Tiger Roche had fallen in with bad company and was possibly involved in an attack on a night watchman, one of many carried out by gangs of bucks at the time.
42 Facts About Tiger Roche
1.
2.
Tiger Roche fled to North America, where he volunteered during the French and Indian War.
3.
Tiger Roche always denied the allegation, stating he had bought the gun in question, but according to the corporal from whom he claimed to have done so, Tiger Roche himself had stolen it.
4.
Tiger Roche continued to fight with distinction in the war, and then with money from friends in Ireland, sailed for England where he hoped to buy a commission in the army.
5.
Tiger Roche was vindicated overnight and returned to Dublin a hero, where he was offered a lieutenancy in a new regiment.
6.
Tiger Roche's status was further boosted after he raised a unit to patrol the streets at night against a particularly vicious brand of criminals active at the time.
7.
Tiger Roche ended the affair in debtors' prison, until his own inheritance freed him.
8.
Tiger Roche idled along in London until friends asked him to stand for Parliament, though he declined the offer.
9.
Tiger Roche fled, but was caught, tried and acquitted by the Dutch.
10.
David Tiger Roche was born, either the first or second of three sons, to Jordan Tiger Roche and Ellen White in Dublin, Ireland in 1729.
11.
Tiger Roche received the best education Dublin could provide, and was instructed in all the accomplishments then deemed essential to the rank and character of a gentleman.
12.
However, Tiger Roche had fallen in with a disreputable crowd who convinced him to refuse Chesterfield's offer.
13.
Further, Tiger Roche was present when his associates attacked and killed a watchman.
14.
At the outbreak of the French and Indian War, Tiger Roche entered as a volunteer in one of the provincial regiments, and distinguished himself in skirmishes against the Indians.
15.
Tiger Roche displayed intrepidity and spirit in his military doings, and was expected to rise to a high rank until an unfortunate event destroyed his career.
16.
An officer of Tiger Roche's regiment missed a valuable gun, which was later found in Tiger Roche's possession.
17.
Tiger Roche declared that he had bought the gun from a corporal of the regiment named Bourke.
18.
Bourke declared on oath that Tiger Roche's statement was false, and Tiger Roche was brought to a court-martial.
19.
Tiger Roche was convicted of the theft and ordered to quit the service with "every mark of disgrace and ignominy".
20.
Tiger Roche subsequently challenged and attacked a number of the people involved in the incident, including Corporal Bourke.
21.
Tiger Roche made his way to New York and eventually, in 1758, received some money from friends in Ireland and was able to obtain passage on a vessel bound for England.
22.
Tiger Roche reserved part of his supply of money for the purchase of a regimental commission.
23.
Tiger Roche traced the origin of the report to a Captain Campbell, whom he met and challenged to a duel.
24.
On other occasions Tiger Roche challenged or attacked others connected with the incident, and generally anyone who spread the story.
25.
In compensation for the injustice and injury he had suffered, Tiger Roche was awarded a lieutenancy in a newly raised regiment.
26.
Tiger Roche returned to Dublin a much-celebrated hero.
27.
One evening Tiger Roche happened to single-handedly rescue an old gentleman with his son and daughter from a gang of several such attackers.
28.
The peace concluded in 1763 reduced the size of the army, and forced Tiger Roche to retire in indigent circumstances to London, where he soon lived beyond his income.
29.
Tiger Roche was arrested and cast into the King's Bench Prison, where his wife divorced him and where so many detainers were laid upon him so that it seemed unlikely that he would ever go free.
30.
Once again Tiger Roche's fortunes improved, and he was called on to stand as candidate to represent Middlesex in Parliament.
31.
Tiger Roche disappointed his friends and declined the poll, induced, it was said, by promises of Luttrell's friends to provide for him.
32.
Tiger Roche's stay in London included at least one duel, and an attack by two ruffians with pistols in which Tiger Roche, armed only with a sword, nevertheless prevailed.
33.
Apparently Tiger Roche was in such a temper that he fell out with all the passengers, including a Captain Ferguson, who called him out as soon as they arrived at Madeira.
34.
Tiger Roche was seized with a sudden and unaccountable fit of terror, and refused to fight.
35.
The early arrogance and later cowardice he had displayed revolted the whole body of the passengers, and the captain of the ship expelled him from the table, leaving Tiger Roche to join the common sailors and soldiers on board the ship.
36.
Tiger Roche's threats were particularly directed against Ferguson, whom he considered the origin of the disgrace he suffered.
37.
Tiger Roche was tried by the Dutch authorities at the Cape of Good Hope, and acquitted.
38.
Tiger Roche then took a passage in a French vessel to Bombay, but the Vansittart had arrived in India before him.
39.
Tiger Roche asked to be discharged, or at least bailed, on the grounds that there was not sufficient evidence against him and that he had been already acquitted.
40.
Tiger Roche argued that as the offence, if any, had been committed outside British dominions, he could only be tried by special commission, and it was uncertain whether the Crown would issue one or not, or when or where it would sit.
41.
Tiger Roche argued his own case with the skill of a practised lawyer.
42.
Tiger Roche's counsel declined to rely on the former acquittal at the Cape of Good Hope, and the case was again gone through.