- GB-2014-WSA-02944
- Person
- 1744-1799
BECKFORD, WILLIAM, illegitimate son of Richard Beckford (qv), and Elizabeth, dau. of Thomas Hay, Secretary for Jamaica; b. Jamaica 24 Sep 1744; at school under Markham (The Monthly Mirror, vii, 259); Balliol Coll. Oxford, matr. 17 Mar 1762; MA 6 Apr 1765; Grand Tour (Italy) 1770-1; of Somerley Hall, Suffolk; settled on his estates in Jamaica 1774; returned to England 1787; in Fleet Prison as a debtor 1790-2; author, A Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica, 1790, and other works; a contributor to literary magazines; a man of varied attainments; characterised as “Benevolus” in A Short Journey to the West Indies, 1790; m. 13 Apr 1773 his mother’s niece, Charlotte, dau. of Thomas Hay; d. 5 Feb 1799. DNB.