Gilbert Abbott à Beckett
(1811-1856), Comic writerEarly Victorian Portraits Catalogue Entry
Sitter in 1 portrait
Born in London, he was the son of a lawyer and belonged to a family claiming descent from Thomas Becket. He edited Figaro in London, was one of the original staff of Punch and a contributor until his death. Beckett was an active journalist on The Times and the Morning Herald, and contributed a series of articles to the Illustrated London News. He also produced around fifty plays, among them dramatised versions of Charles Dickens' shorter stories. His best known works were a series that included titles such as Comic History of England, Comic History of Rome and Comic Blackstone. He was the father of the writer Arthur William Beckett.
attributed to Charles Couzens
watercolour over photograph, 1855
NPG 1362
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Anthony Durrant
22 November 2020, 18:21
It would appear from his portrait that Mr. Beckett took boxing lessons at school and that his campaign against Mr. Seymour was caused by lingering injuries from those lessons - his own children had perfectly straight noses!