William Tempest (1682–1761) was an English barrister and Fellow of the Royal Society.
He was the son of William Tempest, Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas, and his wife Elizabeth Cooke, born 16 April 1682. He was educated at Eton College and matriculated at King's College, Cambridge in 1700. He in turn became Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas.
Tempest was elected to the Royal Society in 1712. There he was in a small group of Fellows regarded in 1718 as expert in "husbandry, gardening and planting" (with Robert Balle, Richard Bradley, John Mortimer and Hans Sloane).[1]
Tempest resided at Shepherds, Cranbrook, Kent. He died on 15 August 1761.
Tempest married in 1707 Elizabeth Hyland, daughter of Samuel Hyland of Bodiam, Sussex.