Tiger Roche David " Tiger " Roche , ( 1729 – ? ) was a celebrated soldier , duellist and adventurer , variously hailed as a hero and damned as a thief and a murderer at many times during his stormy life . Roche was born to a middle - class family in Dublin in 1729 and received a gentleman ' s education , he was in fact so well turned out that his comportment sufficiently impressed the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to offer him a military commission at sixteen years ' old . Roche had fallen in with bad company and was possibly involved in an attack on a night watchman , one of many carried out by gangs of bucks at the time . He fled to North America where he volunteered during the French and Indian War . There his bravery and intrepidity impressed and he quickly rose to a high rank ; until accused of theft from a fellow officer . Roche always denied the allegation , stating he had bought the gun in question , but the corporal from whom he claimed to have done so that Roche himself had stolen it . Roche was convicted and disgraced by Court Martial . Roche later attacked several people involved in the case , including the Corporal , after which he earned the nickname " Tiger " . He continued to fight with distinction in the war , and then with money from friends in Ireland , sailed for England where he hoped to buy a commission in the army . However the stain of his conviction followed him , and the other officers refused to serve with him , until the dying Corporal confessed that he had in fact stolen the gun . Roche was vindicated overnight and returned to Dublin a hero , where he was offered a Lieutenancy in a new regiment . His status was further boosted after he raised a unit to patrol the streets at night against a particularly vicious brand of criminals active at the time . After the Treaty of Paris in 1763 Roche was forced to retire from the army and move to London , where he married the wealthy Miss Pitt , but later squandered her money and she divorced him . Roche ended the affair in debtors ' prison , until his own inheritance freed him . Roche idled along in London until friends asked him to stand for Parliament , though he declined the offer . In 1773 , though , he accepted a captaincy in an infantry regiment and sailed for India . There were disagreements aboard the ship and Roche fell out with the Captain and other gentlemen aboard . When they landed at the Cape of Good Hope Roche called on Captain Ferguson ' s house , who was later founded with dead behind it . Roche feld , but was caught , tried and acquitted by the Dutch . He continued to Bombay where the British arrested him , he opposed the legal grounds of his trial , but he was returned to London to stand trial in the Old Bailey in December 1774 . He was again acquitted . The case is the last trace Roche left . He appeared as the hero in a play by John Masefield and may have been the model for William Makepeace Thackeray ' s Barry Lyndon . Early life . David Roche was born , either the first or second of three sons , to Jordan Roche and Ellen White in Dublin , Ireland in 1729 . His younger brother was Sir Boyle Roche , the eminent politician . Roche received the best education Dublin could provide , and was instructed in all the accomplishments then deemed essential to the rank and character of a gentleman . So expert was he in the various acquirements of polite life , that at the age of 16 he recommended himself to Philip Stanhope , 4th Earl of Chesterfield , then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , who offered him , gratuitously , a commission in the army . However , Roche had fallen in with a disreputable crowd who convinced him to refuse Chesterfield ' s offer . Further , Roche was present ( and probably directly involved ) when his associates attacked and killed a watchman . Compelled to leave Dublin , Roche made his way to Cork , and from there to North America . At the outbreak of the French and Indian War , Roche entered as a volunteer in one of the provincial regiments , and distinguished himself in skirmishes against the Indians . Court Martial . Roche displayed intrepidity and spirit in his military doings , and was expected to rise to a high rank until an unfortunate event destroyed his career . An officer of Roche ' s regiment missed a valuable gun , which was later found in Roche ' s possession . Roche declared that he had bought the gun from a corporal of the regiment named Bourke . Bourke declared on oath that Roche ' s statement was false , and Roche was brought to a court - martial . Roche was convicted of the theft and ordered to quit the service with " every mark of disgrace and ignominy " . Roche subsequently challenged and attacked a number of the people involved in the incident , including Corporal Bourke . During his fight with Bourke , Roche sank his teeth into Bourke ' s throat and was pulled away dragging a mouthful of flesh ( which he afterwards said was " the sweetest morsel he had ever tasted " ) . It was from this fight that he gained the nickname " Tiger " . After this incident , Roche fought as a volunteer in other battles , possibly including the first battle at Fort Ticonderoga . Though he fought well , Roche was not able to escape the stain of the robbery . He made his way to New York and eventually , in 1758 , received some money from friends in Ireland and was able to obtain passage on a vessel bound for England . Roche reserved part of his supply of money for the purchase of a regimental commission . Unfortunately , just as the purchase was about to be completed , a report of his theft in America reached the regiment , and the officers refused to serve with him . Roche traced the origin of the report to a Captain Campbell , whom he met and challenged to a duel . Both men were desperately wounded . On other occasions Roche challenged or attacked others connected with the incident , and generally anyone who spread the story . Roche ' s attacks , though fierce , were not usually successful , and he was seriously wounded on several occasions . Ultimately , redress to his character came accidentally and unexpectedly . Corporal Bourke was mortally wounded by a scalping party of Indians , and on his death - bed made a solemn confession that he himself had actually stolen