Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe, Q.C. (12 May 1816 – 29 April 1905), known previously as Sir Edmund Beckett, 5th Baronet and Edmund Beckett Denison was a lawyer, horologist, and architect. In 1851 he designed the mechanism for the clock of the Palace of Westminster, responsible for the chimes of Big Ben.
He was also responsible for rebuilding the west front, roof, and transept windows of St Albans Cathedral at his own expense. Although the building had been in need of repair, popular opinion at the time held that he had changed the cathedral's character, even inspiring the creation and temporary popularity of the verb "to grimthorpe", meaning to carry out unsympathetic restorations of ancient buildings.[1] Part of Beckett's additions included statues of the four evangelists around the western door; the statue of St Matthew has Beckett's face. He later turned his attentions to St Peter's and then to St Michael's Church, both in the same city. In 1868 he worked with W H Crossland to design St Chad's Church, Far Headingley in Leeds.
He was born at Carlton Hall Nottinghamshire, England, and was the son of Sir Edmund Beckett, 4th Baronet. He studied at Eton, studied mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge,[2][3] was made a Queen's Counsel in 1854, and was created Baron Grimthorpe in 1886. He is sometimes known as Edmund Beckett Denison; his father had taken the additional name Denison in 1816, but the son dropped it on his father's death in 1874. He married Fanny Catherine (23 February 1823 – 8 December 1901), daughter of John Lonsdale, 89th Bishop of Lichfield. He died on 29 April 1905 after a fall, and is buried in the grounds of St Albans Cathedral.
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New creation | Baron Grimthorpe 1886 – 1905 |
Succeeded by Ernest William Beckett |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Edmund Beckett |
Baronet (of Leeds) 1874 – 1905 |
Succeeded by Ernest William Beckett |