John Charles Templer

[1] Born in Bridport, he was the son of James Templer (1787–1858), a lawyer, and his wife Catharine Lethbridge.

[2][3] In a voter qualification case related to 1845, Temple is described as a special pleader, living with his wife in Greenwich.

[4] By 1847, he was serving in the Royal Navy, as evidenced by newspaper reports of his second son, John Harvey.

The company's initial finance was largely from directors and staff of W. R. Paterson & Co., with Robert Henderson.

[14] Templer took a 5% stake, and acted as the company's deputy chairman, also representing Brooke in London.