Josias Du Pré

Josias Du Pré (1721–1780) was a London merchant, a director of the East India Company and Governor of Madras.

[1] Du Pré was born in South Carolina, the son of Cornelius Dupré.

He joined the civil service of the East India Company in 1752, as a factor, and rose through a succession of positions.

[1] Once back in England he commissioned Richard Jupp to build a mansion at Wilton Park.

[4] Du Pré at the end of his life became a Fellow of the Royal Society,[5] owing the honour to his appointment two decades earlier of Alexander Dalrymple as his deputy.