Francis Templer

Templer entered the Ceylon Civil Service 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, the sitting magistrate in Colombo, the collector of Chilaw (1827–1833),^[5] the collector and government agent of Colombo (1833–1843), and the fiscal of Jaffna (1845).^[6] Templer was appointed Treasurer of Ceylon, Deputy Paymaster General to the Queen's Troops and Commissioner of Stamps, by Governor Colin Campbell, on 1 November 1843 and died in office in October 1854.^[7][8]

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.^[9][10]

Templer married Eleanor Williams (1796–1877), the daughter of Anna Maria and Henry Williams, at the Church of King Charles the Martyr on 16 April 1816 at Falmouth, Cornwall. 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 and British High Commissioner for Southern Africa;^[6]
• Francis Buller (1819–1903) who served in the Ceylon Civil Service and as a lieutenant in the Ceylon Rifle Regiment;^[6][11]
• James Berkley (1820–1822)
• Ellen Maria (1821–1822);^[6]
• 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 Member of Parliament;^[6][12]
• Henry Dawson Skinner (1826–1832)

He died on 22 October 1854 at the age of 63 in Brighton, Sussex, England.^[13][14]