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Temple Stanyan

Temple Stanyan (1675–1752) was an English civil servant, politician and writer. He is most known for his Grecian History, first published in 1707, which became a standard work on the history of ancient Greece in the early part of the 18th century.

Stanyan was born on 8 February 1675 at Monken Hadley, then part of Middlesex. He was one of eight children of Lawrence Stanyan (d. 1725), merchant, farmer, and commissioner of the revenue, of Monken Hadley, and Dorothy Stanyan (nee Knapp). One of his older brothers was Abraham Stanyan, who would later serve as the British ambassador to Switzerland, the Ottoman Empire and to Austria. Stanyan's uncle-by-marriage (the husband of an aunt) was Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet, after whom he may have been named.

Stanyan entered Westminster School in 1691 as a Queen's Scholar. He enrolled at Christ Church, Oxford in June 1695 but did not take a degree. In May 1697, Sir Richard Temple died and Stanyan inherited one of his properties, Rawlins Manor (Woodcote Manor) in Oxfordshire.

Stanyan entered government service after leaving Oxford and by 1715 was under-secretary for the Northern Department (the department responsible for foreign relations with Northern European countries). He transferred to the Southern Department (the department for Southern Europe) as under-secretary in 1717, but he lost this position a year later. In 1719, he became Clerk of the Privy Council, succeeding his brother Abraham in the post. In 1724, he also regained the under-secretaryship at the Southern Department.

Stanyan became a Fellow of the Royal Society on 12 May 1726, after being proposed by Francis Nicholson. Abraham Stanyan was a prominent member of the Kit Kat Club, as was his cousin Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham and some sources state Temple was also a member.

In 1731, he was succeeded as Clerk of the Privy Council by Gilbert West, leaving the Southern Department in 1735.

Stanyan married three times. His first wife, Elizabeth Boys (née Shirley), was the widow of William Boys. His married his second wife, Susannah Hobbs (bap. 1689, d. 1725), on 3 January 1721. His third marriage was to Grace Pauncefort (1692/3–1768).

Stanyan died at his seat, Rawlins Manor, on 25 March 1752 and was buried at the church of St Peter and St Paul, Checkendon, there is a memorial to him inside the church.

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