Robert Stephens Becher
(1765-1818)
and his younger siblings Charlotte and William Augustus
Robert Stephens Becher, the 3rd son of Richard Becher and Ann Haselby, was born 21st June 1765 at Marylebone, London, the twin of John Becher.
He entered the service of the HEIC as a Cadet on 14th February 1781 aged 16 and sailed for India aboard Fortitude on 13th March 1781. On 23rd May the same year he was promoted to Ensign in the Infantry.
He was promoted Lieutenant on 5th September 1782. His portrait, left, was commissioned that year and was an oil on canvas, unsigned but attributed to Tilly Kettle and sold at auction in 2018 with a guide price between £3-5,000.
He went on furlough in 1790 and on 17th September 1792 he resigned and subsequently – until 1808 - became a merchant in Cawnpore. In 1793 he erected several factories with a total of 120 vats and dug 300 wells for indigo production in Awadh. These were forcibly seized by Almas Ali Khan in 1796. In 1809 and 1815 he made representations to the Court of Directors of the East India Company 'setting forth the injury he had sustained from the forcible seizure, by Almas Ali Khan in 1798, of an indigo factory and lands which he held at Dehewar on the Dooab, a province since ceded to the Company, and praying for relief.' The Court having ascertained the truth of the claims gave permission for him to submit his case to his Excellency (the Vizier) 'for examination and equitable consideration.' In 1818 he was permitted to travel from Calcutta to Lucknow to 'lay his claim before the Vizier'. Sadly, the result of his petition seems not to have been recorded but seems unlikely to have gone in his favour and may have contributed to his death soon afterwards on his way home to England.
He married Louisa Purling on 10th April 1801 at St Marylebone, London. One of the witnesses was Charles Auriol. She was born 3rd March 1781, the eldest daughter of Charles John Purling, and was bequeathed £400 by her grandmother Mrs Auriol (Anne Haselby) when Louisa was an infant though her father-in-law directed his trustees to pay her this sum when she attained the age of twenty-one. In 1841 she was living at Sunninghill as was her daughter Caroline her Becher. Louisa died 1st April 1847 at Sunninghill, Berkshire and buried at St Mary’s Church, Aldermaston, Berkshire.
He inherited Chancellor House upon the death of his older brother John Becher in 1830 but it is not known if he actually lived there or just passed it on to his brother in accordance with his father's Will. It is known that he lived at 27 New Cumberland Street, Hyde Park, London which was described by the auctioneers after his death as 'a capital residence in perfect repair throughout, and suitable for the immediate reception of a gentleman's establishment, fitted with water closets, stone staircase, capital domestic offices, and Coach House and Stables for 4 horses. The well-adapted furniture may be purchased in the usual way of valuation, if desired.' He died at sea aboard the East India Company's merchant ship Hastings at Port Louis, Isle de France, on his way home from India on 8th August 1818.
There were eight children:
1. GEORGE BECHER was born about December 1795 at Moidapore, India the natural son of Robert Becher. He was bequeathed an annuity of £50 by John Becher in his Will of 1830. He became an Executive Officer of Public Works. He married Eliza Sturrock on 15th August 1833 at Cuttack, India by the District Chaplain William Sturrock. She was born 20th September 1815 at Cuttack and baptised there 21st April 1816 the daughter of William Sturrock and Katherine Liberty. By 1861 he and his wife were living at Sten Road, Horsham, Sussex and from 1865 onwards they lived at 25 Vernon Terrace, Montpelier Road, Brighton. He died 17th January 1874 at 9 Roundhill Crescent, Brighton. She died in 1885 at Croydon.
There were three children:
1. Elizabeth Becher was baptised on 2nd March 1834 at Cuttack, India. In the 1861 Census she was visiting the home of Robert Brudenell Carter and his wife Helen Ann Beauchamp, née Becher, at Nottingham. she married Captain John Mathew 20th June 1866 at St Nicholas' Church, Brighton. He was born about 1816, the son of John Mathew of Thurles, Tipperary, and was a widower aged 50 and had served in the Cape Leicestershire Militia and in 1854 was granted a patent for the improvement in the construction of batteries for ships, forts and other defences. She died at Worthing, Sussex, aged 33 on 6th January 1867 of consumption. According to newspaper reports, he died in September 1882 on his passage home from a visit to America. There were three children.
2. Mary Becher was baptised 22nd November 1835 at Cuttack. In the 1861 census she was living with her parents. She died in 1865 at Brighton.
3. George Sturrock Becher was born 25th July 1837 at Cuttack. He returned to England with his parents and was living with them at the time of the 1861 and 1871 Censuses. By the 1891 Census he was living at Farnan Road, Wandsworth and afterwards lived at 121 Hopton Road, Streatham. He died on 16th April 1900 at the home of Trevor George Becher of The Holmes, Crabton Close Road, Boscombe, Hants.
