John Becher of Co Cork, then Bristol
John Becher was the seventh son of Thomas Becher and Elizabeth Turner, both originally of Bandon. John's birth is recorded as 1st September 1677, most probably at "Achadoon" which is the recorded birthplace for most of his older siblings shown in the Dublin Alumni list. I presume this is Aughadown, or perhaps "Affadown" the name of the Becher house outside Skibbereen.
John Becher, Mayor of Bristol [From R. Becher]
John Becher's funeral Hatchment from St Mark's Chapel, Bristol. The "maternal"
side of azure & gold a fess nebuly & three estoiles is presumably the arms of
his mother Elizabeth
Turner's family, but may be that of the Notte family. Photo by D. Lidbury [thank you]
War broke out in Ireland, and Thomas Becher left County Cork with his wife
and seven children. He declared an income of
£897, so the family was very wealthy. I do not yet know for sure how long the
family spent in Bristol, but it may have been 5 years. Thomas is recorded as
returning to Ireland with King William in 1690, to fight by his side in the
battle of the Boyne. John's older brothers all attended Trinity College, Dublin,
but presumably the war disrupted this pattern. Instead John was apprenticed to
John Duddlestone, a bodice maker and merchant. I had presumed that John
as a young boy of 13 or 14 had travelled all the way to a strange and unfamiliar
place to begin his apprenticeship, but it seems that he was most likely living
in Bristol already!
He must have impressed his master, not to mention his daughter, as there is a marriage bond dated 16th October 1695, for John Becher and Hester Duddlestone. The marriage was to take place at St Werburgh, Bristol. Hester was christened on the 27th June 1674 at All Saints, Bristol. She was the daughter of John Duddlestone [knighted in 1691/2] and Susannah Lewes [or Lewis]. John was made a Bristol Burgess in 1697 by right of his apprenticeship.
Sadly Hester died in 1704/5, shortly after childbirth. She had eight children, 4 of who predeceased her. They are all buried together at All Saints Bristol, where there is a memorial tablet in their memory. It is a rounded shield shape, with two cherubs at the top, and one at the bottom. The wording is " To the Dear Memory of Hester the wife of John Becher of this Citty. Mercht. and Daughter of Sr. John Duddlestone, Barrtt. whose remaines be inter'd under this place & who departed this life ye 10th day of January 1704. Aged 28 yeares. Allsoe 4 of her children".
Photo from Liz [many thanks!]
I haven't yet found any information about John Becher's activities during his marriage to Hester
John Becher and Hester Duddlestone had eight children, four of whom survived.
1. Thomas
b. Christened 6 February 1696-97
d. February 1697-98, buried at All Saints Bristol 23 February 1697-98
2. Elizabeth Becher
b. Christened 10 March 1697-98
d. ? Before 1742
Married in 1717 Robert Travers of Cork City
Had issue Hester Travers.
3. Thomas Becher
b. Christened 12.3.1698-99
d. buried 15 April 1699 at All Saints, Bristol
4. John Becher
b. Christened 6.4.1700 at St Michaels, Bristol
d. 29 March 1737at his house at Aughadown in County Cork, Ireland
Married 19.8.1727 Mary Townsend. She was born in 1710, the daughter of
Rev. Philip Townsend of Christchurch, Cork, & Helena Galwey [
sometimes Galway. ]
Mary married again in 1739 to Colonel Luke Mercer.
They had 5 Issue
5. Susanna Becher
b. 13 March 1700-01
Christened 25 March 1700-01
d. July 1701, Buried at All Saints 7 July 1701
6. Rev Henry Becher
b. 26 April 1702
Christened 27 April 1702
d. 7 December 1743, buried in the Chancel at St Stephens, Bristol.
He married on 22 August 1725 at St James, Dukes Place London Mary Matthews
of Oxford.
They had 11 children, although only three grew up and only two married. Their
granddaughter Anne Becher was the mother of the famous author William
Makepeace Thackeray.
Rev Henry Becher was the Chaplain to The Lord Mayor of London Edward
Becher in 1727/8. He preached in St Paul's Cathedral in London & was given
the Church of St James Dukes Place, followed by St Stephens, Bristol & Temple
[Holy Cross] Bristol. In November 1728 The Prince of Wales visited
Bristol & The Rev Henry Becher was chosen to say Grace at the official
dinner. The Prince responded by appointing Henry one of his Chaplains.
7. William Becher
b. 16 August 1703
Christened 27 August 1703 at St Michael, Bristol
d. September 1703. Buried 18 September 1703 at All Saints, Bristol
8. Michael Becher
b. Jan 1704
Christened 9 Jan 1704 at St Michaels, Bristol
d. Dec 1758, Buried in The Gaunts Chapel, December 21, 1758. [Recorded in St
Augustine The Less Register] In his will he requested to be buried with his
father in his vault in the Lord Mayors Chapel [Aka Gaunts Chapel & St Marks.]
Michael donated to the city library in Kings St a beautiful Grinling Gibbons
overmantle. It can be seen in the Bristol room and is said to be the equal of
any in Hampton Palace. He was master of the Merchant Venturers in 1739-40 and
had been a warden in 1736. He was a sheriff of Bristol in 1739.
Thomas Becher died on the 10th October 1709, leaving his Creagh Estate
to John & he in turn would give them to his eldest surviving John
as part of his marriage settlement . John Becher then married by 1710/1711 Mary Cranfield. I have
not yet found this marriage. It may have taken place in Jamaica. In 1713 he was a Sheriff of
Bristol. John died "of a lingering illness" at his seat near Stapleton, Bristol
on the 9th July 1743. He was buried in his vault in St Marks/ The Lord Mayors
Chapel, College Green, Bristol.
