Richard Melvill Beachcroft (1846 – January 1926) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

politician and mountain climber. Beachcroft grew up in Hampstead. He was educated at Harrow School and became a solicitor in 1868. He later served as solicitor to

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

. He was elected at the 1889 London County Council election, joining the

Moderate Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...

group on the new council. From 1892 to 1898, he was instead an alderman on the council, and he served as deputy chairman in 1896, vice chairman in 1897, and chairman in 1909/10. The Moderate group was superseded by the Conservative Party group, of which Beachcroft was recognised as leader for a time around the

1904 London County Council election An election to the County Council of London took place on 5 March 1904. The council was elected by First Past the Post with each elector having two votes in the two-member seats. The Progressive Party retained control of the council, with a sli ...

. From 1903 to 1908, he also served as the founding chairman of the

Metropolitan Water Board The Metropolitan Water Board was a municipal body formed in 1903 to manage the water supply in London, UK. The members of the board were nominated by the local authorities within its area of supply. In 1904 it took over the water supply functi ...

. In 1904, he was knighted. In his spare time, Beachcroft was an early Alpinist. He first travelled to the Alps in 1864 with

Douglas Freshfield Douglas William Freshfield (27 April 1845 – 9 February 1934) was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the ''Alpine Journal ''from 1872 to 1880. He was an active member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club and ...

, and, in 1877, he climbed the

Matterhorn The (, ; it, Cervino, ; french: Cervin, ; rm, Matterhorn) is a mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the extended Monte Rosa area of the ...

. He was also active in the

Alpine Club The first alpine club, the Alpine Club, based in the United Kingdom, was founded in London in 1857 as a gentlemen's club. It was once described as: :"a club of English gentlemen devoted to mountaineering, first of all in the Alps, members of whi ...

, and served on its committee from 1889 to 1891. In addition, he served as Master of the Clothworkers' Company in 1913/14.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beachcroft, Melvill 1846 births 1926 deaths British mountain climbers Conservative Party (UK) councillors Knights Bachelor Members of London County Council People from Hampstead