Individual Details
Henry Line Templer
(14 Sep 1831 - 27 Aug 1857)
Henry Line Templer, the youngest son of John Line Templer, was baptised on 24 December 1833 at Ugborough.
Probably influenced by his older brother, William (JX), who was lost at sea just at the time Henry Line Templer started his career or by his brother-in-law Paymaster Sutherland (JW) and mindful of the loss ofhis great-uncle, Charles Beckford Templer on the 'Halsewell' in 1796,he embarked on a naval career. He was appointed Acting Mate and joined H.M.S.'Sybille' at Devonport as a Mate on 18 July 1853.This was seven weeks after the ship commissioned, He had not passed in seamanship and one must speculate whether this affected his later career, especially that on H.M.S 'Trident'.
Commanded by the Hon. Charles G.I.B. Elliot, H.M.S.Sybille had an establishment of 350 officers and men, including 39 boys and 50 marines. She left Plymouth on 12 August 1853 for the Far East, arriving at Funchal Bay on 2 September, 3 weeks later, and Simons Bay on 18 October. She remained there for a period until the end of October, sailed round the Cape of Good Hope and arrived at Trincomalee on 13 December. Already several of her crew had died or been killed through accidents, and others were to follow. On each day from 29 December to 1 January there was one death. Naval life at that time, even without battles, was totally unsure. Early January saw the ship arriving in the Madras Roads, and by the end of the month it was up the Hoogly River and in the vicinity of Calcutta. There followed a return journey down the East Coast of India to Trincomalee, reached early in March. Then eastwards to Singapore, reached on the 25 April. The ship now operated on the eastern shores of the Indian Ocean - Batavia Bay, Sarnarang Bay - throughout the summer. The full log of H.M.S.Sybille for this period is given in Appendix N.
On 19 August 1854, Henry Line was discharged to the shore at Singapore at his own request. We do not know the reason for this rather surprising development - surprising for its being asked and apparently readily granted. Perhaps Henry Line had found ashore a Eurasian 'Frances Elizabeth'!!
Anyway we currently know no more of his career for over two years. There is some inconsistency between the Navy List and the Ship's Logs of H.M.S. Sybille and H.M.S. Impregnable, his Depot Ship at Plymouth, as regards Henry Line. The latter are undoubtedly more reliable. The Navy List refers to his joining H.M.S. Winchester on 10 January 1854 but this was impossible as he was then on Sybille at Madras while Winchester was in the Hong Kong area. There is no indication anywhere in the log that he was intended to go to 'Winchester' although Sybille carried several individuals who were so intended. A switch of personnel from and to 'Winchester' occurred in August 1854, but it seems that she was not present at Singapore then since Mr Scott was discharged 'for passage' to her.
We are now left with a hiatus in Henry Line's career for we know no mere of him until the end of 1856 when he was on leave in England. He may or may not have joined 'Winchester' in Chinese and Japanese waters during this time. Further investigation of Winchester's Log during the period is needed. There is no reference to Henry Line in her log up to August 1854,
During his leave, he associated with Frances Elizabeth Honychurch, the daughter of Thomas Honychurch, formerly a potter and part owner of the Folly Pottery at Bovey Tracey. Circumstantial evidence points to the fact that the Honychurch and Templer families must have been acquainted prior to 1856. Henry Line's father, John Line and his grandfather had lived at Teigngrace early in the 1800's; Frances Elizabeth's father and her grandfather John had acquired and run the Bovey Tracey Pottery at the same time. Teigngrace and Bovey Tracey were ¾ miles apart. The pottery required clay of which there was abundance in the Teigngrace/Bovey Tracey area. George Templer first cousin to Henry Line Templer's father, John Line owned most of the local clay pits. Finally, the father of Henry Line (JY) and also his grandfather were J.P.'s in Devon while the grandfather of Frances Elizabeth was a magistrate in Exeter. The social status of country gentlemen applied to both families, at any rate at the turn of the 19th century.
The period of leave ended on 22 December 1856 when Henry Line Templer reported from shore to H.M.S.Impregnable, the Depot hulk at Devonport, for passage to H.M.S.Scourge. For some reason the draft was cancelled, seemingly abruptly, and changed to H.M.S.Trident. Had this not occurred, then the course of our Honychurch history might have proved very different.
