William Fytche

For the English politician, see William Fytche (MP).

William Fytche
Portrait by Thomas Hudson (1752)
Born1716
Died10 August 1753
OccupationColonial Administrator
Known forPresident of Bengal

William Fytche (1716 – 10 August 1753)[1] was an administrator of the English East India Company. He served as President of Bengal in the mid-eighteenth century.[2] He was one of the last administrators before the Battle of Plassey allowed the company to firmly establish its rule in India.

Biography

Fytche was the youngest son of William Fytche, Member of Parliament for Maldon, and his wife Mary, daughter of Robert Corey of Danbury.[3] He became a member of the Calcutta council of merchants in 1746. In 1749 he went to Murshidabad, to take charge of the factory at Cossimbazaar there.[4] He became President (Governor) on 8 January 1752.[5] According to the Gentleman's Magazine in 1794, he had been in India for 21 years.[6]

Family

Fytche married Lucia Beard on 25 February 1744 at Fort St George, Madras, where he was before being sent to Bengal.[7] Their daughter Elizabeth was heir also to Fytche's brother Thomas, of Danbury Place, Essex; she married in 1775 Lewis Disney, who then changed his name to Lewis Disney Fytche.[8]

Fytche died of dysentery at the age of 35. After Fytche's death Lucia married William McGuire, having a son and a daughter with him.[9]

Political offices
Preceded by President of Bengal
5 July – 8 August 1752 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ "Essex Record Office Level: Category Illustrations Level: Fonds Mint Portraits". Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  2. ^ Provinces of British India - World Statesmen
  3. ^ "Fytche (Fitch), William (c.1671-1728), of Danbury Place, Essex, History of Parliament Online". Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  4. ^ Fytche, Albert (1878). "Burma past and present, with personal reminiscences of the country". Internet Archive. C. Kegan Paul & Co. p. 15. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  5. ^ Edward Backhouse Eastwick (1859). Madras. J. Murray. p. 80.
  6. ^ The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle. E. Cave. 1794. p. 955.
  7. ^ Harwood, H. W. Forsyth (1904). "The Genealogist". Internet Archive. p. 104. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Publications of the Harleian Society: The visitations of Essex by Hawley, 1552; Hervey, 1558; Cooke, 1570; Raven, 1612; and Owen and Lilly, 1634 : to which are added miscellaneous Essex pedigrees from various Harleian manuscripts, and an appendix containing Berry's Essex pedigrees". Internet Archive. 1879. p. 657. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  9. ^ Burke, Bernard (1879). "A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland". p. 118. Retrieved 11 August 2015.