Sir John Beckett, 2nd Baronet

Who was Sir John Beckett, 2nd Baronet?

Sir John Beckett, 2nd Baronet, FRS was a British lawyer and Tory politician.

Beckett was the son of Sir John Beckett, 1st Baronet, and his wife Mary, daughter of Christopher Wilson. He was also a descendant of Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London.

He was elected to Parliament for Cockermouth in 1818, a seat he held until 1821, and then sat for Haslemere from 1826 to 1832 and for Leeds from 1835 to 1837.

Beckett was admitted to the Privy Council in 1817 and appointed Judge Advocate General by Prime Minister Lord Liverpool the same year. He held this office until 1827, and again under the Duke of Wellington from 1828 to 1830 and under Sir Robert Peel from 1834 to 1835.

Beckett married Lady Anne Lowther, daughter of William Lowther, 1st Earl of Lonsdale, in 1817.

He died in Brighton on 31 May 1847, aged 72, and is buried at All Saints Church, Fulham, London.

He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his younger brother, Thomas Beckett. Beckett's nephew was the architect Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe.