year. Keigwin was a man of good Cornish family, who had entered the King's
navy in 1665, and taken part in Monk's memorable four days' battle against
the Dutch in the following year. When St. Helena was recaptured from the
Dutch (1673), he had distinguished himself in command of the boats that
made the attack, and was left as Governor of the island till it was taken
over by the East India Company. As a reward for his services, the Company
made him their military commandant at Bombay. Two years later again, the
Company, in a fit of economy, reduced their military establishment to two
lieutenants, two ensigns, and one hundred and eighty-eight rank and file.
The troop of horse was disbanded, Keigwin was discharged from the service,
and thirty soldiers, who had been detached to Surat to defend the factory
against Sivajee, were refused any extra allowance, which caused much
discontent. Before long the Directors became alarmed at the defenceless
state of Bombay, and sent out Keigwin again with troops and artillery, to
have the chief military command and the third seat in Council. To meet the
expense, the other officers were made to suffer in rank and pay, and the
whole of the small force fell into a dangerous state of discontent. Among
other reductions in the pay of their military force, the Directors reduced
the rate of exchange, a measure that affected the men as well as the
officers; and, not content with making these changes prospective, insisted
that the officers should refund the surplus of what they had received.
Keigwin also had his personal grievance. He claimed subsistence money,
like the rest of the merchants and factors, the Company's table having
been abolished.[4] After much altercation, a grant was made to him, on the
condition that it would have to be refunded if disallowed by the Directors.
He was sick of the Company, with their greed and their selfish economies
at the expense of their servants, their broken pledges and stupid changes
of policy in military affairs, the intrigues of Sir John Child at Surat,
and the schemes of his brother, Sir Josiah Child, in England. Like many
other Englishmen, he considered the Company was an anomaly, dangerous to