Colonel Thomas Be(e)cher JP (1640 – 10 October 1709) was an Irish politician and soldier. The family's surname varies in its spelling, caused by its pronunciation.

Background

Born in Baltimore, County Cork, he was the son of Major Henry Becher and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Notte. His paternal grandfather Henry was Lord President of Munster. The elder Henry married Mary Lyon, daughter of William Lyon,

Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross is the Church of Ireland Ordinary of the united Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross in the Province of Dublin. The current bishop is the Right Reverend Paul Colton BCL, DipTh, MPhil, LLM, PhD. He was consecrated ...

. Becher was educated at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

and graduated in 1658.

Career

Becher was nominated a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1665, assigned to

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

.Cork Historical and Archaeological Society (1907), p. 180 He fought in the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, serving as aide-de-camp to William of Orange, for which he was awarded a watch by the later King.Burke (1847), p. 77 In 1692, he was appointed Governor of

Sherkin Island Sherkin Island, historically called Inisherkin (), lies southwest of County Cork in Ireland alongside other islands of Roaringwater Bay. It had a population of 111 people at the time of the 2016 Census, and measures long by wide. The isl ...

. Later in that year he entered the Irish House of Commons, having stood for

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

.Johnston-Lilk (2006), p. 69 He was returned for the constituency until his death in 1709. In Parliament he supported Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Tewkesbury, at that time the

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...

Family and legacy

In 1665, he married Elizabeth Turner, daughter of Henry Turner; they had fifteen children, nine sons and six daughters. Becher died in 1709 and was buried at St Matthew's Church in Aughadown. Elizabeth died about 1720, her will being dated 26 September was proved in the

prerogative court In law, a prerogative is an exclusive right bestowed by a government or State (polity), state and invested in an individual or group, the content of which is separate from the body of rights enjoyed under the general law. It was a common facet of ...

in Cork in the following year. His son

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

sat also in the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland ( ga, Parlaimint na hÉireann) was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chamb ...

, representing the same constituency as his father. Surviving letters are held by the

Bristol Archives Bristol Archives (formerly Bristol Record Office) was established in 1924. It was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom, since at that time there was only one other local authority record office (Bedfordshire) in existence. It ...

. Notable descendants were the social reformer John Thomas Becher (1769–1848), a friend of the poet

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

as well as Anne Becher (1792–1864), the mother of William Makepeace Thackeray.Burke (1976), p. 100

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beecher, Thomas 1640 births 1709 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Irish MPs 1692–1693 Irish MPs 1695–1699 Irish MPs 1703–1713 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Cork constituencies Williamite military personnel of the Williamite War in Ireland Politicians from County Cork