The Tempest family was an English recusant family that originated in western Yorkshire (part of which is now eastern Lancashire) in the 12th century.
Tempest baronets of Stella and Stanley, County Durham A branch of the Tempest family of Holmside, County DurhamRobert Surtees, History of Durham, Vol II, p. 271 descended from Nicolas Tempest (1486–1539), described as of Stanley Byers and Stanley Parke, the fourth son of Robert Tempest and Anne Lambton of Holmside. The Tyneside branch of the family at Stella combined agricultural and mercantile interests with large-scale involvement in the coal trade via Newcastle upon Tyne in the late 16th and 17th centuries, with many members being noted recusants, adherents to the old Catholic faith after the Reformation.James, M., Family, Lineage and Civil Society: A Study of Society, Politics and Mentality in the Durham Region, 1500–1640, p. 74
Thomas Tempest (1530–1578) was the son of the above; he married Elizabeth Place of Halnaby, Yorkshire and was of Stanley. His eldest son: Sir Nicolas Tempest, 1st Baronet (1553–1625). He was created a baronet on 23 December 1622 by James I, then being described as of Stella Hall, Blaydon, County Durham, a former monastic property granted to the family by Elizabeth I c1600. SurteesR. Surtees, History of Durham, Vol II, p. 270 suggests that the "Tempests resided here in catholic splendour and loyalty during the reign of four Stuart kings" indicating a steadfast adherence to the Roman Catholic faith at Stella during the whole of the 17th century.
Bishop Toby Matthew of Durham described Tempest as "as much a church papist as any in England",R. Surtees, History of Durham, Vol II, p. 322 although this may have been due to the influence of his wife, Isabel Lambton (1552–1623). Arrested and committed to Durham gaol as a recusant in 1599 the Bishop's attempts at prosecution were thwarted by the intervention of Lord Eure, her uncle, and a member of the Council of the North prompting him to write that "nothing in Newcastle can prevail against him (Tempest), he being in affinity and consanguinity with both factions there". The hostility of the bishops persisted until Tempest's death in 1625 preventing him from taking post as Sheriff of Newcastle and as a JP on the Durham bench.Alan Rounding, Northern Catholic History, No. 38, p. 28, 1987 He was apprenticed to Cuthbert Musgrave, Boothman, of Newcastle in 1560.Apprentice Records of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Sir Thomas Tempest, 2nd Baronet (c. 1581–1641). He was the eldest son of the above; he married Troth Tempest (1596-16??), daughter of Sir Richard Tempest Kt. of Bracewell, Yorkshire, a distant relative. He appears to have convinced Bishop Neile of Durham of his Protestantism and appeared as JP and Master of the Muster for the Chester-le-Street ward of Durham. He and his brother Henry were confirmed non-recusants by the ecclesiastical commissioners in 1630 when compounding on behalf of Dionysia Bulmer upon her conviction.
Sir Richard Tempest, 3rd Baronet (1619–1662). He was the eldest son of the above; he was a leading Royalist during the Civil War. A lawyer, he was admitted to Lincolns Inn in 1636. As Colonel of a Regiment of Horse under Marmaduke Langdale in 1648, he was captured by Robert Lilburne in the action at Cartington Castle, Northumberland but contrived to escape after breakfast. He spent some time in exile in France and the Stella estate suffered sequestration. This was discharged in 1652 and the property conveyed to his unmarried uncle Henry. He married Sarah Campbell, daughter of the Lord Mayor of London, in 1641.
Sir Thomas Tempest, 4th Baronet (1642–1691), eldest son of the above. Educated at the English College, Douai. He married twice, firstly to Elizabeth Braithwaite (1637–1669) of Warcop, Cumbria and, after his first wife's death, secondly in 1677 to Alice Hodgson (1641–1685). Following his second marriage he openly adopted the Catholic faith, being charged with absenting himself from the parish church. A Catholic priest, Fr. John Bennet (OSB), was established at Stella effective 1688. Sir Thomas established a library of religious books to be found in the Harlien collection of the British Library and at Ushaw College.
Sir Francis Tempest, 5th Baronet (1678–1698). He was the only son of the above. Educated at Jesuit College of St. Louis le Grand Paris. Died young at Montpelier and was succeeded by his father's cousin.
Sir Nicolas Tempest, 6th Baronet (1664–1742). He inherited the title but not the estates of Stella which passed to Jane Tempest, sister of the above and wife of William Widdrington, 4th Baron Widdrington, who was attainted for his part in the 1715 Jacobite rising. He married Ann Price. He is interred at Tanfield, Durham.
Arms Argent a bend engrailed between six martlets Sable. Crest on a wreath a martlet SableR. Surtees, History of Durham, Vol. II, p. 271.
Tempest of Old Durham and Wynyard A branch of the Tempest family of Stella Hall, Blaydon, County Durham, descended from Rowland Tempest, third son of Thomas Tempest, and his wife, Elizabeth, and brother to Sir Nicolas Tempest (1553–1625), 1st Baronet of Stella.Surtees, Robert. History of Durham, Vol IV, p. 93 Successive members engaged political careers representing the county or City of Durham from 1675 until 1813.
Rowland Tempest was a merchant and hostman (or fitter) of Newcastle, involved in the shipment of coal. The records of the Hostman's Company list the volume of trade in 1602 as 9,085 tons in 85 keels, of which Rowland ships 250 in 1.5.M.Richardson, A. Local Historians Table Book of Remarkable Occurrences Connected with the Counties of Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland and Durham, Published 5 Vols. 1844Galloway, R. L. Annals of Coal Mining and the Coal Trade, 1898 He married Barbara, daughter of Thomas Calverley of Littlebourne, Durham, sister of Sir John Calverley Kt.
