Sir Edmund Beckett-Denison, 4th Baronet (28 January 1787 – 24 May 1874) was a railway promoter and politician.

Early life

Beckett was born at Gledhow Hall, in Leeds, on 29 January 1787. He was a son of banker Sir John Beckett, 1st Baronet (1743–1826), and his wife, Mary, whose father was Christopher Wilson, Bishop of Bristol.

Career

In 1818, Beckett settled in

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

, becoming its richest citizen. His wealth came from his share in the Beckett family bank. He became active in municipal and county politics, and in the 1841 general election was elected Tory MP for the

West Riding The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The lieutenancy at that time included the city of York a ...

. Having expected an unopposed return in 1847, he withdrew when the Liberals nominated

Richard Cobden Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radicals (UK), Radical and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician, manufacturing, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti–Corn Law L ...

, but was returned at a by-election in 1848 and sat until 1859. He was close to

Sir Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

(he supplied Peel with the horse that threw and fatally injured him); although he voted against the repeal of the

Corn Laws The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. The la ...

in 1846, by 1848 he opposed a return to

protection Protection is any measure taken to guard something against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although ...

and by 1857 described himself in Dod as a Liberal.

Railway career

Beckett is known for his role in the development of the railway system. In 1844 there were two railway routes north from London: one (later the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

) controlled by

George Hudson George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the Railway Mania, railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King"—a ...

, and the other (later the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

) under

Mark Huish Captain Mark Huish (9 March 1808 – 18 January 1867) was an English railway manager. He is best known for his term as General Manager of the London & North Western Railway, a position he held for 12 years, beginning from the company's formation ...

. The direct but thinly populated route from London to York was not served. Beckett became chairman of the Great Northern Railway (GNR), which proposed a direct line from London to York via Peterborough and Doncaster, with a loop to serve Lincolnshire. Bitterly fought by Hudson and Huish, because it would take away their traffic, the GNR prospectus was opposed by the railway department of the Board of Trade, and faced a petition alleging that its list of subscribers was inflated. The petition was rejected, and the GNR's private bill was approved in 1846. At over £600,000, this was the most expensive parliamentary contest in British railway history. Perhaps as a consequence, the line's terminus at King's Cross was to be built "for less than the cost of the ornamental archway at Euston Square", according to Beckett's engineer. Beckett called Hudson a blackguard on Derby station platform in 1845, and featured in a '' Punch'' cartoon of the incident. The opening of the GNR defeated Hudson, but not Huish, who built an alliance of lines to try to undercut the GNR. The dispute went to arbitration under

W. E. Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he was Prime Minister ...

, whose rulings mostly favoured Beckett, by awarding the GNR at least as high a proportion of the revenue as it claimed from most of the routes it contested with Huish's confederation. When Beckett retired in 1864 the GNR constituted, as it subsequently remained, the southern end of the fastest route from London to north-east England and Scotland.

Personal life

On 14 December 1814 Beckett married Maria, daughter of William Beverley of Beverley; she was the great-niece and heiress of Anne, daughter of Roundell Smithson, and widow of Sir Thomas Denison, judge of the king's bench. Among their children were: *

Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe, (12 May 1816 – 29 April 1905), known previously as Sir Edmund Beckett, 5th Baronet and Edmund Beckett Denison, was an English lawyer, mechanician, and controversialist, as well as a noted horologist ...

(1816–1905), who married Fanny Catherine (1823–1901), daughter of John Lonsdale, 89th

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West M ...

. * William Beckett (1826–1890), who married the Hon. Helen Duncombe, daughter of William Duncombe, 2nd Baron Feversham. * Christopher Beckett Denison (1825–1884), who died unmarried. * Mary Beckett, who married Charles Wilson Faber and was the mother of Edmund Beckett Faber, 1st Baron Faber. Through his wife Beckett inherited the estate of Thomas Denison (d. 1765). On 17 November 1872, he inherited the baronetcy of Beckett. He had assumed the additional surname, Denison, by

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

in 1816, but resumed his original surname by the same process on succeeding to the baronetcy in 1872. The surviving evidence shows Beckett to be tough and uncompromising. At his death even the local Tory paper, in its obituary, described him as "brusque in his manner, impatient to a degree of human vanity in all its ugly shapes, and with little trace of sentiment or poetry of any description". Beckett died at Doncaster, aged 87, on 24 May 1874, his wife having died on 27 March that year. A funeral service was held on 29 May at Christ Church, Doncaster, after which he was buried there in a family vault. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his eldest son,

References

External links

*
Beckett, Sir Edmund (known as Edmund Denison), fourth baronet
at

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...