Stephen Beckingham (c. 1690s – October 5, 1756) was an English barrister, member of the gentry, and jurist who served as the justice of the peace of Kent.
He is now best known as the bridegroom in William Hogarth's 1729 painting The Wedding of Stephen Beckingham and Mary Cox.
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Life
Beckingham was born in the 1690s into the prominent Beckingham family who were associated with London's Inns of Court. Several members of the family accumulated considerable landed wealth in Essex and Kent. He grew up in Beckingham Place.
He was apprenticed in 1715 to George Wheeler of the Inner Temple and educated at Lincoln's Inn, where he was admitted on January 8, 1717. He later was commissioned as the justice of the peace and presiding judge of Kent. As county magistrate he participated in the administration of justice through the Quarter Sessions, which exercised extensive judicial and administrative authority over eighteenth-century Kent.
Beckingham was a friend of Thomas Cooke who dedicated his 1753 Ode on Benevolence to him.
Outside of his judicial obligations, Beckingham was also an early patron and governor of the Foundling Hospital, chartered by George II. Beckingham is listed in records as "Sir Stephen Beckingham" after 1740.
Marriages
In January 1729, Beckingham married Mary Cox at St. Benet's, Paul's Wharf. Their wedding was a prominent society event at the time, widely attended, and was painted by William Hogarth. In 1730, Beckingham and Cox had one son, Stephen Beckingham VI who also worked as a lawyer. Mary Cox Beckingham died in 1738.
In October 1739, Beckingham married his second wife, Mary Catherine Corbett at the Bishopsbourne church in Kent. After marrying Corbett, Beckingham moved to her family's ancestral home of Bourne Place. Together, they had one son, Reverend John Charles Beckingham, who entered the Church of England and became rector of Upper Hardres. They also had two daughters, Catherine and Charlotte.
When he purchased the remaining shares of Bourne Place in 1752, he was styled as Lord of the Manor of Bourne. As lord of the manor, he exercised the traditional manorial rights attached to the estate, including the holding of the Court Baron and Court Leet.
Death
Beckingham died on October 5, 1756, and is interred at St. Mary's Church in Bishopsbourne. His obituary appeared in The London Magazine shortly after his death.
His granddaughter, Louisa, married Edward Taylor, the member of parliament for Canterbury.