Richard Barwell (8 October 1741 – 2 September 1804) was a merchant with the

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 ...

and amassed one of the largest fortunes in early British India. Barwell was the son of William Barwell, governor of Bengal in 1748, and afterwards a director of the

and Sheriff of Surrey in 1768. His family, which apparently came from

Kegworth Kegworth () is a large village and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, in the East Midlands region, England. It forms part of the border with Nottinghamshire and is situated 6 miles north of Loughborough, ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, had been connected with the East for generations.

Early life

Barwell was born in Calcutta in 1741 and appointed a writer on the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

establishment of the East India Company in 1756 and landed at

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

on 21 June 1758.

Career

After a succession of lucrative appointments, he was nominated in the Regulating Act 1773 ( 13 Geo. 3. c. 63) a member of council in Bengal, with Philip Francis as one of his colleagues, General John Clavering as commander-in-chief, and

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first governor-gener ...

as governor-general. The statute is dated 1772–3, but the members of council did not take their seats until 20 October 1774. Barwell is known to history for his constant support of Hastings, in opposition to the party led by Francis. Barwell wrote of him, "He possesses much experience, a solid judgment, much greater fertility of resources than I have, and his manners are easy and pleasant." Francis differed, writing, "He is rapacious without industry, and ambitious without an exertion of his faculties or steady application to affairs. He will do whatever can be done by bribery and intrigue; he has no other resource." Barwell has been cited for sharp business practices. Writing in the ''Cambridge History of India'', H.H. Dodwell says: : He made a great fortune in India, and, as Sir James Stephen says, this fact of itself raises a presumption against his official purity. ... his standard was low. We find him writing to his sister in 1769: "I would spend 5,000 to secure to myself the chiefship of Dacca, and to supervise. the collection of the revenues of that province". In another letter he states that he considers himself justified in evading the law which prohibited the Company's servants from trading, by engaging in salt contracts under the names of native Indians.

Scandal

A scandalous story about him is found in a rare book entitled ''The Intrigues of a Nabob; or Bengal the fittest Soil for the Growth of Lust, Injustice, and Dishonesty'' It alleges that Barwell had enticed away the writer's mistress, who passed at Calcutta for his wife and then discontinued an annuity promised to the writer as the price of his acquiescence. While member of council he was accused of deriving an illicit profit of 20,000 a year from certain salt contracts. His prosecution was ordered by the court of directors, but the proceedings fell through. In connection with this affair he fought a bloodless duel with General Clavering. Francis and Barwell were antagonists at the whist-table, where Francis is said to have won 20,000 at a sitting. In 1780, after a truce between Hastings and Francis, Barwell retired from the service.

Move to England

From India he allegedly brought back one of the largest fortunes ever accumulated. The phrase "Fetch more

curricle A curricle is a light two-wheeled carriage drawn by two horses abreast. Usually open with a falling hood, it seats two people, plus a Livery, liveried groom on a seat or small platform between the rear springs—whose weight might be required ...

s" is associated with him. In 1781 he bought the estate of Stansted Park in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

from the trustees of the

Earl of Halifax Earl of Halifax is a title that has been created four times in British history—once in the Peerage of England, twice in the Peerage of Great Britain, and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The name of the peerage refers to the town of ...

for 102,500 and subsequently added to his possessions in that county. He enlarged and remodelled Stansted House in a style of expense which contributed to exhaust the oriental treasures by which it was supplied.' As architects, Bonomi and James Wyatt were employed on the work for five years, while Capability Brown laid out the grounds. In 1781 Barwell was returned as tory M.P. for Helston, in 1784 for St Ives, and in 1790 and 1796 for

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a town in the county of East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The current town, which was founded in 1288, replaced an earli ...

. In December 1796 he resigned from his parliamentary seat.

Personal life

In 1776 he married a Miss Sanderson, the reigning beauty of Calcutta; but she died in November 1778, leaving one son. A portrait of Barwell, seated in his library with this son by his side, was painted by Sir

Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter who specialised in portraits. The art critic John Russell (art critic), John Russell called him one of the major European painters of the 18th century, while Lucy P ...

, and engraved in

mezzotint Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...

by William Dickinson. On 24 June 1785 he also married his second wife Catherine Coffin (1769-1847), the daughter of Elizabeth and Nathaniel Coffin, a customs official from Boston, Massachusetts. He also had three girls and a boy by his mistress 'Mrs Seaforth' (the assumed name of Rebecca Lyne) He died at Stansted on 2 September 1804. Shortly after his death his estates in Sussex were sold by his trustees, one of whom was Sir Elijah Impey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barwell, Richard 1741 births 1804 deaths British East India Company people Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 People from Stoughton, West Sussex Businesspeople from Kolkata British merchants