Ernest William Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe (25 November 1856 – 29 April 1917), born Ernest William Denison, was a British banker and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 until 1905 when he inherited the Grimthorpe peerage.
Beckett was the eldest son of William Beckett, younger son of Sir Edmund Beckett, 4th Baronet. He was the nephew of Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe and great nephew of Sir John Beckett, 2nd Baronet. Beckett was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge,[1] being known at that time as Denison. He became a partner in the banking firm of Beckett & Co, of Leeds. He was also a captain in the Yorkshire Hussars Yeoman Cavalry.[2]
In 1885, Beckett was elected Member of Parliament for Whitby, a seat he held until 1905.[3] In 1886 he resumed the name Beckett in place of Denison. In 1905 he succeeded his uncle Lord Grimthorpe as 2nd Baron according to a special remainder in the letters patent, as well as in the family baronetcy.
Grimthorpe is believed to have been the father of Violet Trefusis (1894–1972), whose mother, Alice Keppel was a mistress of King Edward VII.[4]
In 1904, Grimthorpe bought a ruined farmhouse outside Ravello, on the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy. He transformed it into a fortified palace with towers, battlements and a mixture of Arabic, Venetian and Gothic details, and called it Villa Cimbrone.[5] Between the house and the cliff edge he built a garden, high above the Gulf of Salerno. The garden is an eccentric mixture of formal, English rosebeds, Moorish tea houses, picturesque grottoes and classical temples. Today the house is a luxurious hotel, and the garden is open to the public.
Lord Grimthorpe died in April 1917, aged 60. He was succeeded in the baronetcy and barony by his son, Ralph William Ernest Beckett. Lord Grimthorpe's younger brother, Gervase Beckett, also sat as a Conservative Member of Parliament and was created a Baronet in 1921 (see Beckett Baronets).
His grandson, by his daughter Lucy, Manfred Beckett Czernin was a famed Royal Air Force pilot and Special Operations Executive operative.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Arthur Pease |
Member of Parliament for Whitby 1885 – 1905 |
Succeeded by Noel Edward Buxton |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Edmund Beckett |
Baron Grimthorpe 1905 – 1917 |
Succeeded by Ralph Beckett |