Individual Details
Col James Lethbridge Brooke Templer
(27 May 1846 - 2 Jan 1924)
Extracted from Harrow register of 1911
Left Harrow July 1862 and went to Trinity College Cambridge
Late Col. 7th (Militia) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment
Experts in military ballooning
Served Egyptian war of 1882 as Commandant of BalloonDepartment [medal and Khedive’s Star]
In Sudan expedition 1885 (present at Hasheen; m.l.d; clasp)
He was accused of spying and giving secrets to a foreign power and was court-martialed. During the court-martial it was proved that he was totally innocent and that the accusation was purely malevolent.
In Boer War as Director of Steam Road Transport
Instructor of ballooning at Chatham and Aldershot
Superintendent of Balloon Factory at Aldershot.
Advisor in ballooning to the government and organizer of Steam Road Transport for the Army.
Col 'The Balloonatic' b.1846. Colonel in the Royal Engineers who earned his nickname of the 'Balloonatic' for his pioneer work in the field of military aviation in the 1880's - Templer Tiger of Malaya
Templer, James Lethbridge Brooke
Adm, pens. at TRINITY, Oct 10, 1865. [Eldest] s. of John Charles (1832). B. May 27, 1846, at Greenwich. School, Harrow. 'Matric. Michs. 1865. Capt., Middlesex Militia, 1872; Capt. King's Royal Rifle Corps (T); Major, 1883. In command of a balloon detachment in Egypt, 1885; instructor in ballooning, 1887; Superintendent of the balloon factory at Farnborough. Director of Steam Road Transport in the South African War, 1898-1901. Col., Hon Artillery Co., 1899. Married, 1889, Florence Gilliat, of Chorley Wood, Herts., and had issue, a daughter. Died, Jan, 2, 1924, at Laughton Grange, Lewes. Brother of Frederic G. (1867),George A (1869) and John H. (1866). (Harrow Sch. reg.; Scott, MSS; Army Lists; Who was Who; The Times, Jan 4, 1924
Alumni Cantabrienses - Stuart Drabble 2005
Army List Aug 1878 - Capt James L. B. Templer - 2nd Middlesex or Edmonton Royal Rifle Regiment
Col James Templer
Although the name of Samuel Cody is strongly associated with the earliest days of flying at Farnborough, he was in fact preceded by Colonel James Lethbridge Templer. Templer (1846-1924) pioneered the development and use of balloons for military purposes and can be regarded as the real father of aeronautics research at Farnborough. James Templer was a true aeronautical pioneer, spearheading the design, construction and operation of balloons for military purposes in the U.K, and at times using his own finances to fund the work. He is credited with many developments but his lasting achievement was establishing the Balloon Factory at Farnborough (later became the Royal Aircraft Factory, then the Royal Aircraft Establishment). At his death in 1924, he had served for nearly 30 years on the Council of the RAeS. When the Wright brothers were presented with the RAeS Gold Medal in 1909, he was amongst the nine prominent members seated with the distinguished visitors at the top table
Left Harrow July 1862 and went to Trinity College Cambridge
Late Col. 7th (Militia) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment
Experts in military ballooning
Served Egyptian war of 1882 as Commandant of BalloonDepartment [medal and Khedive’s Star]
In Sudan expedition 1885 (present at Hasheen; m.l.d; clasp)
He was accused of spying and giving secrets to a foreign power and was court-martialed. During the court-martial it was proved that he was totally innocent and that the accusation was purely malevolent.
In Boer War as Director of Steam Road Transport
Instructor of ballooning at Chatham and Aldershot
Superintendent of Balloon Factory at Aldershot.
Advisor in ballooning to the government and organizer of Steam Road Transport for the Army.