Henry Line joined H.M.S. Trident on 17 January 1857, the day after he was reported leaving Impregnable. Trident was then at or near Devonport. She had been at Woolwich in the hands of the Dockyard authorities commissioning under a Commander Close on 28 November 1856. She had put in at Portsmouth for certain repairs, mainly to rotten woodwork, and then proceeded to Plymouth, arriving in the Sound early on 16 January.
Trident was a sloop of 6 guns, 350 horse power, 850 bm, 180 feet x 313 feet with iron paddles, built in 1845 at Blackwall by Ditchburne and Mare. She was capable of movement by sail or steam, and was broken up in 1866.
The voyages of the Trident around the West Coast of Africa in 1857 are fascinating. The condition of the ship was poor and morale scarcely any better. Five days out from Plymouth, the main masthead was found to be rotten under iron plates. Three months later the mast was renewed at Ascension Island. The Captain in his log between November 1856 and June 1857 reported the vessel as ' dull under sail, steams well, much weakness and decay in upper woodwork - not seaworthy in bad weather. For want of proper supply of boats is very helpless, no boat being fit for coaling or to carry out a bower anchor.' Insubordination even among the officers was common place, and petty jealousies often apparent in the log. Discipline was harsh, however. A stoker had 48 lashings in Plymouth Sound and an ordinary seaman a similar number ten weeks later. There is evidence that little regard was at times paid to the safety or welfare of the crew, particularly in connection with the salvaging of the cargo from the 'Agnes' in mid '1857. One Lieutenant was court-martialled and discharged, but we do not know if it was related to the 'Agnes' affair.
The duties of the Trident off the West African coast in 1857 were predominantly to prevent slave-running. This was then common place with the coast of Brazil. Often a mother-ship would lower a boat for patrol purposes and then go off to another part of the coast to lower another boat, picking up each boat and its crew again after 48 hours or so.Trident was frequently used to convey the British Consul from his post in Fernando Po to the various river estuaries in what is now termed the Gulf of Biafra. At the end of June 1857 there was an interesting assignment in connection with the detention of three Englishmen six months previously by the local native chiefs in the Càmeroon River area.Unfortunately Trident's log does not disclose the final outcome or the fate of the Englishmen. The Consul's reports and records in the Colonial Office P.R.O. records may do so. Perhaps they ended up in Chief Priaso Bell's cooking pot!!
Live animals were carried on board the ship which were later slaughtered for meat.
On 1 March 1857, the ship is reported off Trade Town. There is reason to believe that this was situated midway between Monravia and the River Sanguin, and it may therefore be what is now called Buchanan.
So much for a general brief resume of the voyage in 1857. The full log of Trident for the period is given in Appendix G.
Now what of Henry Line Templer's part' Some entries in the log are by Henry Line himself. They are initialled 'H.L.T.'. One that is certainly not his occurs on 16 June 1857. 'Mr H. Templer (Mate) was placed under arrest for being drunk and incapable of doing his duty while the hands were on deck. Mr Templer would not go below when ordered three times by Commander Close and not until the Corporal of Marines was ordered to take Mr Templer below'. Earlier that same day an AB had fallen overboard and had drowned. One must speculate whether Henry Line's misdemeanour might not have been provoked by this earlier incident. And did he then have some intuition of his own fate some two months later' Curiously there is no entry showing when he was released from arrest, though such items are given in other cases. We know, however, that he was free on 13 July when he took the Consul ashore for a day and a half in the second gig.
One might speculate too as to whether Henry Line was aggrieved while on Trident because more junior officers had been promoted over his head. The two Lieutenants were C. O'D. Allingham and F.O. Handfield, with seniorities 25 November 1856 and 15 December 1856 respectively. Allingham had been a Mate with seniority 16 May 1854 against Henry Line's 1st June 1853, and while the latter had been Mate, Allingham had been Acting Mate. The lack of promotion for Henry Line may be attributable to his earlier failure to pass in seamanship and perhaps this failure later led to his death.
