James Augustus Hicky

However, Hicky never took his freedom from the printers' guild, and instead secured a clerkship with an English lawyer, William Davy.

Upon landing in Calcutta, Hicky practiced as both a surgeon and a merchant, shipping and trading goods along India's coast.

After four dramatic trials in June 1781, the Supreme Court found Hicky guilty and sentenced him to jail.

Hicky's Bengal Gazette ceased publication on 30 March 1782 when its types were seized by an order of the Supreme Court.

Hicky was freed from jail about Christmas 1784, when Warren Hastings, about to embark to England to face impeachment, forgave his debts.

James Augustus Hicky's Bill to the East India Company for a printing job
Front page of Hicky's Bengal Gazette , 10 March 1781, from the University of Heidelberg's archives.