![Arthur_William_A_Beckett](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Arthur_William_A_Beckett.jpg)
Arthur William à Beckett (25 October 1844 – 14 January 1909) was an English journalist and intellectual.
Biography
He was a younger son of
Gilbert Abbott à Beckett
Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (9 January 1811 – 30 August 1856) was an English humorist. Biography
He was born in London, the son of a lawyer, and belonged to a family claiming descent from Thomas Becket. He was educated at Westminster School an ...
and
Mary Anne à Beckett
Mary Anne à Beckett (29 April 1815 – 11 December 1863) was an English composer, primarily known for opera. She was the wife of the writer Gilbert à Beckett, who provided the libretti for two of her operas. Their children included the writ ...
, brother of
Gilbert Arthur à Beckett
Gilbert Arthur à Beckett (April 7, 1837 – October 15, 1891) was an English writer.
Biography
Beckett was born at Portland House Hammersmith, on 7 April 1837, the eldest son of the civil servant and humorist Gilbert Abbott à Beckett and t ...
and educated at
Felsted School
(Keep your Faith)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Chris Townsend
, r_head_l ...
. Besides fulfilling other journalistic engagements, Beckett was on the staff of ''
Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
'' from 1874 to 1902, edited the ''Sunday Times'' 1891–1895, and the ''Naval and Military Magazine'' in 1896.
He gave an account of his father and his own reminiscences in ''The à Becketts of Punch'' (1903). A childhood friend (and distant relative) of
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...
, Beckett briefly feuded with Gilbert in 1869, but the two patched up the friendship, and Gilbert even later collaborated on projects with Beckett's brother.
He was married to Suzanne Frances Winslow, daughter of the noted
psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...
Forbes Benignus Winslow.
Works
He published:
* ''Comic Guide to the Royal Academy'', with his brother Gilbert (1863–64)
* ''Fallen Amongst Thieves'' (1869)
* ''Our Holiday in the Highlands'' (1874)
* ''The Shadow Witness'' and ''The Doom of Saint Quirec'', with
Francis Burnand
Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (29 November 1836 – 21 April 1917), usually known as F. C. Burnand, was an English comic writer and prolific playwright, best known today as the librettist of Arthur Sullivan's opera ''Cox and Box''.
The son of ...
(1875–76)
* ''The Ghost of Greystone Grange'' (1877)
* ''The Mystery of Mostyn Manor'' (1878)
* ''Traded Out''; ''Hard Luck''; ''Stone Broke''; ''Papers from Pump Handle Court, by a Briefless Barrister'' (1884)
* ''Modern Arabian Nights'' (1885)
* ''The Member for Wrottenborough'' (1895)
* ''Greenroom Recollections'' (1896)
* ''The Modern Adam'' (1899)
* ''London at the End of the Century'' (1900)
*With
F. C. Burnand
Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (29 November 1836 – 21 April 1917), usually known as F. C. Burnand, was an English comic writer and prolific playwright, best known today as the librettist of Arthur Sullivan's opera ''Cox and Box''.
The son of ...
he co-authored:
** ''The Doom of St. Querec'' (1875)
** ''The Shadow Witness'' (1876)
He wrote for the theatre two three-act comedies:
*''L.S.D.'' (
Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. , 1872);
*''About Town'' (
Court Theatre, 1873, it ran for over 150 nights);
and
*''On Strike'' (Court Theatre, 1873, a domestic drama in one act) ;
*''Faded Flowers'' (
The Haymarket
Haymarket is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, London. It runs from Piccadilly Circus in the north to Pall Mall at the southern end. Located on the street are the Theatre Royal, Her Majesty's Theatre, New Zealand H ...
);
*''Long Ago'' (Royalty Theatre, 1882);
*''From Father to Son'' (Liverpool, 1881, a dramatised version of his novel ''Fallen among Thieves'' written in 3 acts in cooperation with
J. Palgrave Simpson).
Notes
References
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External links
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1844 births
1909 deaths
English male journalists
English humorists
{{UK-journalist-stub