Beckford, WILLIAM

Beckford, WILLIAM, born in Jamaica, 19th December 1709, in 1723 was sent to England, and received his education at Westminster. Elected an alderman (1752) and member for the city of London (1753), he was twice Lord Mayor. As such he showed himself a doughty Whig, a rival almost of Wilkes, a man who dared to speak face to face with a king. A petition from the corporation of London, presented by him, March 1770, to George III., being treated as unconstitutional, he, in May, presented a firm and dignified remonstrance. The king's answer being still curt and unconciliatory, Beckford, after asking leave to speak, proceeded to argue the point with the king. His daring, or a cold, cost him his life, for just four weeks later he died in London, 21st June 1770. There is a notable statute of him in Guildhall.