Reginald Beddington (15 August 1877''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 11 March 1962) was an English

angler Angler may refer to: * A fisherman who uses the fishing technique of angling * ''Angler'' (video game) * The angler, ''Lophius piscatorius'', a monkfish * More generally, any anglerfish in the order Lophiiformes * '' Angler: The Cheney Vice Presi ...

and humanitarian. Beddington was born in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

, London, and educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 1 ...

. He was called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

at Lincoln's Inn in 1902, specialising in

conveyancing In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contr ...

, but on his father's death no longer had to work for a living and left the law to devote himself entirely to voluntary work. For many years he was chairman of the nursing committee of

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clo ...

. For thirty years he was a member of the

Metropolitan Special Constabulary The Metropolitan Special Constabulary (MSC) is the volunteer police force of the Metropolitan Police Service. It is one of three Special Constabularies operating within London, the others being part of the City of London Police and British Tr ...

, commanding "F" Division (Paddington) in the First World War and serving on the Headquarters Staff at Scotland Yard in the Second World War. He was also chairman of the Dresden Homes for ladies in reduced circumstances at

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th ce ...

for over fifty years from its foundation until his death. A keen fisherman all his life, he campaigned for the preservation and conservation of British rivers. He was president of the Freshwater Biological Association of the British Empire from 1930 until his death and the National Association of Fishery Boards from 1930 to 1946. He also served on several government committees concerned with rivers and fisheries. During the Second World War he organised Fishing for the Forces to make it easy for servicemen on leave to go fishing. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 1920 civilian war honours for his services to policing and

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the 1939 Birthday Honours for his services to fishing. He died at the age of 84. His wife was the sister of the philanthropist

Basil Henriques Sir Basil Lucas Quixano Henriques (17 October 1890 – 2 December 1961) was a British philanthropist of Portuguese Jewish origins, concentrating his work in the East End of London during the first half of the 20th century. Education From a pr ...

. Their son, Roy Beddington (1910—1995), was a painter and angler of note.

Footnotes

References

*Obituaries, ''

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'' ...

'', 12 March 1962 and 21 March 1962 {{DEFAULTSORT:Beddington, Reginald 1877 births 1962 deaths People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford English barristers British fishers English humanitarians Metropolitan Special Constabulary officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Members of Lincoln's Inn