There were two occasions at least when mail was sent from the Trident to England. Did anything go to Francis Elizabeth' There is no indication that any mail was received from home and hence that any correspondence would be found later in the effects of Henry Line. Such would have proved of great value in showing their relationship.
On 27 July 1857 while the Trident was anchored in the Old Calabar River, Nigeria, and Henry Line may have been busy writing letters home, perhaps to Francis Elizabeth Honychurch, to be sent off in the Mail Steamer, Gambia, she gave birth to a son, Henry Line Templer Honychurch, at 1 Wyndham Terrace, Plymouth.
On 3 August 1857 there was observation of the wreck of the 'Agnes', a British ship, not far from the River Bimbia, and at the mouth of the Cameroon River. It is not clear whether this was unexpected or whether it was known she had gone ashore and Trident and consul were deliberately going to the site. Trident was unable to approach within four miles of the wreck as it was surrounded by sandbanks. What emerges is that the Trade Winds were making a great deal of troublesome surf on the shores of the Bight of Biafra. Native canoes approaching the wreck were upset and drownings occurred. Even so Trident's boats were sent away frequently
throughout August to salvage Oil, Tar, Varnish, Palm Oil, Bread, Timber Shakes etc. from the 'Agnes'. Parties of men from the Trident lived on shore to assist with the salvaging. Seamen too were taken off the 'Agnes' and victualled on board the Naval ship on 9 and 10 August, and four more on 13 August. During the salvaging, Trident's boats were swamped or damaged on several occasions. The salvaged goods were landed on Fernando Po on 17 and 18 August, by which time the wreck was reported to be breaking up. Salvaging proceeded at an increased tempo, though boat crews were now exhausted and had to be replaced more than once.
On 26 August the crew and gunner were in great danger when a hired launch was swamped at her anchor in the surf in the morning. Later that day a very high surf was rolling 'in. At 5.00am the following morning,the wreck signalled to Trident ' Surf is dangerous for boats alongside wreck'. Even so 1½ hours later, Henry Line was sent with first Gig to leeward of the wreck with dispatches and orders for the party on shore. At 11.50am the first Cutter returned bringing the first Gig's crew and the melancholy news that the first Gig had capsized in the surf and Henry Line had been drowned, the crew having saved themselves by swimming. There is no record of self-sacrifice on his part when he was drowned, so we do not know whether he lost his life in helping all the rest of the crew of the Gig to survive, or whether he was knocked out in the capsizing, or whether he could not swim. As it appears, though, he died in the course of duty, however mercenary that duty was. He was nearly 24 years of age.
Shortly afterwards on 4 September, Lieutenant Handfield was placed under arrest by order of the Commander-in-Chief, was court-martialled and discharged the service. Had he unjustifiably risked the lives of his officers and men over the 'Agnes' incident that he should thus be punished' In February he had been arrested for 'drunkenness and ungentlemanly habits'.
The effects of Henry Line were sold to his shipmates on 25 September in accordance with usual naval custom.
Henry Line left no will so that 'Letters of Administration' were taken out by the Navy Agent in London on 5 September 1859. Effects were stated to be under £50. It is observed that he must have accumulated wages due from his service on Trident - ' savings ' were paid out on one or two occasions, but was that all the earnings' On 24 December 1856 is the entry which says 'Paid advance to ship's company' - is that what the Navy Agent wanted to reclaim '
Henry Line Templer could never have known the existence of his son. Further, at a time in Victoria's reign when Empire building was reaching its height, but such matters as illegitimate births had to be swept under the carpet, it is doubtful whether the matter ever reached the ears of the Templer family.
Here ends our direct interest in the Templer family the future of Francis Elizabeth and her son is one to be found in the Honychurch family history.
Ron Lewin - 1983
Lost in operations being carried out by HMS 'Trident' in West Africa. Ancestor of the Honeychurch family.
Probably influenced by his older brother, William (JX), who was lost at sea just at the time Henry Line Templer started his career or by his brother-in-law Paymaster Sutherland (JW) and mindful of the loss ofhis great-uncle, Charles Beckford Templer on the 'Halsewell' in 1796,he embarked on a naval career. He was appointed Acting Mate and joined H.M.S.'Sybille' at Devonport as a Mate on 18 July 1853.This was seven weeks after the ship commissioned, He had not passed in seamanship and one must speculate whether this affected his later career, especially that on H.M.S 'Trident'.
