Fletcher, Benjamin (1640 -1703)

Benjamin Fletcher was the son and heir of William Fletcher Esq, who was killed at the Siege of Gloucester 3 September 1643, and Abigail, daughter and heir of Henry Vincent. In 1663, Benjamin Fletcher was a cavalry officer in the royal army of occupation in Ireland, and Cornet to John Lord Berkeley. In 1667 he was Captain of an independent company of infantry. In 1685 he was purged as a protestant when King James II catholocized his army in Ireland. At the Revolution of 1688, he was a Major in Princess Anne’s Regiment and served at the Battle of the Boyne. On 9 March 1692 he was made a Colonel, and Captain General and Governor in Chief of the province of New York and of Pennsylvania and the County of Newcastle as well as Vice Admiral of the same. In April 1698 he was replaced by Richard Coote, Earl of Bellamont, and retired to Ireland where he died 28 May 1703.