Col 'The Balloonatic' b.1846. Colonel in the Royal Engineers who earned his nickname of the 'Balloonatic' for his pioneer work in the field of military aviation in the 1880's - Templer Tiger of Malaya
Templer, James Lethbridge Brooke
Adm, pens. at TRINITY, Oct 10, 1865. [Eldest] s. of John Charles (1832). B. May 27, 1846, at Greenwich. School, Harrow. 'Matric. Michs. 1865. Capt., Middlesex Militia, 1872; Capt. King's Royal Rifle Corps (T); Major, 1883. In command of a balloon detachment in Egypt, 1885; instructor in ballooning, 1887; Superintendent of the balloon factory at Farnborough. Director of Steam Road Transport in the South African War, 1898-1901. Col., Hon Artillery Co., 1899. Married, 1889, Florence Gilliat, of Chorley Wood, Herts., and had issue, a daughter. Died, Jan, 2, 1924, at Laughton Grange, Lewes. Brother of Frederic G. (1867),George A (1869) and John H. (1866). (Harrow Sch. reg.; Scott, MSS; Army Lists; Who was Who; The Times, Jan 4, 1924
Alumni Cantabrienses - Stuart Drabble 2005
Army List Aug 1878 - Capt James L. B. Templer - 2nd Middlesex or Edmonton Royal Rifle Regiment
Col James Templer
Although the name of Samuel Cody is strongly associated with the earliest days of flying at Farnborough, he was in fact preceded by Colonel James Lethbridge Templer. Templer (1846-1924) pioneered the development and use of balloons for military purposes and can be regarded as the real father of aeronautics research at Farnborough. James Templer was a true aeronautical pioneer, spearheading the design, construction and operation of balloons for military purposes in the U.K, and at times using his own finances to fund the work. He is credited with many developments but his lasting achievement was establishing the Balloon Factory at Farnborough (later became the Royal Aircraft Factory, then the Royal Aircraft Establishment). At his death in 1924, he had served for nearly 30 years on the Council of the RAeS. When the Wright brothers were presented with the RAeS Gold Medal in 1909, he was amongst the nine prominent members seated with the distinguished visitors at the top table
Events
| Birth | 27 May 1846 | Greenwich, Kent, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Christen | 30 Jun 1846 | St Alphege, Greenwich, Kent, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Residence | 1851 | Age: 4; RelationToHead: Son - Greenwich, Kent, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Residence | 1861 | Age: 14; RelationToHead: Son - St John the Baptist, Margate, Kent, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Educated | Harrow School, Harrow, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom | ||||
| Educated | 1867 | Trinty College, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Residence | 1871 | Age: 24; RelationToHead: Son - Harrow, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Military | 1882 | Egyptian Expedition - Medal Bronze Star - Egypt | |||
| Military | 1885 | Sudan Expedition Suakin. As Commandant of the Balloon Detachment - Clasp to Bronze Star - Sudan | |||
| Marriage | 12 Jan 1889 | Watford, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom - Florence Henrietta Gilliat | |||
| Residence | 1891 | Age: 44; RelationToHead: Head - Lidsing, Kent, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Military | 1899 - 1902 | Regiment: Steam Road Transport South Africa; RegimentNumber: Ag 2/M/877 - South Africa | |||
| Military service | 1899 - 1902 | Egypt, Sudan, South Africa | |||
| Residence | 1901 | Age: 54; RelationToHead: Head - Aldershot, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Residence | 2 Apr 1911 | Age: 64; MaritalStatus: Married; RelationToHead: Head - Fulham, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Death | 2 Jan 1924 | Lewes, Sussex, England, United Kingdom |  | ||
| Occupation | Colonel - Superintendent of the balloon factory at Farnborough | ||||
| Description | Height 6'3" |
Families
| Spouse | Florence Henrietta Gilliat (1864 - 1954) |
| Child | Ursula Florence Templer (1890 - 1967) |
| Father | John Charles Templer (1814 - 1874) |
| Mother | Hannah Frances Gordon (1813 - 1889) |
| Sibling | Dora Elizabeth Gordon Templer (1844 - 1919) |
| Sibling | John Harvey Templer (1847 - 1922) |
| Sibling | Frederick Gordon Templer (1849 - 1918) |
| Sibling | George Anson Templer (1851 - 1913) |
Notes
Death
Flight magazine 10 Jan 1924THE LATE COLONEL TEMPLER IT is with regret we have to announce the death of a pioneer of military aviation in Colonel James L. B.Templer, who died on January 2 at Laughton Grange, Lewes, aged 78. Colonel Templer will best be remembered for his energetic pioneer work—in the face of much official opposition—in connection with military ballooning and man-lifting kites. It was in the "seventies," when he was a captain in the King's Royal Rifles, that he started his work on ballooning. He formed the first Army School of Ballooning, and made many successful ascents from time to time, during manoeuvres, etc. He formed a balloon corps, of three balloons, which was sent out with Sir Charles Warren's Bechuanaland expedition, and took three balloons himself to the Sudan in 1885, where he was mentioned in despatches for work done at Hasheen. During the South African War he was Director of Steam Road Transport. Mechanical road transport also owes much to Colonel Templer,for he was responsible very largely for its development for Army use. He despatched four balloon sections to South Africa, which did remarkably well. Colonel Templer was responsible for many improvements in connection with balloons and airships. The application of goldbeaters' skin for balloon and airship envelopes, hydrogen production and filling were two important achievements of his. He was largely responsible for the first British Army airship, "Nulli Secundus," in which he flew over London, accompanied by S. F. Cody and Major-General Sir J. E. Capper (then Colonel). About this time he was Superintendent of the Army Balloon Factory at Farnborough. Colonel Templer was the son of John Templer, a Master of the old Court of Exchequer. He was born in 1846, and was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1889 he married Florence Henrietta, third daughter of the late Mr. J. S. Gilliat, M.P.,formerly Governor of the Bank of England, and had a daughter.