James Templer (1722–1782)

James Templer (1722–1782) of Stover House, Teigngrace, Devon, was a self-made magnate, a civil engineer who made his fortune building dockyards.

He was born in Exeter of a humble family, the son of Thomas Templer a brazier, and was orphaned young whereupon his elder brother apprenticed him to John Bickley, a carpenter or architect of Exeter. He broke his indenture and set off for India where he made a fortune, either from government building contracts or possibly from dealing in silver bullion, before returning to England aged 23. He settled at Rotherhithe, Kent, where he obtained a government contract to re-build the dockyard with his partners John Line and Thomas Parlby (1727–1802), whose sister Mary Parlby became his wife.

In about 1760 he and his partners obtained the contract to rebuild Plymouth docks, for which he used granite from Haytor, and moved to Devon. Templer and Parlby also built the Royal Marine Barracks, Stonehouse, Plymouth between 1779 and 1785. In 1763 he obtained a grant of arms from the College of Arms. He adopted the Latin motto Nihil Sine Labore ("nothing without work").

In 1765 he purchased the estate of Stover, Teigngrace where he built Stover House, probably to his own design. He also acquired other properties including:

His grandson George Templer overspent his resources and was forced to sell most of the family's considerable estates to Edward St Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset, in 1829.

Templer married Mary Parlby (1725–1784), the sister of his business partner Thomas Parlby (1727–1802) and daughter of John Parlby of Chatham, Kent. They had seven children:

He died in 1782 and is commemorated by a mural monument in Teigngrace Church (see photo, right), as is his wife. The church was also rebuilt in 1787 by three of his sons in memory of their parents.Pevsner thought highly of this family stating: "The Templers were people of taste, as is clear from the building and their monuments".

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