Robert Birmingham Templeman was presumably the son of James Templeman, seedsman, florist and proprietor of the Rose Cottage Nursery in Cape Town, who advertised in the Cape of Good Hope almanac... for 1857. Robert worked as seedsman in the Cape Town Botanic Garden under James McGibbon* and Peter MacOwan*. He collected most of the Cape Irideae in MacOowan's herbarium, which were described by Dr F.W. Klatt* in the Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society in 1884. Templeman left his post in 1881 and started a nursery in Rosebank, Cape Town. In 1883 he published a Catalogue of seeds... that were for sale at his seed store at No. 12, Castle Street. The next year he issued a General catalogue of seeds, plants, Cape bulbs, etc... for sale at the same premises. At this time he had nurseries in Upper Buitekant Street and resided at 32 Roeland Street. He was still listed as seedsman, florist and nurseryman in 1911. After his death in 1913 his business was run by his wife, Harriet Margaret Merrells, whom he had married in Kimberley in August 1873. The species Tritonia templemanii and Gladiolus templemanii were named after him, the latter by Klatt. Specimens collected by him are in the Compton Herbarium, Cape Town.

List of sources:

Ancestor: Templeman. Retrieved on 13 January 2021 from http://www.ancestor.co.za/TEMPLEMAN

British 1820 Settlers to South Africa. Transcribed marriage entries for Templeman. Retrieved on 13 January 2021 from https://www.1820settlers.com/genealogy/settlerbrowsemarrs.php?name=TEMPLEMAN

Cape of Good Hope almanac and annual register, 1857.

General directory of South Africa, 1891, 1903, 1908-1911, 1916.

General directory and guide-book to the Cape of Good Hope and its dependencies, 1886.

Gunn, M. & Codd, L.E. Botanical exploration of southern Africa. Cape Town: Balkema, 1981.

Klatt, F.W. Determination and description of Cape Irideae... Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society, 1884, Vol. 3(2), pp. 196-205.

National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS). http://national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm Documents relating to Templeman, Robert Birmingham.

South African bibliography to the year 1925. London: Mansell, 1979 (Vols 1-4) and Cape Town: South African Library, 1991 (Vol. 5).

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2026-01-10 11:32:42