the age of fifteen; and two years afterwards he went to Cambridge, where he was placed under the tuition of the learned Dr Cudworth, then fellow of Emmanuel College. His father, Sir John Temple, being a statesman, seems to have designed him for the same mode of life; and, on this account, after residing at Cambridge two years, which were principally spent in acquiring a knowledge of French and Spanish, he was sent abroad to finish his education.

He began his travels by visiting France in 1648. As he chose to pass through the Isle of Wight, where his majesty was detained a prisoner, he there accidentally met with the second daughter of Sir Peter Osborne of Chickstead, in Bedfordshire, then governor of Guernsey for the king; and his lady being on a journey with her brother to St Maloës, where their father then was, the young traveller joined their party. This gave rise to an honourable attachment, which, at the end of seven years, concluded in a happy marriage. Having resided two years in France, Temple made a tour through Holland, Flanders, and Germany. In 1654 he returned from the continent and married. As he rejected all offers of employment under Cromwell, the five years which he lived in Ireland were spent chiefly in improving himself in history and philosophy; but at the Restoration, in 1660, being there chosen a member of the convention, while others were trying to make their court to the king, Temple opposed the poll-bill with so much spirit that his conduct soon attracted the attention of the public, and brought him into notice. In the succeeding Parliament, 1661, he was elected with his father for the county of Carlow; and in the year following he was chosen one of the commissioners to be sent from that Parliament to the king, which gave him an opportunity of waiting on the Duke of Ormond, the new lord-lieutenant, then at London. He soon afterwards returned to Ireland, but with a resolution of quitting that kingdom, and of removing with his family to England.

On his return he met with a very favourable reception from the Duke of Ormond; and soon acquired such a share in his esteem, that the duke complained of him as the only man in Ireland that had never asked anything from him. When he mentioned his design of carrying his family to England, his grace said that he hoped he would at least give him leave to write in his favour to the two great ministers, Clarendon, then lord-chancellor, and the Earl of Arlington, who was secretary of state. This the duke did in such strong terms as procured him the friendship of these two noblemen, as well as the good opinion of the king. Temple, however, made no other use of this advantage than to tell Lord Arlington, that if his majesty had any employment abroad which he was fit for, he should be happy to undertake it; but, at the same time, he requested that he might not be sent into any of the northern climates, to which he had a very great aversion. The secretary replied, he was very sorry he had made such an objection, as there was no other employment then undisposed of except that of going envoy to Sweden. However, in 1665, about the beginning of the first Dutch war, Arlington sent a messenger to acquaint him that he must immediately come to his house. He found that his lordship's business was to tell him, that the king had occasion to send some person abroad upon an affair of the utmost importance, and that he had resolved to make him the first offer; but that he must know, without delay, and without telling him what it was, whether he would accept of it, and that he must be ready to set out in two or three days, without mentioning it to any of his friends. After a little consideration, Temple told his lordship, that as he took him to be his friend, and as he had advised him not to refuse, as it would be an entrance into his majesty's service, he should consult no further. This business was to carry a secret commission to the Bishop of Munster. He accordingly set out on the 2d of August, and executed it so much to the satisfaction of Charles II., that, on his return to Brussels, his majesty appointed him resident there, and created him a baronet. As Brussels was a place where he had long wished to reside, he sent for his family in April 1666; but before their arrival, he had again been obliged to depart upon business to the prelate's court. The bishop having listened to terms of accommodation with France, Sir William wrote two letters to dissuade him from that alliance; and these not having the desired effect, he went in disguise to Munster, where, though he arrived too late to secure the prince in his first engagement, yet he prevailed on him to permit five or six thousand of his best troops to enter into the Spanish service.

Two months after the conclusion of the peace with the Dutch at Breda, Sir William's sister, who resided with him at Brussels, being very desirous of seeing Holland, he went thither incognito, to gratify her desire; but while he was at the Hague, he paid a private visit to De Witt, in which he laid the foundation of that close intimacy which afterwards subsisted between them. In the spring of 1667, a new war breaking out between France and Spain, which exposed Brussels to the danger of falling into the hands of the former, Sir William sent his lady and family to England; but he himself remained there with his sister till the Christmas following, when he was ordered by the king to come over privately to London. Taking the Hague in his way, he paid another visit to De Witt, and, pursuant to his instructions, proposed those overtures to him which produced the triple alliance. Soon after his arrival at the British court, he returned, on the 16th of January 1668, with the character of envoy-extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Holland; where a conference being opened, he brought that treaty to a perfect conclusion in the short space of five days. The ratifications of this alliance being exchanged on the 15th of February, he repaired to Brussels; and a treaty being set on foot between France and Spain at Aix-la-Chapelle, he proceeded for that place on the 24th of April, in quality of his majesty's ambassador-extraordinary and mediator. Here he arrived on the 27th; and it was chiefly owing to his assistance that the Spaniards were brought to sign the articles of that peace on the 2d of May. This service being completed, he returned to Brussels, with a view of remaining there in his former station of resident; but he received letters from the Earl of Arlington, with the king's order to continue as ambassador, and to serve his country in that quality in Holland, as, on account of the late alliances, his majesty was resolved to renew a character which the crown of England had discontinued there since the time of King James. Sir William being now left at liberty to return to England, embraced the opportunity; and upon his arrival at London he was received with every possible demonstration of favour, both by the king and the court.

