Individual Details
George Templer HEIC
(13 Oct 1755 - 14 Jul 1819)
George, the third son, was baptised at Rotherhithe on 2 November 1755 when 20 days old.
He was admitted to Lincolns Inn, and then, no doubt inspired by his father's journey and work in India, adopted an early career in the East India Company Civil Service in Bengal. He was also a Calcutta merchant and made a fortune. He founded and invested most of his wealth in the Middlesex Bank which broke later.
In 1781, he married Jane Paul, the daughter of Henry Paul of West Monkton, Somerset. They had three sons, George Henry, John William, John Ackland and a daughter, Sophia An.
George could not have remained in India for long, for by 1788, his thoughts had turned to Somerset the county of his ancestors and that of his wife. He now acquired the manor of Shapwick from Dennis Rolle. This was the year after the rebuilding of Teigngrace church.
In 1790 he decided to enter politics and represented Honiton as its M.P. until 1796. He returned to India and died there at the age of 65. He was survived by his wife who died in 1847.
Ron Lewin - 1983
Writer EICS (Bengal) 1773
Assist Deputy Commissioner General 1774
Factor and Contractor of Elephants 1779
Commissioner for regulating the price of grain 1783
Senior Merchant 1784
Returned to England in 1785 and became a partner in the firm Edwards,Smith, Templer and Co, London, bankers who failed in 1816.
MP for Honiton Jun 1790 - May 1796
Returned to India 13 May 1817
Commercial Resident in Jungpore 1818
One of the donors of the Warren Hastings Cup
Westminster School Records
CURRICULUM VITAE - (Updated 8th January, 1989.)
1755 Born in Rotherhithe, Kent.
1768 Educated at Westminster School. King's Scholar in 1770.
1773 Entered the Civil Service of the East India Company, and arrivedin India as a Writer.
1774 Appointed Assistant Deputy Commissary General.
1779 Appointed Factor and Contractor for Elephants.
1781 5th March, George married in Calcutta, Jane Paul, eldest daughter of Henry Paul of West Monkton, Somerset. Henry Paul was also in the service of the HEIC, and his daughter, Jane, went out to India in the "Halsewell', the very same ship in which her brother-in-law, Charles Beckford, was wrecked and drowned off the Dorset coast some 5 years later.
1782 On 4th January (?), George's eldest son, George Henry, was born in Calcutta, and baptised there on 25th January.
1783 George was appointed Junior Merchant, without employ. 'Junior Merchant without employ probably meant that George was permitted to trade on his own account as well as for the East India Company.
1783 George became member of the Grain Committee.
1784 George appointed Senior Merchant, but in the same year he returned to England, by this time a very wealthy man. He was a friend of Warren Hastings and corresponded with him regularly between 1784 and 1817. He was also a friend of Thomas Graham, his wife's sister's husband, who became President of the Board of Revenue in Bengal, and was on the Supreme Council for India from 1774-1818. He corresponded with him on HEIC business between 1786 and 1818.
1785 Shapwick House and the estate was purchased from Denis Rolle. The location was presumably influenced by the presence of his wife's family not too far away at West Monkton. George was involved in projects to drain the local Somerset marshes and improve the sea defences. These were the same marshes where Alfred the Great hid from the Danes and burnt the cakes! George's purchase of Shapwick took him back to the same part of Somerset from which his ancestors had originated, but had left in Tudor times, but it is doubtful if George was aware of this. Like many wealthy people of the day, he lived in style, and even had his own crockery, produced in China, which incorporated the family Coat of Arms. This was in addition to the usual crested silver cutlery etc.
1788 Eldest daughter, Sophia Anne, born, and baptised on 14th January at Teigngrace Church.
1790 George entered Parliament as Tory M.P. for Honiton. George's opponent in the Parliamentary Election was James Fraser who petitioned Parliament against George's return, accusing him of bribery and corruption. Honiton only had 500 electors and it was said that George had paid them 4 guineas each to vote for him. He still only won by 3 votes! On 23rd March 1792, the Parliamentary Committee that had been appointed to investigated the allegations, reported that George Templer was duly elected, but that the petition was 'NOT frivolous or vexatious!'
