Von Tempsky is best known for proposing the concept of the Forest Rangers, a small Corp of men who would be as mobile as the Maori warriors who used their bush craft to harass the British army.

After a career as an adventurer, dashing man of action, gold miner and Forest Ranger, Von Tempsky, in 1866, settled for a period in Grafton with his wife and two children.  At 66 Grafton Road (house still in use) he was able to engage in his artistic expressions of painting, the enjoyment of music and flower gardening in the rich soils of Grafton Road abutting the Auckland Domain.  It was in Auckland that he started to attend church with his family and gave up drink.  However, always short of money, he left Auckland in 1868 to lead a division of the Armed Constabulary in the Waikato and Taranaki.  He was killed as he lived, in a battle with Maori at Ruaruru in Taranaki