Peter Beckford (colonial administrator)

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This article is about the acting governor of Jamaica. For his son, see Peter Beckford (junior).

A c. 1780 mezzotint of Beckford

Colonel Peter Beckford (c. 1643 – 3 April 1710) was an English-born planter, merchant, military officer and colonial administrator who served as the acting governor of Jamaica in 1702. A prominent member of the planter class in the English colony of Jamaica, by the time of his death Beckford had acquired ownership over 20 plantations, 1,200 slaves and earnt what historian Noel Deer described as "perhaps the greatest fortune ever made in planting."[1][2]

Early life

Peter Beckford was born in

sheriff of London, while another was Richard Beckford, a sea captain who was engaged in trade with the English colony of Jamaica from 1659 onwards.[citation needed
]

Planter and slave owner

After the

royal patent
on 6 March 1669.

He took an active part in island politics, representing

Chief Justice of Jamaica in 1703.[4] He was the first Custos of Kingston
, and a street was named after him there. He was renowned for being haughty with a strong temper and was involved in many heated debates.

Family and legacy

Beckford was twice married—first to Bridget, who died in 1691, and then again to Anne Ballard in 1696—and had two sons, the eldest of whom was also called Peter.

When he died suddenly in a fit of passion in 1710, he was the wealthiest planter in Jamaica. Charles Leslie claimed Beckford was "in possession of the largest property real and personal of any subject in Europe." This wealth was reputedly in the form of 20 Jamaican estates, 1500 slaves, and £1,500,000 in bank stock.[5][6] His death resulted from an accident on 3 April 1710 when he rushed to the defence of his son, who had caused a commotion when the governor, Thomas Handasyd, tried to dissolve the House of Assembly. Swords were drawn, and the elder Beckford allegedly fell down the stairs and died of a stroke.[7]

Peter junior gave him a grandson,

William Thomas Beckford
, the writer and art collector. The latter had his great grandfather's portrait on display, according to Henry Venn Lansdown:

"That is the portrait of my great-grandfather, Colonel Peter Beckford. It was painted by a French artist, who went to Jamaica for the purpose, at the time he was Governor of the island. It is a full length portrait, large as life, the Colonel dressed in a scarlet coat embroidered richly with gold."[8]

Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica
is named after him.

Notes

  1. OCLC 1048638264
    .
  2. ISSN 0013-0117
    .
  3. Caribbeana Vol. III (1911), edited by Vere Langford Oliver
  4. ^ Historic Jamaica : With fifty-two illustrations.
  5. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/91810. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  6. ^ A New History of Jamaica, by Charles Leslie, 1740, p. 267.
  7. ^ C.V. Black, History of Jamaica (London: Collins, 1975), p. 79.
  8. ^ Beckfordiana accessed 17 February 2007.
Government offices
Preceded by
William Selwyn
Governor of Jamaica
, acting
1702 		Succeeded by
Thomas Handasyde
, acting
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