Josias Du Pré Porcher (''ca.'' 1761 – 4 May 1820) was an English politician. After following his uncle into the service of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, he became wealthy and returned to England, although he was frustrated in an attempt to obtain a directorship of the company. His wealth and his friendship with Lord Caledon enabled him to sit in Parliament for various boroughs until 1818, although he was not a particularly conspicuous member. He died at his country home in Devonshire in 1820.

Childhood and Indian career

Born about 1761, Josias was the third son of Paul Porcher, a planter of

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, and his wife Esther Du Pré. Esther was the sister of Josias Du Pré, an East India merchant. Porcher moved to England in 1768 under the patronage of his uncle Josias, who was

President of Madras The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an Presidencies and provinces of British India, administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of Indi ...

from 1770 to 1773. Porcher not unnaturally took up a career in India as well, and became a writer of the

in Madras in 1778. He received a legacy of £1,000 at the death of his uncle in 1780. From 1783 to 1786, he was deputy to the deputy paymaster in Madras, and in 1785, was made a senior merchant. In 1790, he was appointed to the company's Board of Trade and was made clerk to the committee of works. Porcher served as mayor of Madras from 1791 to 1792 and was appointed military storekeeper at Madras in the latter year. Porcher returned home in 1796, bearing a diamond sword presented by the

nawab of Arcot The Carnatic Sultanate ( Persian: ; Tamil: ; Urdu: ) also known as Carnatic State or Arcot State was a kingdom in southern India between about 1690 and 1855, ruled by a Muslim nawab under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad, until thei ...

to the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

. He invested £2,000 in the 1797 loyalty loan. Porcher sought to become a director of the East India Company with the aid of the Alexander family, who had achieved prominence through a fortune also made in India. His uncle Josias had married Rebecca Alexander, sister of

James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon James Alexander, 1st Earl of Caledon (1730 – 22 March 1802), was an Irish landlord, merchant, politician and member of the UK's House of Lords (upper chamber of parliament) as an Irish representative peer. An Irish 'nabob' Alexander began his ...

, and aunt of Caledon's nephews

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

and

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

. Henry, a schoolmate of Porcher's, recommended him to Thomas Pelham as a friend of the family, and Porcher assured Pelham of his attachment to government and his friendship with Lord Hobart. However, Porcher did not receive a directorship, and later joined James Alexander and Edward Fletcher as partners in founding Porcher & Co., a firm of East India agents in 1804.

In Parliament

In 1802, he loaned £25,000 to

Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford Captain Thomas Pitt, 2nd Baron Camelford (19 February 1775 – 10 March 1804) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who participated in the Vancouver Expedition and feuded with its leader, George Vancouver, during and after the expedition. Ear ...

, for six years in exchange for a Parliamentary seat, and was duly returned for Pitt's borough of

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

. In the same year, he also brokered the purchase of the burgages of

Old Sarum Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, South West England, is the ruined and deserted site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury. Situated on a hill about north of modern Salisbury near the A345 road, the settlement appears in some of the earliest recor ...

from Camelford by

Du Pré Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon Du Pré Alexander, 2nd Earl of Caledon (14 December 1777 – 8 April 1839), styled The Honourable Du Pré Alexander from 1790 to 1800 and Viscount Alexander from 1800 to 1802, was an Irish peer, landlord and colonial administrator, and was the se ...

. He was Member of Parliament for

Bletchingley Bletchingley (historically "Blechingley") is a village in Surrey, England. It is on the A25 road to the east of Redhill and to the west of Godstone, has a conservation area with medieval buildings and is mostly on a wide escarpment of the Gre ...

from 1806 to 1807, for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

in 1807, and for Old Sarum from 1807 to 1818. He was a

Gentleman of the Privy Chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...

from 1818 to his death in 1820. He married, on 1 Nov. 1787 at Fort George, Madras, Charlotte, the daughter of Admiral Sir William Burnaby, 1st Baronet, of Broughton Hall, Oxfordshire. They had 4 sons and a daughter.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porcher, Josias 1760s births 1820 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 UK MPs 1812–1818 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Louth constituencies (1801–1922) Members of Parliament for Old Sarum Mayors of Chennai British East India Company people Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber