Pigot, George Pigot, Baron, 1st Baronet

▪ British colonial official

born May 4, 1719, London, England

died May 11, 1777, Madras, India

      British East India merchant and governor of Madras who was arrested and deposed by his council in 1776.

      At 17 Pigot entered the East India Company service, becoming governor and commander in chief of Madras in 1755. He stoutly defended Madras against the French in 1758–59, and, after the capture of Pondicherry (a former French enclave on the southeast coast) by Lieutenant Colonel Eyre Coote in 1761, Pigot occupied that town on behalf of the East India Company. He returned to England in 1763 with a fortune of £400,000 and was given a baronetcy the following year. He served as member of Parliament for Wallingford (1765–68) and Bridgnorth (1768–77) and was created an Irish peer as Baron Pigot in 1766.

      Returning to Madras in 1775 as governor, Pigot tried to suppress widespread corruption in the public service but in so doing created enemies. A majority of his council, backed by the East India trader Paul Benfield, opposed Pigot because of his proposed restoration of the raja (ruler) of Tanjore (Thanjāvūr). Pigot suspended two members of the council and ordered the arrest of the commandant, Sir Robert Fletcher. The government was then taken over by the majority of the council, and Pigot was imprisoned. From London, the court of directors ordered the restoration of Pigot to his post followed by his resignation; but he died before the order arrived. Parliament discussed the case in 1779, and four of those responsible for his arrest were tried and fined £1,000 each.

      In the absence of male issue, the barony became extinct upon Pigot's death, but the baronetcy went to his brother Robert.

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