Rupert Murdoch, the media moghul from Australia, had an ancestor, Robert Sherson, who served with the East India Company in Madras in various capacities. Sherson was the great-great-grandfather of Rupert’s mother, Elizabeth Joy Greene.

The Murdochs were of Scottish origin. The great-grandfather of Rupert, Rev. James Murdoch, was a Minister in the Free Church of Scotland. It was Rupert’s grandfather, Patrick Murdoch, who immigrated to the State of Victoria in 1884. A son of Patrick, Keith Arthur Murdoch, married Elizabeth Joy Greene, Catherine Jemina Sherson’s grand-daughter. A daughter of Robert Sherson, Catherine Sherson, had married Frederick Forth who was, in turn, Lt. Governor of the West Indies, and Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. The Forths seemed to have eventually settled in the Australian State of Tasmania. A daughter of theirs married a Greene. It was Keith Murdoch who actively took to journalism and later went on to become a newspaper proprietor. The son followed in the footsteps of his father and the rest is, as they say, history.

Rupert Murdoch not so long ago faced many charges for unethical actions. His ancestor, Robert Sherson too faced similar charges in a case of fraud during his tenure with the Company's establishment in Madras nearly two centuries ago. He was, howevre, found innocent.

Records list Robert Sherson as a senior merchant with the Company. He was appointed Post Master General of Madras in 1793. A marriage record in St. Mary’s in the Fort mentions the marriage of Sherson with Catherine Taylor (daughter of Captain John Taylor, later Colonel) on May 22, 1798.

It was during the governorship of Lord William Bentinck in 1807 that Sherson was put in charge jointly with one Mr. Cooke to manage the receipt and disbursal of imported grain to the natives as part of famine relief, instead of Mungo Dick, Trade Board member and a Mr. Balfour, Collector of Customs. Personal animosity seems to have existed between Sherson and Dick before and had grown multifold after the former’s appointment overseeing the latter.

A hurricane struck Madras in December 1807 and most of the granaries that were unroofed suffered heavy damage. A grains committee was formed to investigate the loss and it included Dick as a member and Cooke as its secretary. Sherson ordered a survey of all the affected granaries to prepare a statement of loss after being ordered by Dick to submit the report at the earliest. Succumbing to pressure, Sherson submitted a report solely relying on the estimates provided by one of his subordinate officer. This proved to be a slippery slope for Sherson, as the estimates provided were all deliberately falsified. An explanation provided by Sherson fell on deaf ears where Dick and Cooke were concerned, though the rest of the committee were satisfied. But Dick and Cooke would not let go.

Dick, a friend of George Barlow, later Governor of Madras, seized the report submitted by the committee and kept it under guard in Fort St. George, without following due procedure, namely, bringing it to the Government’s notice. Another committee was set up in which Dick was one of the investigators. As was only to be expected, Sherson was dismissed in February 1808 from all offices, on the charge of fraudulently selling the grain and embezzling 29,509 pagodas derived from the sale.

The case excited much in the settlement as it involved a servant of the Company, who before the trial had borne excellent character. He was under suspension for seven years. During this difficult phase, Alexander Novell, a member of Parliament, liaised with the 1st Earl of Lonsdale and Sir James Graham to clear Sherson's name. Finally, Sherson was acquitted, as the case was found framed on false grounds.

Sherson, in 1816, named his son Alexander Novell Sherson in gratitude to his friend who stood by him during his time of trouble. The Court of Directors went further, recommending Sherson for re-employment.

- Bharath Yeshwanth