1793 Along with some other wealthy Nabobs, George established a bank, known as "Edward, Smith, Templer, Middleton, Johnson and Wedgwood". This bank is sometimes know as 'The London and Middlesex Bank.
1794 The name 'Smith' removed from registered name of the bank. George's second son, John William, born on 26th November. From time to time George was was a shareholder of HEIC.
1795 George decides to leave Parliament, and does not stand at the 1795 election. During his time in Parliament he never made a single speech, and there is some suggestion that he did not enjoy being an M.P. He confided as much to a friend.
1797 His third and youngest son, James Acland, born.
1804 George's daughter, Sophia Anne, married on 24th August, her 1st cousin, Sir William Templer Pole, Bart., the son of George's sister, Anne. (Lady de la Pole).
1806 Name of bank changed again to 'Davison, Noel, Templer, Middleton and Wedgwood.
1807 George's eldest son, George Henry, married on 21st May, Anna Graham, daughter of Thomas Graham of Kinross, George's brother-in-law and old friend from HEIC days. George Henry, and Anna were first cousins, but his was not unusual in those days. George Henry had taken Holy Orders and his father gave him the living of Shapwick.
1808 Sophia Anne, George's daughter, dies on 17th March having produced a number of de la Pole children.
1816 The bank broke. Tradition has it that in a rash moment the Board decided to go into insurance and accordingly provided cover for a fleet of HEIC ships. Many of these were subsequently wrecked on the Scilly Isles, and all the main shareholders were called upon to cover the losses. GT could only do this by selling Shapwick. The residual assets of the bank were bought by Coutts & Co. (now part of Natwest).
George's second son, John William, married on 18th June in Calcutta, Charlotte Wintle, second daughter of James Wintle of the Bengal Civil Service.
1817 George was one of the donors of the Warren Hastings cup at Westminster School. On 13th May, he returned to India with his wife, having been given by the HEIC the unprecedented concession of re-appointment at his old rank. On arrival received a subsistence allowance only, pending the availability of a trading vacancy.
1818 George was appointed Commercial Resident, Jungpore. There are some reports that GT was at some time in his career variously on the Supreme Council for India, and also Sheriff of Calcutta.
1819 20th July, (some reports say 14th), George died of a fever in Jungpore, and is buried there. His wife wound up his estate in Bengal and returned to England. She then went to live at Shute with her sister-in-law, Dame Anne de la Pole, and in due course died there on 27th June, 1847, aged 86. She is buried in the de la Pole vault at Shute. She was apparently a beautiful woman, and even in her old age was described as a 'very pretty old lady".
He was admitted to Lincolns Inn, and then, no doubt inspired by his father's journey and work in India, adopted an early career in the East India Company Civil Service in Bengal. He was also a Calcutta merchant and made a fortune. He founded and invested most of his wealth in the Middlesex Bank which broke later.
In 1781, he married Jane Paul, the daughter of Henry Paul of West Monkton, Somerset. They had three sons, George Henry, John William, John Ackland and a daughter, Sophia An.
George could not have remained in India for long, for by 1788, his thoughts had turned to Somerset the county of his ancestors and that of his wife. He now acquired the manor of Shapwick from Dennis Rolle. This was the year after the rebuilding of Teigngrace church.
In 1790 he decided to enter politics and represented Honiton as its M.P. until 1796. He returned to India and died there at the age of 65. He was survived by his wife who died in 1847.
Ron Lewin - 1983
Writer EICS (Bengal) 1773
Assist Deputy Commissioner General 1774
Factor and Contractor of Elephants 1779
Commissioner for regulating the price of grain 1783
Senior Merchant 1784
Returned to England in 1785 and became a partner in the firm Edwards,Smith, Templer and Co, London, bankers who failed in 1816.
