William Beckford

William Beckford (1760 – 1844), was born in 1760, and died in the spring of 1844, at the age of eighty-four years. His great-great-grandfather was lieutenant-governor and commander of the forces in Jamaica, and his grandfather president of the council in the same island. His father was a large landed proprietor, both in England and the West Indies, was lord mayor of London, and distinguished himself in presenting an address to the king, George the Third. When his grandfather died in 1770, he was the wealthiest commoner in England.