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 a lawyer, 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), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and the ...

. He was educated at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

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 W ...

in 1841. He edited the comic paper ''

Figaro in London ''Figaro in London'' was an English comic paper of the early nineteenth century. Founded as a weekly on 10 December 1831, it ran until 31 December 1838. The French connection The paper's original editor was Gilbert Abbott à Beckett and it was mo ...

'' and was one of the original staff of ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

'' and a contributor until his death. He was an active journalist on ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' and ''

The Morning Herald The ''Morning Herald'' was an early daily newspaper in the United Kingdom. The newspaper was founded in 1780 by the Reverend Sir Henry Bate Dudley, former editor of ''The Morning Post''. It was initially a liberal paper aligned with the Prince ...

'', contributed a series of light articles to the ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

'', 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 writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

'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'' and '' The Field''. He was also a writer of plays and verses. Biography Lemon was born in Marylebone, Westminster, Middlesex, ...

. 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 Mary Anne à Beckett (29 April 1815 – 11 December 1863) was an English composer, primarily known for opera. She was the wife of the writer Gilbert à Beckett, who provided the libretti for two of her operas. Their children included the writ ...

(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, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all nationa ...

regarding the

Andover workhouse scandal The Andover workhouse scandal of the mid-1840s exposed serious defects in the administration of the English 'New Poor Law' (the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, Poor Law Amendment Act). It led to significant changes in its central supervision and to ...

, and in 1849 he became a metropolitan police magistrate.

Chambers Biographical Dictionary ''Chambers Biographical Dictionary'' provides concise descriptions of over 18,000 notable figures from Britain and the rest of the world. It was first published in 1897. The publishers, Chambers Harrap, who were formerly based in Edinburgh, clai ...

, , page 3 He died in

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum 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 Department ...

, France, of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...

and is buried on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

(plot no.7604), above and to the far left of the colonnade in the courtyard. His elder brother, Sir

William à Beckett Sir William à Beckett (28 July 1806 – 27 June 1869) was a British barrister and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Background Born in London, he was the eldest son of William à Beckett, also a solicitor. His younger b ...

(1806–1869), became chief justice of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. He was the father of two other Victorian writers, Gilbert Arthur à Beckett and

Arthur William à Beckett Arthur William à Beckett (25 October 1844 – 14 January 1909) was an English journalist and intellectual. Biography He was a younger son of Gilbert Abbott à Beckett and Mary Anne à Beckett, brother of Gilbert Arthur à Beckett and educate ...

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) ritten as: POZ* ''The Chimes'', (produced:1844) ith 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'' ritten 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 __NOTOC__ Year 864 ( DCCCLXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Louis II (the Younger) marches with a Frankish army ag ...

* 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 infectious disease deaths in France Stipendiary magistrates (England and Wales)