Memorial: M6569

Memorial in Teigngrace Church, Teigngrace, Devon, dedicated to Charles Beckford Templer d. 1786

Location

Teigngrace Church, Teigngrace, Devon, England

Transcript

[Upper] 'IN MEMORY / OF MR. CHARLES TEMPLER / YOUNGEST SON OF I. TEMPLER ESQ: / OF STOVER / WHO PERISHED IN THE SHIP HALSEWELL / BOUND TO BENGAL. / WHICH ON TO AWEFUL NIGHT OF JANUARY 5TH 1786 / WAS WRECKED ON ST ALBANS HEAD ON THE ISLE OF PURBECK / ON THE COAST OF DORSET', ' This stone alas! denotes only his Name, / For his body is buried / In the caverns of the great Deep; / while his Virtues remain engrav'd on the Hearts / of his surviving and afflicted Friends / who with pious Care and fond Regret / Will ever cherish the Recollection / Of those gentle Manners and brilliant Talents / Which hastening to Maturity, / Seem'd to merit a longer Term of Years. / At the instant when he enter'd on the First Duties of Life / in the fifteenth year of his Age / He was remov'd to a better State, / By the Decree of the Providence / Which always determines every thing for the best / Whose Way is in the Sea / Whose paths are in the great Waters / And whose Footsteps are not known.' [lower] 'Stern ministers of Death, ye Winds, ye Waves: / Who in your wild and pitiless Career / Deaf to the Cries of Youth of Innocence, / With headlong Rage these tender Victims hurl'd / On the rude Rocks. Could no less Sacrifice / Appease the King of Terrors; Oh forbear; / Tis impious to repine - so Heaven ordain'd / Whose sovereign Word the listening Storms obey, / Tis Man's with meek Submission to receive. / Affliction's bitter Cup so Heaven ordain'd, / Father of all, We bow to thy Decree, / Severe yet merciful. Thy will be done.'

Details

Description: A relief of the shipwreck in the centre with the survivors clinging to the rocks. This is flanked by dolphins, with the inscription on a tablet above; the verse on a draped marble cloth below, held in the dolphin's beaks. In white marble on a coloured marble back plate.
Type: Wall tablet
Materials: Marble
Vessel: HEIC Halsewell

People

Templer, Charles Beckford
Age: 15
Date of Death: 6/1/1786
Cause of Death: Vessel Loss
Rank / Occupation: Midshipman
Organisation: HEIC

Extra

Notes: HEIC cadet, lost in the wreck of the 'Halsewell' on the Isle of Purbeck in 1786.
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