# Alexander Wynch

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{{Short description|English merchant and civil servant}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name        = Alexander Wynch
| image       =
| order       = 
| office      = Governor of Madras
| term_start  = 2 February 1773
| term_end    = 11 December 1775
| lieutenant  = 
| predecessor = [Josias Du Pré](/source/Josias_Du_Pr%C3%A9)
| successor   = [George Pigot](/source/George_Pigot) (2nd time)
| birth_date  = 1721
| birth_place = 
| death_date  = 1781
| death_place = 
| party       = 
| spouse      = Sophia<br>Florentia Cradock
| profession  = 
| signature   =  
}}

'''Alexander Wynch''' (1721 – 1781) was an English merchant, a career civil servant of the [East India Company](/source/East_India_Company) who became [Governor of Madras](/source/Governor_of_Madras).<ref name="Love">{{cite book|author=Henry Davidson Love|title=Indian Records Series Vestiges of Old Madras|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h2nkEiSSDaYC&pg=PA1|accessdate=20 April 2012|publisher=Mittal Publications|pages=3–5|id=GGKEY:GE1U0JNYH0Q}}</ref>

==Life==
He travelled to India at a young age and began to work, unpaid, for the East India Company at 13.<ref name="Love"/>

Wynch became governor of Madras in 1773. He was removed as governor in 1775, in the wake of his handling of the affair of [Thuljaji](/source/Thuljaji), the [Rajah of Thanjavur](/source/Rajah_of_Thanjavur) (Tanjore), who in fighting in south India had been dispossessed by [Muhammed Ali Khan Wallajah](/source/Muhammed_Ali_Khan_Wallajah), the [Nawab of Arcot](/source/Nawab_of_Arcot). The company disapproved of the change in the previous policy of ensuring the Rajah and Nawab were bound by treaty. Wynch was replaced in 1775 by [George Pigot, 1st Baron Pigot](/source/George_Pigot%2C_1st_Baron_Pigot), governor some years before, who was sent out from England.<ref name="Love"/>

In England, Wynch lived in [Upper Harley Street](/source/Upper_Harley_Street) in London, and then Gifford Lodge in [Twickenham](/source/Twickenham). He died at [Westhorpe House](/source/Westhorpe_House) in [Little Marlow](/source/Little_Marlow), [Buckinghamshire](/source/Buckinghamshire).<ref name=TM>{{Cite web |url=http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=370 |title=Twickenham Museum, ''Gifford Lodge''. |access-date=20 April 2012 |archive-date=24 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324104119/http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.asp?ContentID=370 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Family==
Wynch was twice married, and had children by both marriages.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Burke|title=Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0NEKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA817|accessdate=20 April 2012|year=1847|publisher=H. Colburn|page=817 note}}</ref> His first wife was Sophia, daughter of Edward Croke and sister of [Begum Johnson](/source/Begum_Johnson).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Love|first1=Henry Davison|title=Vestiges of Old Madras|year=1988|page=319|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bl9T4uJcBFAC&q=Alexander+Wynch,+Governor+of+Fort+George,+Madras&pg=PA319|accessdate=31 January 2018}}</ref> His second wife was Florentia Cradock, whom he married in 1755.<ref name=TM/>

He was father of George Wynch, and so grandfather of [Florentia Sale](/source/Florentia_Sale), wife of [Robert Henry Sale](/source/Robert_Henry_Sale).<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of Indian Biography|year = 1971|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y8AKI2nqPBQC&pg=PA371|accessdate=20 April 2012|publisher=Ardent Media|page=371|id=GGKEY:BDL52T227UN}}</ref> His daughter Frances became notorious when she eloped with [Sir William Jervis Twysden, 7th Baronet](/source/Sir_William_Jervis_Twysden%2C_7th_Baronet).<ref name=TM/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{S-off}}
{{Succession box | title= [Governor of Madras](/source/Governor_of_Madras) 
| before=  [Josias Du Pré](/source/Josias_Du_Pr%C3%A9)
| after= [George Pigot](/source/George_Pigot)
| years=  1773–1775}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wynch, Alexander}}
Category:1721 births
Category:1781 deaths
Category:Governors of Madras
Category:18th-century English merchants

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alexander Wynch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Wynch) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Wynch?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.