Richard Churcher (1659–1723) was a wealthy English businessman and philanthropist, who made his fortune through interests in the British East India Company. He founded a school in Hampshire.
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Life
editChurcher was born in Funtington, West Sussex and is buried there. He was apprenticed (1675–82) to John Jacob, an eminent citizen and barber-surgeon of London. Subsequently he joined the East India Company and went to India. [1]
He founded Churcher's College in Petersfield, Hampshire. His will, dated 1722, decreed that the College was to educate "10 or 12 local boys from Petersfield, of any age from 9 to 14, in the arts of writing, arithmetic, mathematics and navigation so they could be apprenticed to masters of ships sailing in the East Indies".[1]
References
edit- ^ a b Cooper 1887.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cooper, Thompson (1887). "Churcher, Richard". In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 10. London: Smith, Elder & Co.