the gun , and sold it to Roche , and that Roche had purchased it without any suspicion of the theft . This declaration of the dying man was properly attested and universally accepted , and instantly restored Roche ' s character . A hero in Dublin . In compensation for the injustice and injury he had suffered , Roche was awarded a lieutenancy in a newly - raised regiment . He returned to Dublin ( where the old murder charge had been quietly dropped ) a much - celebrated hero . Dublin was at this time infested with criminals known as " sweaters " or " pinkindindies " ( who cut off the points of their swords because they would rather " inflict considerable pain " than kill ) . One evening Roche happened to single - handedly rescue an old gentleman with his son and daughter from a gang of several such attackers . This gave him the idea to form a body , consisting of officers and others of his acquaintance , to patrol Dublin at night , further enhancing his heroic status . Fall and rise in London . The peace concluded in 1763 reduced the size of the army , and forced Roche to retire in indigent circumstances to London , where he soon lived beyond his income . In order to repair it , he managed to marry a Miss Pitt , who had a fortune of £4 , 000 ( approximately £100 , 000 in today ' s money ) . Unfortunately , on the anticipation of this fortune , Roche engaged in a series of extravagances that accumulated debts beyond his marriage portion . He was arrested and cast into the King ' s Bench Prison , where his wife divorced him and where so many detainers were laid upon him so that it seemed unlikely that he would ever go free . However , a legacy left him by a relation enabled him to escape confinement . Roche became a constant frequenter of billiard - tables . One day he was idly pushing balls around a table , and someone complained that while he was not playing himself , he was " hindering other gentlemen from their amusement . " Roche replied , " why , sir , except you and me , and two or three more , there is not a gentleman in the room . " A friend afterwards remarked that he had grossly offended a large company , and wondered why none had appeared to resent the affront . " Oh ! " said Roche , " there was no fear of that . There was not a thief in the room that did not consider himself one of the two or three gentlemen I excepted . " Once again Roche ' s fortunes improved , and he was called on to stand as candidate to represent Middlesex in Parliament . So high an opinion was entertained of his daring spirit , that it was thought by some of the popular party he might be of use in intimidating Colonel Luttrell , who was the declared opponent of John Wilkes at that election . In April 1769 , he was put into nomination at Brentford . Roche disappointed his friends and declined the poll , induced , it was said , by promises of Luttrell ' s friends to provide for him . Roche ' s stay in London included at least one duel , and also an attack by two ruffians with pistols in which Roche , armed only with a sword , nevertheless prevailed . Less savoury stories of Roche ' s attachment , mismanagement and eventual dissipation of a young woman ' s fortune also survive from this period . A murder in Africa . Roche was appointed captain of a company of foot soldiers in the East India Service , and embarked in the " Vansittart " for India in May , 1773 . Apparently Roche was in such a temper that he fell out with all the passengers , including a Captain Ferguson , who called him out as soon as they arrived at Madeira . Roche was seized with a sudden and unaccountable fit of terror , and refused to fight . The early arrogance and later cowardice he had displayed revolted the whole body of the passengers , and the captain of the ship expelled him from the table , leaving Roche to join the common sailors and soldiers on board the ship . With these he endeavoured to ingratiate himself by claiming vengeance against every gentleman and officer on board the ship . His threats were particularly directed against Ferguson , whom he considered the origin of the disgrace he suffered . On the arrival of the ship at the Cape of Good Hope , Roche came ashore and was seen near the house where Ferguson lodged . A message was conveyed to Ferguson , who went out , and was found soon afterwards behind the house with nine deep wounds , all on his left side . Suspicion immediately fixed on Roche as the murderer and he fled during the night , taking refuge among the Kaffirs . Roche was tried by the Dutch authorities at the Cape of Good Hope , and acquitted . He then took a passage in a French vessel to Bombay , but the " Vansittart " had arrived in India before him . Information had been given to the British authorities , charging Roche with Ferguson ' s murder , and Roche was arrested as soon as he landed . He asked to be discharged , or at least bailed , on the grounds that there was not sufficient evidence against him and that he had been already acquitted . He also argued that as the offence , if any , had been committed outside British dominions , he could only be tried by special commission , and it was uncertain whether the Crown would issue one or not , or when or where it would sit . He argued his own case with the skill of a practised lawyer . The authorities , however , declined either to bail or discharge him , and he was kept in custody until he was sent a prisoner to England , to stand his trial . A charge of murder was brought against him , and a commission was issued to try it . The case came on at the Old Bailey , in London , before Baron Burland , on 11 December 1774 . Roche ' s counsel declined to rely on the former acquittal at the Cape of Good Hope , and the case was again gone through . The fact of the killing was undisputed , but from the peculiar nature of the proceedings , there could not be , as in a common indictment for murder , a conviction for manslaughter ; and the judge directed the jury , if they did not believe the killing to be malicious and deliberate , absolutely to acquit the prisoner . The jury brought in a verdict of acquittal . Mysterious end . It is not known what happened to Roche next , or where and when his life ended . Somerville - Large claims he returned to India , and lived quietly until his death .