Temple, William Johnston, 1739-1796

The author was a friend of James Boswell, and the Vicar of St. Gluvias in Penryn, Cornwall.

From the description of Diaries : manuscript, 1780-1791. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 612835415

William Johnston Temple (1739-1796), Church of England clergyman and essayist, friend of James Boswell and Thomas Gray. In 1767 Temple married Anne Stow (1741-1793). The Temples had eight children; one, Francis (1770-1863), became an admiral, and another, Octavius (1784-1834), became lieutenant-governor of Sierra Leone. Temple published numerous works, including Essay on the Clergy (1774); an unauthorized portrait of Gray which appeared in the London Magazine anonymously (1772); and, also anonymously, Moral and Historical Memoirs (1779).

Norton Nicholls (1742-1809) was primarily known for his friendship with Thomas Gray. In the summer of 1770 he and Gray took a journey through the midland counties of Worcestershire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, and Gloucestershire. Nicholls kept the journal of their proceedings, which has not survived. In 1767 he was ordained and then presented to the rectory of Lound and Bradwell, near Lowestoft; he kept the living until his death. His correspondence with Gray, Horace Walpole, and others has been published.

From the description of Letters: to Sir William Johnston Temple, 1763-1794. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702184520