Background
Beckford was born in Jamaica the grandson of Colonel Peter Beckford.
Beckford was born in Jamaica the grandson of Colonel Peter Beckford.
William Beckford studied at Westminster School, and made his career in the City of London.
William Beckford became an alderman in 1752, a Sheriff of London in 1756 and was then elected Lord Mayor of London first in 1763 and again in 1769. He was returned as Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of London in 1754.
In March 1770 following the release of John Wilkes, of whom Beckford had been an ardent supporter, Beckford decorated his house with a large banner, which according to Horace Walpole bore the word Liberty written in 3-foot-high (0. 91 m) embroidered white letters. A few weeks later, on 23 May, Beckford publicly admonished George III. Breaking contemporary protocol he asked the King to dissolve Parliament and to remove his civil councillors, referring to "our happy constitution as it was established in the Glorious and Necessary Revolution".
As a rich patron, William Beckford used his interest in favour of William Pitt the Elder, sponsoring and encouraging his political rise, supporting the Whig cause in general.