Richard Keigwin (Governor of Bombay)

Captain Richard Keigwin (died 21 June 1690) was a governor of Bombay (now Mumbai) during the early period of English rule of that place. He was never fully recognized in this position by the English. He acted as governor of Bombay from 1683-1684.

Keigwin had served as governor of St. Helena prior to coming to Bombay in 1676. At the time Bombay was under the control of the English East India Company however Keigwin was an independent settler. Shortly after arriving he organized a military force and quickly gained a seat on the governing council of Bombay. From 1677-1681 he served as the head of company military forces in Bombay, but the Bombay trading operations were under the control a governor based in Surat with a deputy governor at Bombay. In 1679 Keigwin was involved in winning a significant naval victory against the Mahrattas. During this time the head government authority in Bombay was Henry Oxenden. In 1682 John Child became governor of East India Company Operations based in Surat. He received orders to reduce the cost of operations in Bombay and sent his brother-in-law Charles Ward to serve as his deputy in Bombay. The troops in Bombay did not like having their wages cut so they revolted and declared Keigwin governor.

Keigwin then sent a letter to England asking Charles II to take direct control of Bombay again stating that the East India Company had failed. After running Bombay for about a year Sir Thomas Grantham arrived to straighten things out. Grantham worked out a general pardon, allowed Keigwin to retain the salary he had collected while acting as governor and then brought Keigwin back to England with him.

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