Henry Beeke (6 January 1751 – 9 March 1837) was an English historian, theologian, writer on taxation and finance, and botanist. He is credited with helping to introduce the world's first modern

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...

Career

Beeke was elected a scholar of Corpus Christi,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in May 1769. He gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1773, a Master of Arts degree in 1776, a Bachelor of Divinity in 1785, and a Doctorate in Divinity in 1800. In 1775 Beeke became a fellow of Oriel College and was Junior Proctor of the University in 1784. Beeke was Regius Professor of Modern History between 1801 and 1813. Beeke was vicar of the

University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford The University Church of St Mary the Virgin (St Mary's or SMV for short) is an Oxford church situated on the north side of the High Street. It is the centre from which the University of Oxford grew and its parish consists almost exclusively of un ...

in 1782, rector of Ufton Nervet, Berkshire in 1789, Dean of Bristol in 1813, and vicar of Weare in 1819. Beeke gained a reputation as a fiscal expert following his 1799 ''Observations on the produce of the income tax, and on its proportion to the whole income of Great Britain'', which was expanded and reprinted in 1800. His work on taxation prompted Pitt the Younger to introduce the first

in 1799 in order to fund the British effort in the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

. Beeke's unpublished manuscripts and correspondence also show his wider interests in economics. Beekite, a distinctive form of

chalcedony Chalcedony ( , or ) is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of quartz and moganite. These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, while moganite is monocli ...

which occurs in the preservation of fossils by silicification, was named to honour Beeke. Beeke was very interested in

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

. He made contributions to Lysons' '' Magna Britannia'' records, and corresponded with Sir James Edward Smith, a fellow and first president of the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature coll ...

. Beeke is credited as the binomial author of at least one plant species, ''Lotus pilosus'' Beeke, first described and published in Turner and Dillwyn's Botanical Guide. This species was later thought to be ''Lotus uliginosus'' Schkuhr, which is now settled as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

of '' Lotus pedunculatus'' Cav., a kind of

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with four ring ...

. Beeke died at Torquay on 9 March 1837.

Author abbreviation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beeke, Henry 1751 births 1837 deaths British Christian theologians British historians Deans of Bristol Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Regius Professors of History (University of Oxford)