William Beckett
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| Portrayed by Aidan McArdle (NPC) | |
| Full Name | William Francis Beckett |
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| Title | |
| Associated Noble House(s) | |
| Date of Birth | 1766 |
| Father | |
| Father's Rank | |
| Mother | |
| Mother's Rank | |
| Town Residence | Bloomsbury |
| Income | £3 000 |
| School | |
| University | |
| Year of Marriage | 1811 |
| Spouse | Alice Beckett nee Fortescue |
| Spouse's Rank | gentlewoman |
| Issue | none |
William Beckett is in a successful line of trade, and lives in a comfortable house in Bloomsbury, London, though he has business-contacts throughout the country. (Including Mr. Charles Fortescue, which interests brought him to Eversholt in the spring of 1811.)
While visiting the Fortescues, Mr. Beckett (widowed in 1810, after his delicate wife experienced a period of decline for a number of years,) made a practical offer of marriage to the eldest Fortescue daughter, Alice. He was accepted with the understanding that theirs would be a marriage of convenience, as Mr. Beckett wishes to have a son to follow him in his line of work, and feels he ought not to waste his present opportunity of securing such a succession while he is still in the prime of life. A son within the next few years would be of age while William still has energies and faculties enough to teach him the ways of his business.
He and Alice do not love one another, and to her cultivated and genteel mind, he seems kind and gentle, but dull. Used to a wife who kept to her room or was too fatigued to talk much, he tends to be quiet when they are at home together, and does not discuss his business concerns with her at all. This suits Alice, who merely wished for an independent and respectable situation at this point in her life.
Family
- Wife: Alice Beckett