Temple was born to a Whig family in the family estate of Stowe, located in Buckinghamshire. After attending Eton College and Cambridge University, Temple entered the military. However, at the age of 21, he inherited the title of Baronet of Stowe from his ancestry. By the age of 26, he was a lieutenant colonel, and he became a lieutenant general at 34, which was an extremely young age. He had especially distinguished himself, like many other famous officers, during the Duke of Marlborough's campaigns in the War of the Spanish Succession, especially during the Siege at Lille. He married heiress Anne Halsey, whose rich ancestry allowed him to extensively work on the estate of Stowe, while buying off two cousins to keep them from inheriting the estate. When King George I ascended to the throne, he awarded Temple various peerages, first Baron Cobham, then Viscount Cobham.
Stowe's socioeconomic position moved high with the receipt of these styles and monies. In 1711, he made drastic changes to the estate of Stowe. As he made extensive renovations to the estate, he called upon the royal gardener, Charles Bridgeman, and his friend, John Vanbrugh, a skilled architect. When Vanbrugh died in 1726, though, he was replaced by another skill architect, James Gibbs. Meanwhile, he had become a Permanent Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire. However, when he began disagreeing with Prime Minister Robert Walpole, he moved to the opposition party, probably causing his replacement by the Duke of Marlborough. Nevertheless, he was eventually given the rank of field marshal, specifically on March 28, 1742.
{| border="2" align="center"
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|width="30%" align="center"|Preceded by:
New Creation
|width="40%" align="center"|Viscount Cobham
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan="2"|Followed by:
Richard Grenville-Temple
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