The Earldom of Temple was created in the Peerage of Great Britain on 18 October 1749 for Hester, 2nd Viscountess Cobham, a sister of Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham.
His nephew George, 3rd Earl Temple (son of his younger brother George Grenville, who served as Prime Minister), was created Marquess of Buckingham on 4 December 1784.
His son Richard, 2nd Marquess of Buckingham and 4th Earl Temple, was created Duke of Buckingham and Chandos and Earl Temple of Stowe in the Peerage of the United Kingdom on 4 February 1822, the latter title with a special remainder to allow female descendants to succeed.
On the death of the 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos on 26 March 1889, the Dukedom and Marquessate became extinct, as did the Earldom of 1749.
The Earldom of 1822 passed to his nephew William Gore-Langton, son of his sister Lady Anna, and the Viscountcy of Cobham to his fourth cousin once removed, the 5th Lord Lyttelton and Westcote, a great-great-grandson of the younger sister of the 1st Viscount.