Thomas Beckwith F.A.S (10 February 1731 – 17 February 1786) was an English painter, genealogist and antiquary.
Beckwith was born at Rothwell, West Yorkshire, the son of a West Riding solicitor, and brother of Josiah Beckwith (b. 1734), attorney and antiquary. He was apprenticed as a house-painter to George Fleming of Wakefield, who tutored him in drawing and limning; subsequently Beckwith himself up in business as a painter in York. He painted portraits and also made many drawings of antiques, local churches, ruins etc., some of which were finished in watercolour.[1]
Beckwith acquired a great knowledge of heraldry and local family pedigrees which he amassed in 30-40 volumes of notes,[2] seeming "to have spent much of his time in forming antiquarian and genealogical collections, of which he left a great mass behind him... they were so numerous that they have found their way into almost every collection of manuscripts which has been formed during the last half century."[3] He was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and also wrote a book on local history, "A Walk in and about the city of York", though it was not published. He patented a type of crayon pencil, which could be sharpened like a pencil, and was licensed to be sold by George Riley (artist supplier).[4]
Beckwith's wife, Francis, died on 29 August 1773, aged 36. Beckwith, himself, died in York on 17th February 1786. His son, Ray Beckwith (d. 19 Dec 1799) was a medical doctor who practiced in York.[2]
Thomas Beckwith's portrait was etched by William Doughty.[5]
This article incorporates text from the article "Beckwith, Thomas" in Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers by Michael Bryan, edited by Robert Edmund Graves and Sir Walter Armstrong, an 1886–1889 publication now in the public domain.