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Go to record Dictionary of Indian Biography (Buckland) Dictionary of Indian Biography (Buckland)
 Dictionary of Indian Biography A to C

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Date transcribed2011-01-01
Transcribed byPeter Bailey
CommentNote that notables of Indian, Afghan, etc. origin do not always follow the alphabetical name pattern established by Buckland in his original work.

Surname  Becher    
First Name(s)  Richard    
Year of Birth  ?    
Year of Death  1782    
Entry  Related to Anne Becher, mother of W. M. Thackeray the novelist : went out to Calcutta as a writer in the E. I. Co.'s service, 1743 : in 1756 was Fourth in the Bengal Council and Chief of Dacca : when Calcutta was taken by Suraj-ud-daula, Becher with his family escaped from the city, with others : returning, 1757, when Calcutta was retaken by the English. In 1761 Becher was dismissed from the Company's service for having signed Clive's independent letter of remonstrance to the Directors two years before. Six years later, 1767, when Clive was Governor of Bengal, Becher was re-appointed to the Bengal Council, and in 1769 was made Resident at Murshidabad, with local control of the revenue administration of Bengal. He deserves to be remembered for his heroic efforts, in the face of misrepresentation and slander, to alleviate the horrors of the great famine of 1770 in Bengal : noted for his honesty, during his 13 years of service under the Company : took no private gifts or bribes. In 1774, he retired to England with a modest fortune, which he soon after risked and lost in trying to help a friend : returned to India : was given a subordinate post as head of the Calcutta Mint, 1781 ; died Nov. 17, 1782, at Calcutta.     
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A List of eminent persons who served in British India, together with short biographical notes of each
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