MP for Honiton Jun 1790 - May 1796
Returned to India 13 May 1817
Commercial Resident in Jungpore 1818
One of the donors of the Warren Hastings Cup
Westminster School Records
CURRICULUM VITAE - (Updated 8th January, 1989.)
1755 Born in Rotherhithe, Kent.
1768 Educated at Westminster School. King's Scholar in 1770.
1773 Entered the Civil Service of the East India Company, and arrivedin India as a Writer.
1774 Appointed Assistant Deputy Commissary General.
1779 Appointed Factor and Contractor for Elephants.
1781 5th March, George married in Calcutta, Jane Paul, eldest daughter of Henry Paul of West Monkton, Somerset. Henry Paul was also in the service of the HEIC, and his daughter, Jane, went out to India in the "Halsewell', the very same ship in which her brother-in-law, Charles Beckford, was wrecked and drowned off the Dorset coast some 5 years later.
1782 On 4th January (?), George's eldest son, George Henry, was born in Calcutta, and baptised there on 25th January.
1783 George was appointed Junior Merchant, without employ. 'Junior Merchant without employ probably meant that George was permitted to trade on his own account as well as for the East India Company.
1783 George became member of the Grain Committee.
1784 George appointed Senior Merchant, but in the same year he returned to England, by this time a very wealthy man. He was a friend of Warren Hastings and corresponded with him regularly between 1784 and 1817. He was also a friend of Thomas Graham, his wife's sister's husband, who became President of the Board of Revenue in Bengal, and was on the Supreme Council for India from 1774-1818. He corresponded with him on HEIC business between 1786 and 1818.
1785 Shapwick House and the estate was purchased from Denis Rolle. The location was presumably influenced by the presence of his wife's family not too far away at West Monkton. George was involved in projects to drain the local Somerset marshes and improve the sea defences. These were the same marshes where Alfred the Great hid from the Danes and burnt the cakes! George's purchase of Shapwick took him back to the same part of Somerset from which his ancestors had originated, but had left in Tudor times, but it is doubtful if George was aware of this. Like many wealthy people of the day, he lived in style, and even had his own crockery, produced in China, which incorporated the family Coat of Arms. This was in addition to the usual crested silver cutlery etc.
1788 Eldest daughter, Sophia Anne, born, and baptised on 14th January at Teigngrace Church.
1790 George entered Parliament as Tory M.P. for Honiton. George's opponent in the Parliamentary Election was James Fraser who petitioned Parliament against George's return, accusing him of bribery and corruption. Honiton only had 500 electors and it was said that George had paid them 4 guineas each to vote for him. He still only won by 3 votes! On 23rd March 1792, the Parliamentary Committee that had been appointed to investigated the allegations, reported that George Templer was duly elected, but that the petition was 'NOT frivolous or vexatious!'
1793 Along with some other wealthy Nabobs, George established a bank, known as "Edward, Smith, Templer, Middleton, Johnson and Wedgwood". This bank is sometimes know as 'The London and Middlesex Bank.
1794 The name 'Smith' removed from registered name of the bank. George's second son, John William, born on 26th November. From time to time George was was a shareholder of HEIC.
1795 George decides to leave Parliament, and does not stand at the 1795 election. During his time in Parliament he never made a single speech, and there is some suggestion that he did not enjoy being an M.P. He confided as much to a friend.
1797 His third and youngest son, James Acland, born.
1804 George's daughter, Sophia Anne, married on 24th August, her 1st cousin, Sir William Templer Pole, Bart., the son of George's sister, Anne. (Lady de la Pole).
1806 Name of bank changed again to 'Davison, Noel, Templer, Middleton and Wedgwood.
1807 George's eldest son, George Henry, married on 21st May, Anna Graham, daughter of Thomas Graham of Kinross, George's brother-in-law and old friend from HEIC days. George Henry, and Anna were first cousins, but his was not unusual in those days. George Henry had taken Holy Orders and his father gave him the living of Shapwick.
