Beckford family

Coat of arms of the Backford family

The Beckford family was an English family which emigrated to Jamaica in the 17th century. ^[1] There, they became members of the colony's planter class, acquiring great wealth through ownership of sugar plantations and slaves. ^[2]

Family members

• Peter Beckford of Maidenhead
  • Peter Beckford (1643 – 3 April 1710) also had brothers Sir Thomas Beckford (1618–1685) and Richard Beckford
    • His son Peter Beckford junior
      • His son Richard Beckford (c. 1711 – 1756)
        • His son William Beckford of Somerley (1744–1799) (married Charlotte Beckford, who died in 1833)
      • His son William Beckford (1709–1770) (married Maria Marsh, daughter of the Hon. George Hamilton)
        • His only child by this marriage was William Thomas Beckford (1760–1844) but also had eight children born out of wedlock including Richard Beckford (died 1796)
      • His son Julines Beckford (c. 1717 – c. 1764)
        • His son Peter Beckford (married Louisa Pitt)
          • Their son Horace Beckford (later Horace Pitt-Rivers) married Frances Rigby on 9 February 1808, daughter of Francis Hale Rigby, and had four children
            • George Pitt-Rivers, 4th Baron Rivers (1810–1866)
            • Horace Pitt-Rivers, 6th Baron Rivers (1814–1880)
            • Fanny Pitt (d. 1 February 1836), married Frederick William Cox on 24 July 1834
            • Harriet Elizabeth Pitt (1816 – 18 July 1876), maid of honour to Queen Victoria, married on 18 September 1841 Charles Dashwood Bruce (1802–1878), without issue
      • Peter Beckford juniors other son William Beckford
        • His son William Thomas Beckford
          • His daughter Susan Hamilton married Alexander Hamilton

• James Beckford Wildman, son of James Wildman of Chilham and Joanna Harper of Jamaica, was a godchild of William Beckford. ^[3]

Places of interest

• Beckford's Tower
• Fonthill Abbey

Related families

• Pitt family

References

1. "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slavery". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
2. "Big Spenders: The Beckford's and Slavery". BBC News. Retrieved 2024-04-17.
3. "Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slavery". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-04-17.