Ballads

Thackeray, an only child, was born in Calcutta, India, where his father, Richmond Thackeray (1 September 1781 - 13 September 1815), held the high rank of secretary to the board of revenue in the British East India Company. His mother, Anne Becher (1792-1864) was the second daughter of Harriet and John Harman Becher and was also a secretary (writer) for the East India Company. William had been sent to England earlier, at the age of five, with a short stopover at St. Helena where the imprisoned Napoleon was pointed out to him. He was educated at schools in Southampton and Chiswick and then at Charterhouse School.