1808 Sophia Anne, George's daughter, dies on 17th March having produced a number of de la Pole children.
1816 The bank broke. Tradition has it that in a rash moment the Board decided to go into insurance and accordingly provided cover for a fleet of HEIC ships. Many of these were subsequently wrecked on the Scilly Isles, and all the main shareholders were called upon to cover the losses. GT could only do this by selling Shapwick. The residual assets of the bank were bought by Coutts & Co. (now part of Natwest).
George's second son, John William, married on 18th June in Calcutta, Charlotte Wintle, second daughter of James Wintle of the Bengal Civil Service.
1817 George was one of the donors of the Warren Hastings cup at Westminster School. On 13th May, he returned to India with his wife, having been given by the HEIC the unprecedented concession of re-appointment at his old rank. On arrival received a subsistence allowance only, pending the availability of a trading vacancy.
1818 George was appointed Commercial Resident, Jungpore. There are some reports that GT was at some time in his career variously on the Supreme Council for India, and also Sheriff of Calcutta.
1819 20th July, (some reports say 14th), George died of a fever in Jungpore, and is buried there. His wife wound up his estate in Bengal and returned to England. She then went to live at Shute with her sister-in-law, Dame Anne de la Pole, and in due course died there on 27th June, 1847, aged 86. She is buried in the de la Pole vault at Shute. She was apparently a beautiful woman, and even in her old age was described as a 'very pretty old lady".
Events
| Birth | 13 Oct 1755 | Rotherhithe, Surrey, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Christen | 2 Nov 1755 | St Mary, Rotherhithe, Surrey, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Educated | Bet 10 Oct 1768 and 1770 | Westminster School | |||
| Education | 1770 | King's Scholar. | |||
| Fact 1 | 1773 | Arrived in India. | |||
| Fact 2 | 1774 | Assistant Deputy Commissiary General. | |||
| Fact 3 | 1779 | Factor and Contractor for Elephants. | |||
| Marriage | 5 Mar 1781 | Calcutta, West Bengal, India - Jane Paul | |||
| Fact 4 | 1782 | Junior Merchant. | |||
| Fact 6 | 1783 | Appointed member of grain Committee. | |||
| Fact 5 | 1783 | Junior Merchant without employ. | |||
| Occupation | 1784 | Retired | |||
| Fact 7 | 1784 | Appointed Senior Merchant. | |||
| Residence | 1785 | Purchased Shapwick House, Somerset. | |||
| Election | 1790 | Entered Parliament - Tory MP - Honiton, Devon, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Fact 8 | 1793 | Started, with partners, a bank. | |||
| Fact 9 | 1816 | Bank goes bust. Shapwick sold. | |||
| Fact 10 | 1817 | Reappointed to old position in HEIC. | |||
| Fact 11 | 1818 | Made Commercial Resident, Jungapore. | |||
| Death | 14 Jul 1819 | Died of Fever - Jungapore, India | |||
| Death | 20 Jul 1819 | Janakpur, Madhya Pradesh, India |
Families
| Spouse | Jane Paul (1760 - 1847) |
| Child | Rev George Henry Templer (1782 - 1849) |
| Child | Sophia Anne Templer (1788 - 1808) |
| Child | Jane Maria Templer (1792 - ) |
| Child | John William Templer HEIC (1794 - 1873) |
| Child | Rev James Acland Templer (1796 - 1866) |
| Father | James Templer (1722 - 1782) |
| Mother | Mary Parlby (1728 - 1784) |
| Sibling | James Templer (1748 - 1813) |
| Sibling | Rev John Templer (1750 - 1832) |
| Sibling | William Templer (1752 - 1777) |
| Sibling | Anne Templer (1757 - 1832) |
| Sibling | Susanna Templer (1760 - 1761) |
| Sibling | Henry Templer (1760 - 1761) |
| Sibling | Edward Templer (1762 - 1764) |
| Sibling | Lt Col Henry Line Templer (1763 - 1818) |
| Sibling | Sophia Sarah Templer (1765 - 1769) |
| Sibling | Charles Beckford Templer (1770 - 1786) |