Richard Benyon (1698–1774) was a British merchant and colonial administrator who served as the President of Madras from 23 January 1735 to 14 January 1744.

Early career

Benyon first arrived in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

as a writer in 1710. In 1718, he was nominated to the council of

Fort St. George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further ...

and served till 1725, when he resigned and returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In 1732, he was nominated again as the second member of the council of Fort St. George. When

George Morton Pitt George Morton Pitt (1693 – 9 February 1756) was a Madras-born British politician and administrator who served as the President of Fort St George from 1730 to 1735. Fort St George George Morton hailed from the well-known Pitt family of England ...

resigned as President of Madras in 1735, Benyon, who was the most senior member in the council was appointed President in his stead.

President of Madras

Benyon is regarded as one of the best Presidents of early Madras. He was one of the few early governors who was not convicted of any charges. During Benyon's tenure, the city saw rapid expansion. The villages of

Perambur Perambur is a neighbourhood located in the northern region of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Etymology In Tamil, ''pirambu (பிரம்பு)'' means bamboo and ''ur (ஊர்)'' means city or place. Before British rule, this place was wid ...

, Sadayankuppam, Ernavore, Pudupakkam and

Vepery Vepery is a suburb in the north of Chennai, India. Abutting the transportation hub of Park Town, the neighbourhood covers a rectangular area north of the Poonamallee High Road. History Vepery is among those oldest neighbourhoods developed duri ...

were acquired from the Nayak of

Poonamallee Poonamallee is suburb of Chennai, India under the Chennai Metropolitan Area. It was historically called ''Pushpagirimangalam'', later renamed in Tamil as ''Poovirundhavalli'' (), and now colloquially called as ''Poondhamalli''. It is a town in ...

in 1739. The most important event of Benyon's tenure was the invasion of the

Marathas The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

who invaded

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territo ...

twice, once in late 1740 and the second time, in May 1741. During the second invasion, the Maratha army under

Raghoji Bhonsle Raghoji I (''Raghoji Bhonsle''; ; 1695 – February 1755) or Raghuji the Great of the Bhonsale dynasty, was a Maratha general who took control of the Nagpur Kingdom in east-central India during the reign of Shahu I. His successors ruled the ...

invaded

Trichinopoly Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

, where the Carnatic general

Chanda Sahib Chanda Sahib (died 12 June 1752) was a subject of the Mughal Empire and the Nawab of the Carnatic between 1749 and 1752. Initially he was supported by the French during the Carnatic Wars. After his defeat at Arcot in 1751, he was captured by ...

had set up his stronghold, while another occupied

Fort St David Fort St David, now in ruins, was a British fort near the town of Cuddalore, a hundred miles south of Chennai on the Coromandel Coast of India. It is located near silver beach without any maintenance. It was named for the patron saint of Wales b ...

Porto Novo Porto-Novo (Portuguese: "New Port", , ; yo, Àjàṣẹ́, ), also known as Hogbonu and Ajashe, is the capital of Benin. The commune covers an area of and as of 2002 had a population of 223,552 people. Situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Gu ...

and

Sadras Sadras is a fortress town located on India's Coromandel Coast in Chengalpattu district, 70 km south of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. ''Sadras'' is the anglicised form of the ancient town of ''Saduranga pattinam''. History and Etymology An i ...

. However, following the successful conquest of Trichinopoly and the capture of Chanda Sahib, the Maratha troops relinquished their conquests and quickly withdrew. All through this period, Benyon tried to coerce the Maratha generals by sending them presents. The fortifications of Madras were strengthened and all

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

citizens of the city were forcibly

conscripted Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

Personal life

Benyon married twice at Fort St George, firstly to Mary Fleetwwod, daughter of Edward Fleetwood and secondly to Frances Davis, the daughter of Richard Horden and widow of Sandys Davis. After his return to England, Benyon lived at

Gidea Hall Gidea Hall was a manor house in Gidea Park, the historic parish and Royal liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, whose former area today is part of the north-eastern extremity of Greater London. The first record of Gidea Hall is in 1250, and by 1410 i ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and

Englefield House Englefield House is an Elizabethan country house with surrounding estate at Englefield in the English county of Berkshire. The gardens are open to the public all year round on particular weekdays and the house by appointment only for large gr ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

and married his third wife, Mary Tyssen, daughter of Rachel De Beauvoir and Francis Tyssen of Hackney, and the widow of Powlett Wright. He was the father with her of

Richard Benyon Richard Henry Ronald Benyon, Baron Benyon (born 21 October 1960) is a British politician who has served as Minister of State for Biosecurity, Marine and Rural Affairs since 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament ...

, the Peterborough MP, and grandfather of

Richard Benyon De Beauvoir Richard Benyon De Beauvoir (1769–1854) MP was a 19th-century British landowner, philanthropist and High Sheriff of Berkshire. Background He was born Richard Benyon in Westminster on 28 April 1769, one of four sons and five daughters of Richard ...

, the philanthropist. He died in 1774. There is a monument to him in St Margaret's Church, Margaretting, Essex.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benyon, Richard 1698 births 1774 deaths British merchants Presidents of Madras People from Englefield, Berkshire People from Romford Benyon family