Commanded by the Hon. Charles G.I.B. Elliot, H.M.S.Sybille had an establishment of 350 officers and men, including 39 boys and 50 marines. She left Plymouth on 12 August 1853 for the Far East, arriving at Funchal Bay on 2 September, 3 weeks later, and Simons Bay on 18 October. She remained there for a period until the end of October, sailed round the Cape of Good Hope and arrived at Trincomalee on 13 December. Already several of her crew had died or been killed through accidents, and others were to follow. On each day from 29 December to 1 January there was one death. Naval life at that time, even without battles, was totally unsure. Early January saw the ship arriving in the Madras Roads, and by the end of the month it was up the Hoogly River and in the vicinity of Calcutta. There followed a return journey down the East Coast of India to Trincomalee, reached early in March. Then eastwards to Singapore, reached on the 25 April. The ship now operated on the eastern shores of the Indian Ocean - Batavia Bay, Sarnarang Bay - throughout the summer. The full log of H.M.S.Sybille for this period is given in Appendix N.
On 19 August 1854, Henry Line was discharged to the shore at Singapore at his own request. We do not know the reason for this rather surprising development - surprising for its being asked and apparently readily granted. Perhaps Henry Line had found ashore a Eurasian 'Frances Elizabeth'!!
Anyway we currently know no more of his career for over two years. There is some inconsistency between the Navy List and the Ship's Logs of H.M.S. Sybille and H.M.S. Impregnable, his Depot Ship at Plymouth, as regards Henry Line. The latter are undoubtedly more reliable. The Navy List refers to his joining H.M.S. Winchester on 10 January 1854 but this was impossible as he was then on Sybille at Madras while Winchester was in the Hong Kong area. There is no indication anywhere in the log that he was intended to go to 'Winchester' although Sybille carried several individuals who were so intended. A switch of personnel from and to 'Winchester' occurred in August 1854, but it seems that she was not present at Singapore then since Mr Scott was discharged 'for passage' to her.
We are now left with a hiatus in Henry Line's career for we know no mere of him until the end of 1856 when he was on leave in England. He may or may not have joined 'Winchester' in Chinese and Japanese waters during this time. Further investigation of Winchester's Log during the period is needed. There is no reference to Henry Line in her log up to August 1854,
During his leave, he associated with Frances Elizabeth Honychurch, the daughter of Thomas Honychurch, formerly a potter and part owner of the Folly Pottery at Bovey Tracey. Circumstantial evidence points to the fact that the Honychurch and Templer families must have been acquainted prior to 1856. Henry Line's father, John Line and his grandfather had lived at Teigngrace early in the 1800's; Frances Elizabeth's father and her grandfather John had acquired and run the Bovey Tracey Pottery at the same time. Teigngrace and Bovey Tracey were ¾ miles apart. The pottery required clay of which there was abundance in the Teigngrace/Bovey Tracey area. George Templer first cousin to Henry Line Templer's father, John Line owned most of the local clay pits. Finally, the father of Henry Line (JY) and also his grandfather were J.P.'s in Devon while the grandfather of Frances Elizabeth was a magistrate in Exeter. The social status of country gentlemen applied to both families, at any rate at the turn of the 19th century.
The period of leave ended on 22 December 1856 when Henry Line Templer reported from shore to H.M.S.Impregnable, the Depot hulk at Devonport, for passage to H.M.S.Scourge. For some reason the draft was cancelled, seemingly abruptly, and changed to H.M.S.Trident. Had this not occurred, then the course of our Honychurch history might have proved very different.
Henry Line joined H.M.S. Trident on 17 January 1857, the day after he was reported leaving Impregnable. Trident was then at or near Devonport. She had been at Woolwich in the hands of the Dockyard authorities commissioning under a Commander Close on 28 November 1856. She had put in at Portsmouth for certain repairs, mainly to rotten woodwork, and then proceeded to Plymouth, arriving in the Sound early on 16 January.
