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Why was William Makepeace Thackeray sent from India to England as a child?
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William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray, detail of an oil painting by Samuel Laurence; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
William Makepeace Thackeray was sent from India to England in 1816 following the death of his father, Richmond Thackeray, an administrator in the East India Company, in 1815. It was common practice during this era for children of British officials stationed in India to be sent back to England for their upbringing and education.1