Setting out again for Holland, with his new character of the king's ambassador, he arrived at the Hague in the end of August 1668. Here he enjoyed the confidence of that great minister De Witt, and lived in great intimacy with the Prince of Orange, who was then only eighteen years of age; but, in September 1669, he was hurried back to England by Lord Arlington. When Sir William waited on the earl, he found that he had not one word to say to him; for, after making him attend a long time, he only asked a few indifferent questions respecting his journey. Next day he was received as coolly by the king; but the secret soon came out, and he was urged to return to the Hague, and pave the way for a war with Holland. In this, however, he excused himself from having any concern, which so much provoked the Lord-Treasurer Clifford that he refused to him an arrear of L2000 due from his embassy. Disgusted with Arlington's behaviour, which was so unlike the friendship he had formerly professed, Sir William now retired to his house at Sheen, near Richmond, in Surrey; and in his retreat, when free from the hurry of business, he wrote his Observations on the United Provinces, 1673, and one part of his Miscellanea, in the time of the second Dutch war. About the end of summer 1673, the king wishing to put an end to the war, sent for Sir William, and desired him to go to Holland to negotiate a peace; but powers having been sent from thence at this time to the Marquis de Fresno, the Spanish ambassador at London, Sir William was ordered to confer with him; and a treaty was accordingly concluded in three days, and the point carried respecting the superiority of the British flag, which had been so long contested. In June 1674 he was again sent ambassador to Holland to offer the king's mediation between France and the confederates, then at war, and it was accepted not long after; Lord Berkeley, Sir William Temple, and Sir Leoline Jenkins, being declared ambassadors and mediators. Nimeguen, which Sir William had proposed, was at length agreed upon by all parties to be the place of treaty. During his stay at the Hague, the Prince of Orange constantly dined and supped once or twice a week at his house; and by this familiarity he so much gained the prince's confidence and esteem, that he had a considerable hand in his marriage with the Princess Mary, daughter of James II.

In July 1676 he removed his family to Nimeguen, where he spent the remainder of that year without making any progress in the treaty; and the year following his son was sent over with letters from the lord-treasurer, ordering him to return, and succeed Coventry as secretary of state. In consequence of this order, Sir William came over to England in the spring of 1677; and though the affair of the secretary's place was dropped at his desire, he did not return to Nimeguen that year. About this time the prince having the king's leave to come over, he soon after married the Princess Mary; and this gave occasion for a new coolness between Lord Arlington and Sir William, as he and the Lord-Treasurer Osborne, who was related to Sir William's lady, were only privy to that affair. After the prince and princess were gone to Holland, as the court always seemed inclined to favour France, the king wished to engage Sir William in some negotiations with that crown; but he was so ill satisfied with this proposal, that he offered to give up all pretensions to the office of secretary; and desiring the lord-treasurer to acquaint his majesty with his intentions, retired to Sheen, in hopes of being taken at his word. Upon a discovery, however, of the French designs not to evacuate the Spanish towns agreed by the treaty to be delivered up, the king commanded him to undertake a third embassy to the states. With them he concluded a treaty, by which England engaged, in case France refused to evacuate the towns in forty days, to declare war immediately against that nation; but before half that time was elapsed, one De Cros was sent from the English court to Holland upon a business which there damped all the good humour excited by the treaty, and which produced such sudden and astonishing changes in this country as gave Sir William a distaste for all public employments.

In 1679 he returned to Nimeguen, where the French delayed to sign the treaty till the last hour; but having concluded it, he returned to the Hague, whence he was soon after sent for to enter upon the secretary's office, which Coventry at length resolved to resign. He accordingly came over, and went to court, as all his friends hoped, with a full intention of assuming his office; but he started some difficulty, because he had not a seat in the House of Commons, thinking that, by his not being a member, the public business would suffer at such a critical time, when the contests between the two parties ran so high that the king thought fit to send the Duke of York into Flanders, and the parliament to commit the Lord-Treasurer Danby to the Tower. After this his majesty still pressed Sir William to be secretary of state; using as an argument for his compliance, that he had nobody to consult with at a time when he had the greatest need of the best advice. Notwithstanding all this, Sir William declined the king's offer, advising him to choose a council in whom he could confide, and upon whose abilities he could depend. This advice the king followed; and the choice of the persons being concerted between his majesty and Sir William, the old council was dissolved four days after, and the new one established, of which the latter was a member.

