Men of the Time, eleventh edition/À Beckett, Arthur William
À BECKETT, Arthur William, youngest surviving son of the late Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, the well-known metropolitan police magistrate and author, was born at Hammersmith, Oct. 25, 1844, and educated at Kensington, at Honiton, and lastly at Felstead School. At 17 he entered the War Office, but he left the Civil Service after three years' experience of it, and at the age of 20 he was editor of the Glow-worm, a London evening paper. During the next ten years he edited with much success several comic periodicals and monthly magazines. In 1870–71 he was special correspondent to the Standard and Globe during the Franco-German war. For the next two years he was private secretary to the Duke of Norfolk, an appointment he relinquished to give his uninterrupted attention to other work. Since 1874 he has been on the staff of Punch, Mr. à Beckett is author of "Fallen among Thieves," a novel, 1870; "Our Holiday in the Scottish Highlands," (illustrated by Mr. Linley Sambourne); "The Modern Arabian Nights" (with the same illustrator) 1876; "The Ghost of Greystone Grange," 1877; and "The Mystery of Mostyn Manor," 1878. In conjunction with Mr. F. C. Burnand he wrote "The Doom of St. Querec," 1875; and "The Shadow Witness," 1876. He is also author of two three-act comedies, "L.S.D." (Royalty Theatre, 1872), and "About Town" (which was produced at the Court Theatre in 1873, and ran for over 150 nights); a domestic drama in one act, "On Strike" (Court Theatre, 1873); "Faded Flowers," produced at the Haymarket; and "Long Ago" (Royalty, 1882). He has also dramatised (in conjunction with Mr. J. Palgrave Simpson) his novel "Fallen among Thieves," under the title of "From Father to Son," 3 acts, (Liverpool 1881). He is a captain in the Cheshire militia, and has been called to the bar by the Hon. Society of Gray's Inn.