George Templer (1755–1819), the fourth son of James Templer of Stover, is commemorated within the church of St Peter and St Paul at Teigngrace. His life spanned continents, careers, and reversals of fortune, marked by service to the East India Company, a brief tenure in Parliament, and a final return to Bengal in his sixties. Educated at Westminster School, where he was a King’s Scholar in 1770, George entered the Bengal Civil Service in 1773 and rose quickly through the ranks. By 1779 he was a contractor for elephants—an unusual but lucrative post—and by 1784 he had amassed sufficient wealth to return to England and purchase Shapwick House in Somerset.
In Calcutta, George had married Jane Paul of West Monkton, Somerset, in 1781. She had arrived aboard the Halsewell, the same ship on which George’s younger brother Charles Beckford Templer would later perish in the wreck of 1786. George’s connections in India were extensive: he corresponded regularly with Warren Hastings and Thomas Graham, both senior figures in Company administration. His appointment as Senior Merchant in 1784 coincided with his return to England, where he invested in land, drainage projects, and the improvement of Somerset’s sea defences. His lifestyle reflected his status, with armorial china, crested silver, and a miniature portrait dated 1789 still preserved in the Templer family.
In 1790, George entered Parliament as Tory MP for Honiton, a seat he held until 1796. His election was contested on grounds of bribery—he reportedly paid four guineas per vote—but the petition was dismissed as not “frivolous or vexatious.” During his time in Parliament, George made no recorded speeches and later confided that he found little satisfaction in the role. Around 1793, he co-founded the London and Middlesex Bank with a group of fellow nabobs, including Josiah Wedgwood. The bank changed names several times and remained active until 1816, when it collapsed after insuring a fleet of merchant ships that were wrecked off the Scilly Isles. George was forced to sell Shapwick to cover the losses; the bank’s assets were absorbed by Coutts & Co.
Rather than retire quietly, George returned to India in 1817 with his wife, having secured the rare concession of reinstatement at his former rank. He was granted a subsistence allowance and later appointed Commercial Resident at Jungpore. His final years were spent in service once more, navigating the changing landscape of Company trade as private merchants gained access to ports along the Bay of Bengal. He died of fever in Jungpore in July 1819. His wife returned to England and settled at Shute with her sister-in-law, Dame Anne de la Pole, where she died in 1827.
George’s legacy extended through his children: George Henry became Vicar of Shapwick; John William served for 33 years in the Bengal Civil Service; James Acland held the living at Puddletown in Dorset; and Sophia Anne married her cousin Sir William Templer Pole of Shute. All his sons were educated at Westminster, continuing the family’s tradition of service and scholarship.
Portrait of George Templer of Shapwick, 1799, by Thomas Beach
Painted at the height of his influence, this formal portrait depicts George Templer—East India merchant, MP for Honiton, and founder of the Middlesex Bank—shortly after his return from Bengal. His powdered hair and ruffled shirt reflect late Georgian fashion, while the reserved pose and dark background suggest the gravity of a man whose fortunes spanned empire, Parliament, and eventual financial collapse. The painting was completed just a decade before Templer’s bank failed and he returned to India to reclaim his rank in the East India Company.