In 1680 the councils began again to be changed, on the king's illness, at the end of summer, and the Duke of York's return to court. At this juncture Sir William, endeavouring to bring to the king's favour and business some persons to whom his majesty had taken a dislike, if not an aversion, he met with such treatment from them as gave him a fresh distaste to the court, at which he seldom made his appearance; so that he resided principally at Sheen. Soon after this the king sent for him again; and having proposed that he should go as ambassador into Spain, Sir William consented; but when his equipage was almost ready, and part of the money paid down for it, the king changed his mind, and told him that he would have him defer his journey till the end of the session of parliament, in which he was chosen a member for the University of Cambridge. In this session the spirit of party ran so high that it was impossible to bring the house to any kind of temper. The duke was sent into Scotland; but this would not satisfy them, nor anything but a bill of exclusion, which Sir William strenuously opposed, saying that "his endeavour ever should be to unite the royal family, and that he would never enter into any councils to divide them." Not long after this period, the parliament being dissolved by his majesty, without the advice of his privy council, and contrary to what he had promised, Sir William made a bold speech against that measure; for which he was very ill used by some of those friends who had been most earnest in promoting the last change in the ministry. Upon this he grew quite tired of public business, declined the offer he had of again serving for the university in the next parliament, which was soon after called, and met at Oxford; and seeing his majesty resolved to govern without his parliament, and to supply his treasury through another channel, he retired to Sheen a few days after, whence he sent word by his son, that "he would pass the rest of his days like a good subject, but would never more meddle with public affairs." From that time Sir William lived at this place till the end of that reign and for some time in the next; when, having purchased a small seat called Moor Park, near Farnham in Surrey, for which he conceived a great fondness, on account of its solitude and retirement, and its healthy and pleasant situation, and being much afflicted with the gout, and broken with age and infirmities, he resolved to spend the remainder of his life in this agreeable retreat. In his way thither he waited on King James, who was then at Windsor, and begged his favour and protection to one "that would always live as a good subject, but, whatever might happen, never again enter upon any public employment;" desiring his majesty to give no credit to anything he might hear to the contrary. The king, who used to say that Sir William Temple's character was always to be believed, promised him whatever he desired, gently reproached him for not entering into his service, which, he said, was his own fault; and kept his word as faithfully to Sir William as Sir William did to his majesty, Temple during the surprising turn of affairs that soon after followed by the arrival of the Prince of Orange. At the time of Tenasserim this happy revolution, in 1638, Moor Park becoming unsafe, as it lay in the way of both armies, he retired to the house at Sheen, which he had given up to his son; to whom he refused leave, though importunately begged, to go and meet the Prince of Orange at his landing; but after King James's abdication, when the prince reached Windsor, he went thither to wait upon his highness, and took his son along with him. The prince pressed him to enter into his service, and to be secretary of state; but his age and infirmities confirming him in the resolution which he made not to meddle any more with public affairs, he was satisfied that his son alone should enjoy his Majesty's favour. Mr John Temple was upon this appointed secretary at war; but he had hardly been a week in that office, when he terminated his existence by drowning on the 14th of April 1689.

In 1694 Sir William had the additional affliction to lose his lady, who was a very extraordinary woman, as well as an affectionate wife. He was then considerably turned sixty; at which age he practised what he had so often declared to be his opinion, that "an old man ought then to consider himself of no farther use in the world, except to himself and his friends." After this he lived four years very much afflicted with the gout; and his strength and spirits being worn out, he expired in the month of January 1698, in the seventieth year of his age. He died at Moor Park, where his heart was buried in a silver box under the sundial in his garden, opposite to a window from which he used to contemplate and admire the works of nature, with his sister, the ingenious Lady Giffard. This was according to his will, in pursuance of which his body was privately interred in Westminster Abbey. There a marble monument was erected in 1722, after the death of his sister, Lady Giffard. She resembled him in genius as well as in person, and left behind her the character of one of the best and most constant friends.

Sir William Temple's principal works are:—Memoirs from 1672 to 1691. They are very useful for those who wish to be acquainted with the affairs of that period. Remarks upon the State of the United Provinces; An Introduction to the History of England; Letters written during his last Embassies; Miscellanea. He is a pleasing and popular writer; and his style was long regarded as a model of grace and elegance.

See Architecture, Jerusalem, and Tabernacle.