Sir Thomas Tempest Kt. (1594-died after 1652), eldest son of the above was a Durham lawyer. Educated Queens College, matric. 23 November 1610, aged 16.Foster, J. Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714. Barrister at Law, Lincoln's Inn 1620, a bencher 1636. He acted as Attorney General of the Bishopric of Durham (c. 1634–1640) and in October 1640 as Attorney-General for Ireland in succession to Sir Richard Osbaldeston when he described is as a Recorder, of Lincoln's Inn. He was knighted at Dublin in December, the same year.DCRO, CCB B/189/17/1 (220506), 15 November 1634.
In County Durham he purchased the manors of The Isle, south west of Bradbury (1635) and Swainston, north of Wynyard and Embleton, from his Calverley and Bulmer relatives (1628). He married, firstly, in 1620, his distant relative, Eleanor Tempest,It is likely Eleanor was a Catholic. Her father had presented scholarships to the College of Douai training centre for seminary priests who risked their lives on English missions. Two Robert Tempests, her uncle and cousin may have been such in 1625 and 1640 whilst her aunt Anne was fined as a recusant in 1577 and 1620. daughter of William Tempest and Eizabeth More of Sommerton, OxfordshireOne outlying farm Troy Farm possessing a well preserved turf maze dates from the 16th century and was probably built on the site of the manor house known as Sommerton occupied in the 16th century by William Tempest (Victoria County History of Oxford). and secondly in 1633 Elizabeth widow of Robert Crewes of Soper Lane, St. Pancras. His brother Francis is listed as Barrister at Law, Gray's Inn and was Recorder of Durham 1642.
John Tempest (1623–1697), only son of the above. Born in Oxford, educated at The Queen's College, Oxford, matriculated 17 November 1637, aged 14. Styled of The Isle and, in right of his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Heath, of Old Durham.
A leading Royalist, during the Civil War he commanded a Regiment of Foot in the Marquess of Newcastle's army.The Royalist Army in Northern England, 1642–45, Ph.D thesis, University of York, 1978) During 1644 his regiment fought at Northallerton, where its Lt. Colonel Gerard Salvin was killed and in July at Marston Moor where the royalist cause in the north was irretrievably lost. Retreating into Lancashire with the remnants of Prince Rupert's forces he joined the small band of volunteers defending Lathom House, home of the Earl of Derby. Despite fierce resistance this was forced to capitulate December 1645 with the defenders allowed to march to the nearest friendly forces. John Tempest occurs as Governor and defender of Skipton Castle which surrendered to Parliament 21 December 1645.This was the second siege. The house was eventually captured by the Roundhead General Egerton on 6 December 1645
Labeled an "obstinate delinquent" by the Parliamentary Commissioners alongside his father and father-in-law who compounded for their estates in 1647. He himself did so in 1649. With his cousin, Sir Richard Tempest Bt. of Stella, he took part in the second Civil War and is listed among the prisoners following the action at Cartington Castle, Northumberland in 1648.He or his cousin Sir Richard may be the Colonel Tempest surprised and captured with a party of Royalist horse at Whalley near Clitheroe prior to the Battle of Preston later that year
During the Commonwealth, in 1656 he is mentioned by Marmaduke Langdale as among those Cavaliers of the Bishopric whom he deems "eminently reliable" and conversely by Cromwell's agents as the "leader of a cabal whose members include Col. Ralph Millot and William Davison". After the restoration of Charles II he was nominated a Knight of the Royal Oak in 1661, the order being "set aside for fear of inciting the heats and jealousies of the late times". In October 1662 he was appointed by John Cosin, Bishop of Durham, as a Deputy Lord Lieutenant and Receiver for County Durham, he seems already to have been Colonel of the Train Bands as on 17 September 1662 he is ordered by the Bishop to "search houses and arrest George Lilburne and Thomas Brown of Sunderland". The former was Mayor of Sunderland and brother of the Parliamentarian, General Robert Lilburne of Thickley, the most powerful man in Durham in the 1650s.
From 1666, along with other Durham freeholders, Tempest petitioned for representation for the county, as distinct from the City, of Durham in Parliament, a privilege steadfastly opposed by the Bishop. A successful bill was eventually brought and on 21 June 1675 after a three-day election, John Tempest was declared elected as the first Member of Parliament for the County. An anonymous libel on the Earl of Danby's organisation published in 1677 observes that "John Tempest a papist, a pensioner and a court dinner man hath secured a customers place at Hull for his son".20 January 1675 – Grant for John Tempest and Rowland Tempest, sons of Colonel John Tempest to be Customers of Hull port in reversion after Sir Matthew Appleyard and Thomas Lyons. 29 May 1688 – Royal Warrant to the Attorney General constituting Rowland Tempest and John Tempest to customers of Hull in place of Matthew Appleyard. They claim the office by a grant from Charles II dated 1 May 1676 (Calendar of State Papers, 1676).
He was returned again in the election of 1678. On 17 January 1678 he is appointed as Newcastle Commissioner for sea coals and on 21 March the same year receives a grant of searcher of the port. In 1680 he and his son William Tempest sold The Isle to William Bigg. In 1680 and 1683 he is listed as a witness as to the Roundhead sympathies of John Blakiston of Newcastle and a JP, son of the regicide John Blakiston.Calendar of State Papers, 30 May 1680