Trident was a sloop of 6 guns, 350 horse power, 850 bm, 180 feet x 313 feet with iron paddles, built in 1845 at Blackwall by Ditchburne and Mare. She was capable of movement by sail or steam, and was broken up in 1866.
The voyages of the Trident around the West Coast of Africa in 1857 are fascinating. The condition of the ship was poor and morale scarcely any better. Five days out from Plymouth, the main masthead was found to be rotten under iron plates. Three months later the mast was renewed at Ascension Island. The Captain in his log between November 1856 and June 1857 reported the vessel as ' dull under sail, steams well, much weakness and decay in upper woodwork - not seaworthy in bad weather. For want of proper supply of boats is very helpless, no boat being fit for coaling or to carry out a bower anchor.' Insubordination even among the officers was common place, and petty jealousies often apparent in the log. Discipline was harsh, however. A stoker had 48 lashings in Plymouth Sound and an ordinary seaman a similar number ten weeks later. There is evidence that little regard was at times paid to the safety or welfare of the crew, particularly in connection with the salvaging of the cargo from the 'Agnes' in mid '1857. One Lieutenant was court-martialled and discharged, but we do not know if it was related to the 'Agnes' affair.
The duties of the Trident off the West African coast in 1857 were predominantly to prevent slave-running. This was then common place with the coast of Brazil. Often a mother-ship would lower a boat for patrol purposes and then go off to another part of the coast to lower another boat, picking up each boat and its crew again after 48 hours or so.Trident was frequently used to convey the British Consul from his post in Fernando Po to the various river estuaries in what is now termed the Gulf of Biafra. At the end of June 1857 there was an interesting assignment in connection with the detention of three Englishmen six months previously by the local native chiefs in the Càmeroon River area.Unfortunately Trident's log does not disclose the final outcome or the fate of the Englishmen. The Consul's reports and records in the Colonial Office P.R.O. records may do so. Perhaps they ended up in Chief Priaso Bell's cooking pot!!
Live animals were carried on board the ship which were later slaughtered for meat.
On 1 March 1857, the ship is reported off Trade Town. There is reason to believe that this was situated midway between Monravia and the River Sanguin, and it may therefore be what is now called Buchanan.
So much for a general brief resume of the voyage in 1857. The full log of Trident for the period is given in Appendix G.
Now what of Henry Line Templer's part' Some entries in the log are by Henry Line himself. They are initialled 'H.L.T.'. One that is certainly not his occurs on 16 June 1857. 'Mr H. Templer (Mate) was placed under arrest for being drunk and incapable of doing his duty while the hands were on deck. Mr Templer would not go below when ordered three times by Commander Close and not until the Corporal of Marines was ordered to take Mr Templer below'. Earlier that same day an AB had fallen overboard and had drowned. One must speculate whether Henry Line's misdemeanour might not have been provoked by this earlier incident. And did he then have some intuition of his own fate some two months later' Curiously there is no entry showing when he was released from arrest, though such items are given in other cases. We know, however, that he was free on 13 July when he took the Consul ashore for a day and a half in the second gig.
One might speculate too as to whether Henry Line was aggrieved while on Trident because more junior officers had been promoted over his head. The two Lieutenants were C. O'D. Allingham and F.O. Handfield, with seniorities 25 November 1856 and 15 December 1856 respectively. Allingham had been a Mate with seniority 16 May 1854 against Henry Line's 1st June 1853, and while the latter had been Mate, Allingham had been Acting Mate. The lack of promotion for Henry Line may be attributable to his earlier failure to pass in seamanship and perhaps this failure later led to his death.
There were two occasions at least when mail was sent from the Trident to England. Did anything go to Francis Elizabeth' There is no indication that any mail was received from home and hence that any correspondence would be found later in the effects of Henry Line. Such would have proved of great value in showing their relationship.
On 27 July 1857 while the Trident was anchored in the Old Calabar River, Nigeria, and Henry Line may have been busy writing letters home, perhaps to Francis Elizabeth Honychurch, to be sent off in the Mail Steamer, Gambia, she gave birth to a son, Henry Line Templer Honychurch, at 1 Wyndham Terrace, Plymouth.
