Richard Beckford Explained

Richard Beckford (died 12 August 1796) was an English Whig^[1] politician.^[2]

Biography

Beckford was one the first mixed-race Members of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and served for the constituencies of Bridport, Arundel and Leominster from 1780 until his death in 1796.^[3]

He previously, unsuccessfully, attempted to be elected to Hindon in both 1774, against Thomas Brand Hollis and Richard Smith, and the 1775 by-election when both Smith and Hollis were removed from office for bribery, but was unsuccessful.^[4]

Beckford's father, William Beckford, was an MP and plantation owner, whilst his mother was a Jamaican slave.^[5]

See also

• List of ethnic minority politicians in the United Kingdom

Notes and References

1. Web site: Summary of Individual | Legacies of British Slavery. www.ucl.ac.uk.
2. Web site: BECKFORD, Richard (d.1796), of Nicholas Lane, Lombard St., London History of Parliament Online . 2023-01-10 . www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
3. Who were the first MPs from ethnic minority backgrounds?. Rebecca. Lees. October 28, 2020. commonslibrary.parliament.uk.
4. Web site: BECKFORD, Richard (D.1796), of Nicholas Lane, Lombard St., London | History of Parliament Online .
5. Book: Goodrich, Amanda . Henry Redhead Yorke, Colonial Radical: Politics and Identity in the Atlantic World, 1772-1813 . 2019-02-07 . Routledge . 978-0-429-61883-3 . en.