Politician. William Beckford served in England in the eighteenth century as a member of Parliament, and Lord Mayor of London from 1762 to 1763 and 1769 to 1770. In 1747, he was elected an MP, first for Shaftesbury and then for London. He had become a colleague of William Pitt the Elder who would become secretary of state and later prime minister. He also served as an alderman in 1752 and the Sheriff of London in 1756. His public service was not for monetary gains. Leaving his home in Jamaica, he came to England when he was fourteen years old for a better education at the Westminister School. He then attended Balliol College in Oxford from 1725, receiving a B.A. in 1729 and a Master's in 1732. In 1731 he moved to Leiden to study medicine and then went on to Paris where he gained experience at the Hotel des Invalides. His father, Colonel Peter Beckford, who had been lieutenant-governor of the island, was considered the richest man in Jamaica. With the death of his unmarried older brother, he inherited in 1737 a considerable wealth from his father's estate: 13 sugar plantations, over 22,000 acres of land, and about 3,000 enslaved Africans, which had accrued over generations in his family, thus he had to return to Jamaica to manage the property. Although he had 12 siblings, he was the sole heir. While on the island, he served in the Jamaican militia, and was elected as a representative to the island's Assembly. His siblings became very involved in managing his properties. In the mid-1740s, he returned to London to manage his business affairs and he became one of the most powerful businessmen in the city. He became known for the lavish public banquets, which he hosted. In 1760 the slaves on his sugar plantation rebelled and 400 slaves were killed in the incident. As a consequence of the Seven Years War from 1756 to 1763 with France, the price of sugar sky-rocketed, increasing his wealth. He was involved in wine making, shipping and money lending with interest. He led a group of MPs, who were absentee planters from the West Indies like him, to formed a powerful pro-slavery lobby. Although his wealth was considered a commoner's "New Money," he married June 8, 1756, Maria, who was the widow of Francis Marsh, the daughter of the Honorable George Hamilton and the granddaughter of James, 6th Earl of Abercorn. He may have been rich but the nobles considered him loud, ill-mannered, brash, vulgar and hot tempered and not easily suitable for high society. In about 1736, he purchased the Fonthill estate in Wiltshire, where he built a large and expensive house and then entertained on a lavish scale. The house burnt to the ground in 1755, but he rebuilt another mansion by 1770, Fonthill Spendens or simply the "Spendens." His immense wealth meant the house was filled with the best art, objects and furniture money could buy. He built the archway to form a grand entrance to his estate. He also demolished the old St Nicholas' church, which was close to the house and rebuilt it on the site between 1747 and 1749. Later between 1864 to 1866 the present-day Holy Trinity Church at Fonthill Gifford, was built on the same site. All of the churches would have a churchyard cemetery. There are numerous drawings and blueprints still available from this huge project. He also had a London home. His only legitimate child, William Thomas Beckford, was born in 1760. In his will, he mentioned eight other children born out-of-wedlock. His son, William, became a well-known novelist and acquired a sum of wealth of his own, purchasing a large art collection and building Fonthill Abbey. To differentiate between him and his son, along with a nephew named William, Beckford chose to use the name of "Alderman Beckford." It was reported on June 14th to the public that Beckford had become "ill of a neglected cold," then dying June 21st. He was buried on Fonthill Estate on the last day of the month, according to the "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900," Volume 4. A full-size statue created in 1767 by John Francis Moore was placed atop the huge monument in Beckford's memory in a municipal building in the Moorgate area of London. On March 6, 1770 as London's mayor, Beckford gave a speech, using his heavy Jamaican accent, to King George III for the rights of the people, becoming a respected British hero. He died a few short months later. His strongly-worded speech is engraved on the bronze plaque on the front of the statue's monument. Along with other statues, Beckford's statue has been scheduled for removal in 2021 from a public place as he supported the African slave trade.