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2. LOUISA ELIZABETH BECHER was born about 1802 and baptised 19th February the same year at St Marylebone, London. When she was an infant she was bequeathed £400 by her grandmother Mrs (Anne) Auriol, widow of Richard Becher senior, and passed on to her in the Will of John Becher of Tunbridge Wells, her uncle. She married Thomas Kirby, a Royal Navy Commander, at St Giles' church, Reading. He was born 2nd November 1790, the son of the Rev. John Kirby MA, Vicar of Mayfield 1786-1844, and lived at Inhurst House, Baughurst, near Mayfield, East Sussex where he died in 1866. Louisa predeceased him on 25th November 1862 at 26 Park Crescent, Brighton – the home of her uncle William Augustus Becher. There were four children.
3. RICHARD CHARLES BECHER was born 15th February 1803 at St Marylebone, London but little else is known about him. A person of that same name is recorded in India Office records as having worked as a Labourer from 1826 in the East India Company's Cast Warehouse in New Street, London. It is not known when or where he died.
4. FREDERICK JOHN BECHER was born 13th April 1804 at St Marylebone, London. He applied to join the East India Company's Service and was notified of an appointment by the Court of Directors on 25th February 1824 with rank as a Writer dating from 30th April 1824 and he arrived in India on 9th October that year. He took the Hindustani language exam in 1825 and on 23rd the same year he was appointed Assistant to the Magistrate at Burdwan. The following year he took the Persian Language exam and was subsequently appointed Assistant to the Magistrate and Collector of Midnapore 24th August 1826; Register and Assistant to the Magistrate of Rungpore 19th January 1827; Officiating Collector of Rungpore 10th May 1827; Register of Rungpore and Officiating Magistrate of Dinagepore 15th September 1827; Acting Commercial Resident and Acting Collector of Rungpore 15th September 1828. In 1830 he received a bequest of £245.4s from the estate of his younger brother Henry, 23rd Regt N.I., for and on behalf of his mother in England. He died on 25th June 1829 at Rungpore. In Rungapore Cemetery there is a memorial inscribed: 'Sacred to the memory of F.J. Becher, Esq. of the H.C.C. Service who departed this life on the 25th of June 1829 aged 24 years.'
5. HENRY WORSLEY BECHER was born 13th May 1805 at St Marylebone. He had a classical education and applied for an EIC Cadetship after his father died and became a Cadet in 1823. He was posted as Ensign on 14th January 1824 to 23rd Native Infantry and was promoted to Lieutenant on 13th May 1825 and was involved in the siege and capture of Bhurtpore. He died 12th April 1826 at Moradabad.
6. CAROLINE ANNE BECHER was born 19th September 1808 at Marylebone. Nothing further is known about her except that she died 18th April 1849 at Inhurst, Baughurst.
7. EDWARD BECHER was born 9th September 1807 and died in infancy.
8. ROBERT JAMES BECHER was born 15th August 1814 at Cawnpore, India. The only surviving son died 7th July 1842 at Inhurst, Hants formerly of Sunning Hill, Berkshire.
BECAUSE OF THEIR VERY SHORT ENTRIES I HAVE INCLUDED THE ENTRIES FOR ROBERT STEPHENS BECHER'S YOUNGER BROTHER AND SISTER HERE:
His younger sister was Charlotte Becher was born about 1765 in Calcutta and baptised there on 8th September 1767, the 5th child and first daughter of Richard Becher and Ann Haselby.
She was bequeathed an annuity of £100 in the Will of her brother John Becher of Tunbridge Wells who died in 1830.
She married Major Charles Marsack 31st October 1783 at Epsom, Surrey of Caversham Park, Berkshire. He was born in 1736, the son of Margaret, Countess of Marsac, the mistress of Prince Frederick. He was alleged to be the son of the Prince, which would have made him the half-brother of King George III.
He went to India around 1760 as an Ensign in the service of the East India Company. After being appointed Lieutenant and Surveyor of the province of Oude he rose by 1777 to be Captain of a cavalry unit of the Nabob of Oude. He resigned his commission in 1779 and the following year undertook an arduous journey from Lucknow to Delhi and back to meet the powerful Najaf Khan, a journey that was documented by his native travelling companion.
He returned to England as Major Marsack and in 1784 bought Caversham Park in Oxfordshire from Earl Cadogan, restoring and enlarging the house in the Greek style, including the installation of a large Corinthian colonnade at the front. Thomas Jefferson had previously described the estate as having 25 acres of garden, 400 acres of park and 6 acres of kitchen garden. Caversham Park House, now in Berkshire and since 1947 used by the BBC for its monitoring services, has been rated a Grade II listed building though the BBC moved its service to London in 2018.
Charles Marsack also served as High Sheriff of Oxfordshire for 1787 and he died in 1820.
Charlotte and Charles had eleven children, seven sons and four daughters though not all survived. The Caversham estate passed to their eldest son, Richard Henry Marsack, a Lt. Col. in the Grenadier Guards.
Charlotte died on 26th January 1837 aged 69 at the residence of her brother (either Robert or John Becher) of Brighton and was buried at Speldhurst Church.
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The younger brother was William Augustus Becher who was born 26th September 1772 and died 28th March 1778.