Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple

Who was Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple?

Hester Temple, 1st Countess Temple, 2nd Viscountess Cobham was an English noblewoman.

She was born the daughter of Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Bt., of Stowe, Buckinghamshire. She married Richard Grenville of Wotton in Buckinghamshire and became the mother of five sons, all of whom served as members of parliament, including Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple and prime minister George Grenville. One of her daughters was the wife of Pitt the elder and mother of Pitt the younger, both prime ministers of the United Kingdom. Another grandson, William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, also became prime minister of the UK.

Hester was the sister of Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, whose title she inherited under a special remainder in 1749; in the same year, her husband being long dead, she was created 1st Countess Temple. Cobham had excluded from succession Temple West and Gilbert West, his nephews who were sons of Richard West and his elder sister Maria; and also his other sister Penelope.