Gilbert Abbott à Beckett (9 January 1811 – 30 August 1856) was an English humorist.

Biography

Grave of Gilbert Abbot a Beckett in Highgate Cemetery

He was born in London, the son of solicitor William à Beckett, and belonged to a family claiming descent from

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

. He was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and was called to the bar at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1841. He edited the comic paper '' Figaro in London'' and was one of the original staff of '' Punch'' and a contributor until his death. He was an active journalist on ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' and '' The Morning Herald'', contributed a series of light articles to the ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'', conducted in 1846 ''The Almanack of the Month'' and found time to produce some fifty or sixty plays, among them dramatized versions of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

's shorter stories, written in collaboration with

Mark Lemon Mark Lemon (30 November 1809, in London – 23 May 1870, in Crawley) was the founding editor of both ''Punch (magazine), Punch'' and ''The Field (magazine), The Field''. He was also a writer of Play (theatre), plays and verses. Biography ...

. He is perhaps best known as the author of ''The Comic History of England'' (1847–48), '' The Comic History of Rome'' (1852) and a ''Comic Blackstone'' (1846). He wrote the book for two operas with music composed by his wife Mary Anne à Beckett (née Glossop), ''Agnes Sorrel'' and ''Red Riding Hood''. As poor-law commissioner he presented a valuable report to the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

regarding the Andover workhouse scandal, and in 1849 he became a metropolitan police magistrate. Chambers Biographical Dictionary, , page 3 He died in

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

, France, of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

and is buried on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

(plot no.7604), above and to the far left of the colonnade in the courtyard. His elder brother, Sir William à Beckett (1806–1869), became chief justice of Victoria, Australia. He was the father of two other Victorian writers, Gilbert Arthur à Beckett and Arthur William à Beckett.

Works

* ''The King Incog'' (1834) * ''The Revolt of The Work-House'' (1834)
''The Man With the Carpet Bag''
(1835) * ''Posthumous Papers of the Wonderful Discovery Club'' (1838) (written as POZ) * ''The Chimes'' (1844) (with Mark Lemon) * ''Scenes from the Rejected Comedies'' (1844) * ''Hop O' My Thumb'' (1844) (written as POZ) * ''Comic Blackstone'' (1844) * ''Timour; or, The Cream of Tartar'' (1845)
''The Comic History of England''
(1847–48) * '' The Comic History of Rome'' (1851) * ''Sardanapalus; or, The 'Fast' King of Assyria'' (1853) * ''The Fiddle Faddle Fashion Book'' (written as POZ) Source:

References

* *

External links

* * *
"Punch, or, The London Charivari, 1841"
''Science in the 19th Century Periodical''

Colour engravings by John Leech with text by Gilbert Abbott À Beckett. ''BibliOdyssey'' * À Beckett, Gilbert Abbott & Leech, John
''The comic history of England''
London : Bradbury, Agnew, & Co., 864* À Beckett, Gilbert Abbott & Leech, John
''The comic history of England''
London : George Routledge, New York : E. P. Dutton, 894 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abeckett, Gilbert Abbott English humorists 19th-century English writers People educated at Westminster School, London 1811 births 1856 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Writers from London Deaths from typhoid fever in France Stipendiary magistrates (England and Wales) À Beckett family