Francis James Templer (6 June 1791 - 22 October 1854) was a British civil servant, who served as the ninth

Treasurer of Ceylon The financial secretary of Ceylon was an officer of the Ceylonese Government and member of the Board of Ministers. The Treasurer of Ceylon was one of six offices that held a seat in the Executive Council of Ceylon from 1809 to 1932. The post wa ...

from 1 November 1843 to October 1854. He was a member of the 3rd executive council of

British Ceylon British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...

, the Campbell executive council.

Early life

Francis James Templer was born on 6 June 1792 at Stover House in

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge, Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its population was 24,029 in 2011, and was estimated at 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in ...

, Devon, England, the youngest son of James Templer (1748 - 1813) and Mary née Buller (1749–1829), third daughter of James Buller (1717–1765). He studied at

Blundell's School Blundell's School is an Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent co-educational boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school in the English Public School (United Kingdom), public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon, T ...

, Devon from 1801 to 1804.

Civil service career

Templer entered the

Ceylon Civil Service The Ceylon Civil Service, popularly known by its acronym CCS, was the premier civil service of the Government of Ceylon under British colonial rule and in the immediate post-independence period. Established in 1833, it functioned as part of th ...

in 1817. He arrived, with his wife Eleanor and family, in Colombo on 13 November 1817, aboard the ''Alexander''. He served as the provincial judge in Calpentyn, the government agent in

Ratnapura Ratnapura (, ; , ) ("City of Gems" in Sinhala and Tamil) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, as well as the Ratnapura District, and is a traditional centre for the Sri Lankan gem trade. It is loca ...

, the sitting magistrate in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, the collector of

Chilaw Chilaw (, ) is a city in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by an urban council, whereas the outskirts are governed by a pradeshiya sabha of the same name. The town is located 80 kilometers away from Colombo via ...

(1827-1833), the collector and government agent of Colombo (1833-1843), and the fiscal of

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

(1845). Templer was appointed Treasurer of Ceylon, Deputy Paymaster General to the Queen's Troops and Commissioner of Stamps, by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Colin Campbell, on 1 November 1843 and died in office in October 1854. Whilst he was serving as the collector of Chilaw, Templer was responsible for establishing the Anglican Church in Chilaw, St. James' Church. The community honoured his contribution by naming the church after him.

Family

Templer married Eleanor Williams (1796–1877), the daughter of Anna Maria and Henry Williams, at the

Church of King Charles the Martyr Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

on 16 April 1816 at

Falmouth, Cornwall Falmouth ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Falmouth was founded in 1613 by the Killigrew family on a site near the existing Pendennis Castle. It developed as a po ...

. They had six children, three daughters and three sons: * Katherine Mary (1817–1866) married Philip Wodehouse in 1833, who later served as

Governor of the Cape Colony This article lists the governors of British South African colonies, including the colonial prime ministers. It encompasses the period from 1797 to 1910, when present-day South Africa was divided into four British colonies namely: Cape Colony (p ...

and British

High Commissioner for Southern Africa The British office of high commissioner for Southern Africa was responsible for governing British possessions in Southern Africa, latterly the protectorates of Basutoland (now Lesotho), the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) and Swaziland ...

; * Francis Buller (1819–1903) who served in the Ceylon Civil Service and as a lieutenant in the

Ceylon Rifle Regiment The Ceylon Rifle Regiment (CRR) was a regular native regiment formed by the United Kingdom, British in Ceylon. Its history goes back to 1795. The nucleus of the Regiment was two companies of Malays recruited from among prisoners at St Helena. In ...

; * James Berkley (1820–1822) * Ellen Maria (1821–1822); * Anne Henrietta Maria (1823–1907) married Arthur William Buller in 1842, who served as Queen's Advocate of Ceylon and as a British

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Member of Parliament; * Henry Dawson Skinner (1826–1832) He died on 22 October 1854 at the age of 63 in Brighton, Sussex, England.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Templer, Francis James People from Newton Abbot 1791 births 1854 deaths People educated at Blundell's School British civil servants in British Ceylon Government Agents (Sri Lanka) Treasurers of Ceylon