The old Rector of Silverbridge, who was chairman of the Commission to examine Mr. Crawley as to his possession of the stolen check, and who had a memorable interview with Mrs. Proudie regarding it.

"Dr. Tempest was well known among his parishioners to be hard and unsympathetic, some said unfeeling also, and cruel; but it was admitted by those who disliked him most that he was both practical and just, and that he cared for the welfare of many, though he was rarely touched by the misery of one" -  The Last Chronicle of Barset.

Most prominent in The Last Chronicle of Barset; briefly, as seconding the nomination of Lord Silverbridge as MP for Silverbridge, in The Duke's Children.