BECKFORD, ----; b. ; in under school lists 1715-7. [Probably Peter Beckford, elder brother of William Beckford (adm. Jan. 1718/9, qv); bapt. 18 Feb 1704/5; succeeded to father’s Jamaican estates 1735; d. 16 Aug 1737]
BECKFORD, BALLARD, son of Thomas Beckford, Spanish Town, Jamaica, and his first wife Mary Tolderby; bapt. 28 Jul 1709; adm. (aged 11) Jan 1720/1; in under school list 1723; St. John’s Coll. Oxford, matr. 27 Oct 1726; m. Ann, dau. of John Clark, Governor of New York; d. in Jamaica 23 May 1760.
BECKFORD, FRANCIS, brother of William Beckford (adm. Jan 1718/9, qv); b. 23 Feb 1722/3; adm. (aged 8) Jun 1730; left 1737; St. John’s Coll. Oxford, matr. 4 Nov 1741; of Basing Park, Hampshire; contested Boston 1747; m. 1st, 8 Mar 1743/4 Lady Albinia Bertie, sister of Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven (qv); m. 2nd, 1755 Susannah, only dau. of Richard Love, Basing, Hampshire; d. 25 Nov 1768.
BECKFORD, GEORGE, brother of William Beckford (adm. Jan 1718/9, qv); bapt. 14 Dec 1715; adm. (aged 8) Jun 1724; d. at school in 1725.
BECKFORD, JULINES, brother of William Beckford (adm. Jan. 1718/9, qv); b.; adm. (aged 7) Jun 1725; in school list 1731; landowner in Jamaica; purchased Iwerne Stepleton estate, Dorset, 1745; High Sheriff, Dorset 1749; MP Salisbury from 1754; m. 17 Jan 1739 Elizabeth, dau. of Solomon Ashley MP, merchant, London and Ashby St. Ledgers, Northants.; d. 27 Nov 1764.
BECKFORD, NATHANIEL, brother of William Beckford (adm. Jan. 1718/9, qv); b. 3 Dec 1713; adm. (aged 8) Jan 1721/2; in school list 1727/8; d. unm. 27 Nov 1764.
BECKFORD, PETER, only son of Julines Beckford (qv); b.; adm. (aged 8) Jan 1747/8 (Butler's); in school list 1752; New Coll. Oxford, matr. 12 Apr 1757; of Iwerne Stepleton, Dorset; travelling in Italy 1765-6; High Sheriff, Dorset 1780; MP Morpeth 1768-74; a man of many accomplishments, and a famous sportsman; hunted the country subsequently known as the South Dorset; went to live permanently in Italy 1783; author, Thoughts upon Hare and Fox Hunting, 1781, Essays on Hunting, 1781, and Familiar Letters from Italy to a Friend in England, 1805; m. 22 Mar 1773 Hon. Louisa Pitt, dau. of George Pitt, 1st Baron Rivers; d. 18 Feb 1811. DNB.
BECKFORD, RICHARD, brother of William Beckford (adm. Jan. 1718/9, qv); bapt. 3 Feb 1711/2; adm. (aged 9) Jul 1721; in under school list 1724; Balliol Coll. Oxford, matr. 15 Jan 1727/8; migrated to University Coll.; BA 1731; adm. Middle Temple 17 Jun 1730, called to bar 6 Feb 1735/6; landowner in Jamaica; MP Bristol from 1754; Alderman, City of London (Farringdon Ward Without) from 29 Oct 1754; Prime Warden, Goldsmiths’ Co., 1755; d. unm. at Lyon, France 24 Jan 1756.
BECKFORD, THOMAS, brother of William Beckford (adm. Jan. 1718/9, qv); bapt. 3 Feb 1711/2 (twin of brother Richard); adm. (aged 9) Jun 1721; in under school list 1724; d. young, probably before 1730.
BECKFORD, WILLIAM, second son of Peter Beckford, West Indian planter, Speaker of the Jamaica Assembly, and Bathsheba, dau. of Col. Julines Hering, Paul Island, Jamaica; bapt. 19 Dec 1709; adm. (aged 9) Jan 1718/9; Balliol Coll. Oxford, matr. 17 Dec 1725; BA 1729; MA 1732; Leiden Univ. 1731; a medical student in Leiden and Paris to 1735; succeeded brother in Jamaican estates 1737; settled in England 1744; purchased Fonthill Abbey estate, Wiltshire, 1745; a West India merchant in London; Alderman, City of London (Bishopsgate Ward) from 25 Jun 1752, Sheriff of London 1755-6, Lord Mayor 1762-3, 1769-70; Master, Ironmongers’ Co., 1753; MP Shaftesbury 8 Dec 1747-54, City of London from 1754; a Tory on his entry to politics, but from 1756 onwards a staunch supporter of William Pitt; gave his backing to John Wilkes; his famous impromptu speech to King George III on the misdeeds of his ministers, 23 May 1770, was subsequently inscribed on the monument erected to his memory in Guildhall; laid the foundation stone of the new Newgate Prison 31 May 1770; m. 8 Jun 1756 Maria, widow of Francis Marsh, Jamaica, and sister of John Hamilton (qv); d. while Lord Mayor 21 Jun 1770. DNB.