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ILLNESS
OF CORT'S SON
Much of this material is derived from evidence given at a hearing
in Calcutta in 1802 (PRO, KB101/4/15).
The earliest evidence of young Henry in Bengal may be Robert Downie's testimony
of knowing him "for six or seven years". Assuming that period terminates in Henry's leaving India in 1800,
his arrival may be in 1793 or even earlier.
However, if the end date is that of the hearing, then Michael Cheese's testimony of having seen him
"eight years ago in Dinapore" is more significant, and his arrival
may have been as late as 1794.
Either way, we can be sure that Henry cousin's John Harman Becher is already there when he arrives,
as is his mother's cousin Edward Burges (whose
illegitimate daughter Henry later marries), and probably Edward's father
Thomas.
It seems Henry is engaged in an indigo-growing venture that may
keep him away from Calcutta when his brother Coningsby
and (probably) sister Harriet arrive with James Watson
in 1796. Watson's party is cordially
received by the Burges, whose friend Thomas Dowell marries Harriet the
following year (there is a difference of some 18 years in their ages). Other evidence shows Coningsby leaving in
1798, so it is doubtful whether he witnesses the episode that leads to Henry’s
confinement in a mental hospital.
By 1798 young Henry's indigo-growing
venture has failed, and he is in Calcutta, staying with his cousin John Harman Becher. Becher's marriage has broken up: he is evidently in a bachelor
apartment.
On 29th March
Becher entertains William Blackstone and John Stapleton to dinner. Blackstone later testifies that Henry is
"in very low spirits", evidently having just heard about the death of
his sister Maria in England the previous June.
Stapleton
reckons Henry owes him money. Next
morning he sends a reminder.
Henry's
reaction is extreme.
He asks his
brother-in-law Thomas Dowell to come round immediately.
When Dowell
arrives, Becher says he is worried about his guest's state of mind.
Henry can hear
voices in the next apartment, accusing him of bestial acts. He identifies one voice as Stapleton's.
He wishes to
challenge Stapleton to a duel. Will
Dowell act as his second?
Neither Dowell
nor Becher can hear these voices. Later
witnesses will testify that Stapleton never visited the next-door apartment.
Dowell and
Becher call in a doctor from the local mental hospital, and ask to have Henry
confined there.
Two weeks
elapse before Henry can be admitted.
During this period he becomes increasingly violent and
unpredictable. Dowell arranges a roster
of soldiers to guard the apartment.
Henry remains
in hospital for nearly two years. Staff
will testify to further violent behaviour.
One visitor, however, says he found young Henry "spoke sensibly on
all subjects but one".
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I endeavoured to persuade him to lay aside this nonsense as
the only means of procuring his release and he immediately began to suspect
me of some concealed design against him. Evidence of Robert Downie
at Calcutta hearing, March 1802 |
Eventually the authorities
decide his best chance of a cure is a return to England. He leaves aboard the Rose on 1st
March 1800.
He is on the
high seas when his father dies in May.
Later he sues
Captain Orrok of the Rose for keeping him confined in his cabin, as
though he were mad! Records of the
hearings in Calcutta are preserved at the National
Archives (KB101/4/15).
Henry's
subsequent marriage and
voyage to Berbice (where he dies) suggest that his mental health
does improve on his return to England.
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Related pages Burges and
Attwick connections |
henrycort.net
p16