Major-General Richard Alchorne Worge (1707 – 4 May 1774) was an English General in the British Army, Governor of Senegal, and a Member of Parliament for Stockbridge. He was born the second son of Thomas Worge of Eastbourne, Sussex, and joined the Army around 1724. He was promoted to lieutenant in the 11th Foot in 1732, captain in the 25th Foot in 1738, major in 1745, and lieutenant-colonel of the

9th Foot The Royal Norfolk Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army until 1959. Its predecessor regiment was raised in 1685 as Henry Cornwall's Regiment of Foot. In 1751, it was numbered like most other British Army regiments and named ...

in 1754. During that time, he was severely wounded at the

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy took place on 11 May 1745 during the War of the Austrian Succession, near Tournai, then in the Austrian Netherlands, now Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Maurice, comte de Saxe, Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Ar ...

, took part in the

Battle of Culloden The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...

, and served in Flanders. In 1759, during the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

, he was made lieutenant-colonel commanding the newly formed 86th Foot and sailed with them to the newly captured Island of

Gorée (; "Gorée Island"; ) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trade. Its populatio ...

, off the coast of

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

. From Gorée, he administered the former French territory of Senegal as Governor until his return to England after the Treaty of Paris in 1763. He was promoted to colonel of the army in 1762 and raised to major-general in 1770. He was returned to Parliament in 1768 as a member for Stockbridge, sitting until taking the

Chiltern Hundreds The Chiltern Hundreds is an ancient administrative area in Buckinghamshire, England, composed of three hundred (county division), ancient hundreds and lying partially within the Chiltern Hills. "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" refers to one of the ...

in 1772. Worge died in 1774 and was buried at St Mary the Virgin Church, Old Town, Eastbourne, East Sussex. Memorial to Richard Alchorne Worge in At Mary the Virgin Eastbourne

Memorial to Richard Alchorne Worge in At Mary the Virgin Eastbourne

He had married Jane Bowman of Ormskirk, Lancashire and had one daughter.

References

External links

Biography of General Worge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worge, Richard Alchorne 1707 births 1774 deaths Burials in East Sussex British Army major generals British colonial governors and administrators in Africa Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1768–1774 Devonshire Regiment officers King's Own Scottish Borderers officers Royal Norfolk Regiment officers British Army personnel of the Jacobite rising of 1745 British Army personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession British Army personnel of the Seven Years' War