Andrew Alamath Becher
(1822-1857)
Captain Andrew Alamath Becher, the 9th child of George Becher and Harriet Geldart nee Barclay, was born 1st February 1822 at Marylebone, Middlesex and baptized there on 23rd March.
On 21st May 1839, aged seventeen, he was admitted to the 57th Bengal Native Infantry (N.I.) as an Ensign and sent to do duty at Barrackpore. He transferred to the 40th N.I. on 16th July 1842 then stationed at Saugor and on 2nd September 1842 he was promoted Lieutenant. He spent the rest of his time with the 40th and on 24th February 1843 was additionally appointed their interpreter.
At some point prior to 1849 he returned to England on furlough and stayed with his parents at the family home near Bath. It was in 1849 that his mother, Harriet Geldart Becher (née Barclay), engineered an introduction for him to Augusta Emily Prinsep. A few days before, at one of the Prinsep family balls his mother had met Augusta for the first time and had given Augusta a ticket for a concert the next day requesting her to give it to her son Andrew at the ball which was to be held on Valentine's Day. When the moment came, Andrew was nowhere to be seen so her friend, who knew all the Bechers well, said “Oh, this brother will do” so she gave the ticket to his older brother Septimus instead who became her husband three months later. It is interesting to wonder what would have happened if she had given the ticket to Andrew as his mother had hoped!
He married Emily Jane Moore, née Carr, at the Parish Church, Whitchurch, Oxfordshire. The ceremony was performed by her former father-in-law and Rector Rev. Edward Moore MA on 16th July 1850. She was born 2rd November 1815 in Hackney, now part of London, the daughter of Lt Walter Carr R.N. and Ann. She was the widow of Lieutenant Urban Moore, 56th Bengal Native Infantry, who died at Agra in 1845
He returned to his regiment – the 40th N.I. – in 1851 which by then had moved to Allahabad where his daughter was born. He was promoted Captain in 1853 and in 1854 the regiment was ordered to Dinapore.
Sometime prior to 1857 he was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General with the 40th N.I. During the Mutiny of that year the Residency at Lucknow was besieged and came under bombardment and attack by rebellious Indian troops. The first relief effort was made by forces under the command of Major-General Sir Henry Havelock and he died of wounds on 8th October 1857 in what became known later as the affair of Doolie Square and was buried in the Lucknow Residency Cemetery where his grave is inscribed:
'In memory of Andrew Becher, Captain, 40th N.I. who died in the Residency of wounds received in Havelock's advance whilst serving with Her Majesty's 90th Regt'. The Times of India on 30th September 2001 noted that though the church is now disused there is still a plaque on the wall of St Luke's, Dinapore (now Danapore), Bengal which recalls the British retreat in Kabul and the First War of Independence in 1857 and is 'dedicated to the memory of Lt A A Becher, who fell victim to the bullets of the mutineers on October 9, 1857, in Lucknow.'
He was posthumously awarded the Indian Mutiny Medal which in 1963 was donated to the National Army Museum in London.
His wife was later granted an East India Company pension of £70 for herself and £16 for her daughter. From 1861, and probably a few years before, and up to 1871 and probably later, she and her daughter stayed with her former father-in-law and his family at the Rectory, Whitchurch, Oxfordshire. In the 1881 and 1891 Census she is staying at Kingston-on-Thames with her daughter Emily Urbana Aplin and her husband. She died 15th September 1894 at Bodicote, near Banbury, Oxfordshire.
There was one child: Emily Urbana Becher was born 22nd July 1851 at Allahabad. She returned to England with her mother following the death of her father during the Mutiny and in the 1861 Census she and her mother are visiting as mentioned above. She married Frederick Charles Aplin BA on 5th April 1877 at Whitechurch, Oxfordshire. He was born 14th March 1854 at Bodicote, Oxfordshire, the son of Benjamin W. Aplin and Barbara Playsted Jetson. He went up to St John’s College, Oxford University where he gained a law degree and became a Barrister-at-Law at Lincoln’s Inn, London and subsequently joined the family law firm in Banbury, Oxfordshire. Like his father he was a talented ornithologist. He died in Bodicote on 31st August, 1897 and she died 28th August 1930 at Sulcoates, Yorkshire; both were buried at Bodicote. There were two sons and one daughter.
On 21st May 1839, aged seventeen, he was admitted to the 57th Bengal Native Infantry (N.I.) as an Ensign and sent to do duty at Barrackpore. He transferred to the 40th N.I. on 16th July 1842 then stationed at Saugor and on 2nd September 1842 he was promoted Lieutenant. He spent the rest of his time with the 40th and on 24th February 1843 was additionally appointed their interpreter.
At some point prior to 1849 he returned to England on furlough and stayed with his parents at the family home near Bath. It was in 1849 that his mother, Harriet Geldart Becher (née Barclay), engineered an introduction for him to Augusta Emily Prinsep. A few days before, at one of the Prinsep family balls his mother had met Augusta for the first time and had given Augusta a ticket for a concert the next day requesting her to give it to her son Andrew at the ball which was to be held on Valentine's Day. When the moment came, Andrew was nowhere to be seen so her friend, who knew all the Bechers well, said “Oh, this brother will do” so she gave the ticket to his older brother Septimus instead who became her husband three months later. It is interesting to wonder what would have happened if she had given the ticket to Andrew as his mother had hoped!
He married Emily Jane Moore, née Carr, at the Parish Church, Whitchurch, Oxfordshire. The ceremony was performed by her former father-in-law and Rector Rev. Edward Moore MA on 16th July 1850. She was born 2rd November 1815 in Hackney, now part of London, the daughter of Lt Walter Carr R.N. and Ann. She was the widow of Lieutenant Urban Moore, 56th Bengal Native Infantry, who died at Agra in 1845
He returned to his regiment – the 40th N.I. – in 1851 which by then had moved to Allahabad where his daughter was born. He was promoted Captain in 1853 and in 1854 the regiment was ordered to Dinapore.
Sometime prior to 1857 he was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General with the 40th N.I. During the Mutiny of that year the Residency at Lucknow was besieged and came under bombardment and attack by rebellious Indian troops. The first relief effort was made by forces under the command of Major-General Sir Henry Havelock and he died of wounds on 8th October 1857 in what became known later as the affair of Doolie Square and was buried in the Lucknow Residency Cemetery where his grave is inscribed:
'In memory of Andrew Becher, Captain, 40th N.I. who died in the Residency of wounds received in Havelock's advance whilst serving with Her Majesty's 90th Regt'. The Times of India on 30th September 2001 noted that though the church is now disused there is still a plaque on the wall of St Luke's, Dinapore (now Danapore), Bengal which recalls the British retreat in Kabul and the First War of Independence in 1857 and is 'dedicated to the memory of Lt A A Becher, who fell victim to the bullets of the mutineers on October 9, 1857, in Lucknow.'
He was posthumously awarded the Indian Mutiny Medal which in 1963 was donated to the National Army Museum in London.
His wife was later granted an East India Company pension of £70 for herself and £16 for her daughter. From 1861, and probably a few years before, and up to 1871 and probably later, she and her daughter stayed with her former father-in-law and his family at the Rectory, Whitchurch, Oxfordshire. In the 1881 and 1891 Census she is staying at Kingston-on-Thames with her daughter Emily Urbana Aplin and her husband. She died 15th September 1894 at Bodicote, near Banbury, Oxfordshire.
There was one child: Emily Urbana Becher was born 22nd July 1851 at Allahabad. She returned to England with her mother following the death of her father during the Mutiny and in the 1861 Census she and her mother are visiting as mentioned above. She married Frederick Charles Aplin BA on 5th April 1877 at Whitechurch, Oxfordshire. He was born 14th March 1854 at Bodicote, Oxfordshire, the son of Benjamin W. Aplin and Barbara Playsted Jetson. He went up to St John’s College, Oxford University where he gained a law degree and became a Barrister-at-Law at Lincoln’s Inn, London and subsequently joined the family law firm in Banbury, Oxfordshire. Like his father he was a talented ornithologist. He died in Bodicote on 31st August, 1897 and she died 28th August 1930 at Sulcoates, Yorkshire; both were buried at Bodicote. There were two sons and one daughter.