On 3 August 1857 there was observation of the wreck of the 'Agnes', a British ship, not far from the River Bimbia, and at the mouth of the Cameroon River. It is not clear whether this was unexpected or whether it was known she had gone ashore and Trident and consul were deliberately going to the site. Trident was unable to approach within four miles of the wreck as it was surrounded by sandbanks. What emerges is that the Trade Winds were making a great deal of troublesome surf on the shores of the Bight of Biafra. Native canoes approaching the wreck were upset and drownings occurred. Even so Trident's boats were sent away frequently
throughout August to salvage Oil, Tar, Varnish, Palm Oil, Bread, Timber Shakes etc. from the 'Agnes'. Parties of men from the Trident lived on shore to assist with the salvaging. Seamen too were taken off the 'Agnes' and victualled on board the Naval ship on 9 and 10 August, and four more on 13 August. During the salvaging, Trident's boats were swamped or damaged on several occasions. The salvaged goods were landed on Fernando Po on 17 and 18 August, by which time the wreck was reported to be breaking up. Salvaging proceeded at an increased tempo, though boat crews were now exhausted and had to be replaced more than once.
On 26 August the crew and gunner were in great danger when a hired launch was swamped at her anchor in the surf in the morning. Later that day a very high surf was rolling 'in. At 5.00am the following morning,the wreck signalled to Trident ' Surf is dangerous for boats alongside wreck'. Even so 1½ hours later, Henry Line was sent with first Gig to leeward of the wreck with dispatches and orders for the party on shore. At 11.50am the first Cutter returned bringing the first Gig's crew and the melancholy news that the first Gig had capsized in the surf and Henry Line had been drowned, the crew having saved themselves by swimming. There is no record of self-sacrifice on his part when he was drowned, so we do not know whether he lost his life in helping all the rest of the crew of the Gig to survive, or whether he was knocked out in the capsizing, or whether he could not swim. As it appears, though, he died in the course of duty, however mercenary that duty was. He was nearly 24 years of age.
Shortly afterwards on 4 September, Lieutenant Handfield was placed under arrest by order of the Commander-in-Chief, was court-martialled and discharged the service. Had he unjustifiably risked the lives of his officers and men over the 'Agnes' incident that he should thus be punished' In February he had been arrested for 'drunkenness and ungentlemanly habits'.
The effects of Henry Line were sold to his shipmates on 25 September in accordance with usual naval custom.
Henry Line left no will so that 'Letters of Administration' were taken out by the Navy Agent in London on 5 September 1859. Effects were stated to be under £50. It is observed that he must have accumulated wages due from his service on Trident - ' savings ' were paid out on one or two occasions, but was that all the earnings' On 24 December 1856 is the entry which says 'Paid advance to ship's company' - is that what the Navy Agent wanted to reclaim '
Henry Line Templer could never have known the existence of his son. Further, at a time in Victoria's reign when Empire building was reaching its height, but such matters as illegitimate births had to be swept under the carpet, it is doubtful whether the matter ever reached the ears of the Templer family.
Here ends our direct interest in the Templer family the future of Francis Elizabeth and her son is one to be found in the Honychurch family history.
Ron Lewin - 1983
Lost in operations being carried out by HMS 'Trident' in West Africa. Ancestor of the Honeychurch family.
Events
| Birth | 14 Sep 1831 | ||||
| Christen | 24 Dec 1833 | Ugborough, Devon, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Residence | 1841 | Age: 9 - Ugborough, Devon, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Residence | 1851 | Age: 22; RelationToHead: Son - Ugborough, Devon, England, United Kingdom | |||
| Death | 27 Aug 1857 | Drowning - Camaroons, West Africa |
Families
| Spouse | Frances Elizabeth Honychurch (1831 - 1904) |
| Child | Harry Line Templer Honychurch (1857 - 1947) |
| Father | John Line Templer (1795 - 1865) |
| Mother | Anne Davey (1803 - 1869) |
| Sibling | Ellen Templer (1826 - 1913) |
| Sibling | Anne "Annie" Templer (1827 - 1876) |
| Sibling | John Line Templer (1828 - 1886) |
| Sibling | William Templer (1829 - 1847) |
| Sibling | Georgina Templer (1832 - 1876) |