John Becher and Mary Cranfield had seven known children
1. Edward Becher
b. 18 September 1711
d. 1746 in Jamaica
Married in 1736 to Hannah Sharpe in Jamaica
They had seven children, apparently born in Jamaica. After Edward's death,
Hannah married William Jenkyns (Jenkins) on the 13th May 1756 at St
James, Westminster, London.
2. Cranfield Becher
b. 13 June 1713 in Bristol
d. 10th May 1799 & was buried in the Vault in the Lord Mayors Chapel with his father.
Married on 5th Jan 1741 Bridget Swymmer. She was born on 25th Jan 1719,
the daughter of Henry Swymmer and Ann Holworthy. Bridget
died in July 1820 at College Green Bristol in her 102nd Year! She was also
buried in the Lord Mayors Chapel in Bristol. They had no issue.
Cranfield was Master of the Merchant Venturers in 1756. In 1766 he was a warden.
The 1794 Matthews Directory of Bristol lists Cranfield as living at 12 College
Green, Bristol.
Cranfield Becher [From R. Becher]
Bridget [Swymmer] Becher [From R. Becher]
3. George Becher
b. 26 June 1715, baptised 11 Jul 1715 at St Stephens Bristol.
d. 1754, buried 24th April 1754 in the Gaunt's chapel, in the register of St
Augustine the Less.
George was admitted to the Merchant Venturers in 1736 and was a warden in 1747.
Married [1] Elizabeth Williams, daughter of John Williams, Mariner
on 10 Feb 1742 at Temple, Bristol. George's elder brother Henry was Minister at
Temple.
They had only one daughter Mary Cranfield Becher baptised at St Augustine
The Less on 28th May 1744.
Married [2] Ann Gibb
They also had a daughter baptised Mary Cranfield Becher on 3rd August
1753 at St Augustine the Less.
She married her cousin Thomas Hungerford 20 May 1777 at St
Augustine The Less Bristol. They had seven issue.
4. Mary Cranfield Becher
b. 6 Dec 1716, baptised 3 Jan 1716/1717 St Stephens, Bristol
d. about 1750
Mary married Richard Hungerford on the 12 th February 1738 in
Dublin, Ireland.. He was the son of
Susanna Becher [John Becher's sister] and Thomas Hungerford.
They lived at Brade in Co Cork Ireland. Mary either married without the
consent of her father, or displeased him in some other way. In contrast to her
siblings who were left very generous amounts of money and property by John
Becher, Mary was cut of with only 5 shillings as a token of her
disobedience! She was the mother of Thomas Hungerford [above] John
Becher relented slightly and left her daughter, his granddaughter, yet
another Mary Cranfield [Hungerford] a legacy. However, the marriage was
announced in the newspapers, where she was described as a lady of the highest
Accomplishment and 7000pounds Fortune. I wonder if she received some or all of
this money as her marriage portion.
5. William Becher
b. 21 Feb 1717/1718
d. before 1722/23
6. Ann Becher
b. 14 May 1721, baptised 5th June 1721 at St Stephens, Bristol. Married
Charles Porter
on 26th March 1747 at Bath Abbey, Bath, Somerset.
d. 3 April 1748 and was buried in the vault with her father in the Mayor's
Chapel [St Marks]
7. William Becher
b. 3 Feb 1722/1723
Bristol had long been an import trade centre, but up until 1698 was not allowed
to trade in slaves. This trade up to this point had been controlled by the Royal
African Company. As repugnant as the trade now seems to us, it was at the time
considered respectable, and many of Bristol's citizens became wealthy on the
proceeds. Trading ventures were often organised by a group of merchants to
spread the risk. The Society of Merchant Venturers controlled the trade to
ensure the profits were restricted to citizens of Bristol. John was Master of
the Merchant Venturers in 1722.
The crest of the Merchant Venturers in the 1600's.
John Becher and his sons Michael, George, Cranfield and Edward
were heavily involved in trading and slaving. The family had a plantation in
Kingston, Jamaica, where Edward lived with his wife Hannah. He belonged to a
company called Ducommen, Becher & Co. They owned or part owned Galleys named
Jason, Southwell, Peniel, Excellence & Anson, among others. John and Michael
were both agents, co-ordinating voyages. The trade was a triangular one, with
goods being taken to Africa to trade for slaves, slaves then taken to the
Caribbean etc and finally returning to Bristol loaded up with sugar, rum,
tobacco, molasses and cocoa.
The Southwell by Nicholas Pocock
John Becher owned property in Orchard St [Where he seems to have been
living in 1734], Queen Square, and with fellow merchant Henry Combe, a row of
Terraces in Prince St built in 1726. One of these still survives as the
Shakespeare Tavern.
This Tavern is part of a row of Terrace houses built in 1726 for John Becher
and Henry Combe in Prince St Bristol.
In 1721 the Corporation of Bristol had a falling out with
Bristol Cathedral. At John Becher's urging they established the Lord Mayor's
chapel at St Marks, College Green for their own use. It is also known as Gaunt's
chapel. The hatchments of the Lord Mayors are present on the Walls, starting
with John Becher, who was Lord Mayor in 1721. He was buried there after his
death in 1743, along with his wife, his son's Michael and George & George's wife
Ann. These burials are recorded in the Register of St Augustine The Less as it
was their Parish Church.
John Becher also had extensive property in Ireland, inherited from his father
Thomas Becher. This land was left to his eldest son John Becher. John Becher
also became a Freeman of Youghal in 1727.
Becher
family of Cork [Home].