In a previous post I wrote about Beard place names in Essex, a reminder that Beards once lived or had property in that part of the county. And I wondered; were any Essex Beards famous in their time? A lot depends on how one defines that, of course.
Here is my take on Essex Beards who achieved some level of prominence beyond their immediate communities.
Dr Thomas Beard c1565-1632. Aythorpe Roding1. Celebrated Puritan.
Thomas Beard was Oliver Cromwells schoolmaster and friend of the family; an eminent and celebrated Cambridge-educated puritan who likely had a significant influence on the attitudes and ideas of the future Lord Protector of England and his court, and who in many ways embodied the spirit of the age in the middle of the seventeenth century.
“It is observed, that when Oliver was a boy at school, “he averred that, when lying on his bed, he saw a gigantic figure, which came and opened the curtains of his bed, and told him that he should hereafter be the greatest person in the kingdom, but did not mention the word king; and though he was told of the folly, as well as the wickedness of such an assertion, he still persisted in it; for which, at the request of his father, he was flogged by Dr Beard.”2
Thomas lived much of his life in what is now Cambridgeshire, however he was rector in Aythorpe Roding from 1598 until around 1605. It is thought that Thomas Beard3 who was a curate at Ardleigh in 1637, vicar at West Mersea in 1644 and then vicar of Great Bently from 1645-1662 (and where he was buried) was his son. Neither was born or appear to have had families in Essex. Does residency mean that they count? You decide!
Major Robert Beard c1600-c1667. Theydon Garnon. Civil War Veteran.
Certainly an elder of the village, but notable both as the Essex Beard with the highest known army rank, but more particularly because he commanded part of Colonel Mildmays foot regiment involved in the 77-day parliamentarian siege of Colchester in the summer of 16484.
Mary and Elizabeth Beard 1700s. East Harling. Wealthy Georgian Wives.
East Harling is actually in Norfolk – so how do these two ladies make the list? Mary Beard married Peyton Altham in 1721 and took up residence at the very impressive Mark Hall in Latton, Essex5. Her sister Elizabeth Beard married Osmond de Beauvoir in 1717 and moved to a country estate in Downham6 (NB: there was also a brother Charles Beard7). But the reason for their inclusion here is not because of their status (which doesnt, of itself make them eminent), or because they were Beards living in Essex (technically they weren’t because by the time they arrived they were married), but because their father Sir John Beard was an eminent colonial administrator of the British East India Company. He served as the Chief Agent of Bengal province for 2 separate terms, from 1684 to 1685 and again from 1698 to 1699 and became one of the most prominent Presidents of Bengal from 1701 to 1705. More to the point, according to Historic England he appears to have owned a brewery in Coggeshall, linking him to that family8. The East Harling connection is strong, but John Beard seems to have died in 1705 (at Fort St George in Madras), and his widow Mary then remarried in East Harling, so could have ported the family north from Essex on their return to England9.
Reginald Benjamin Beard 1862-1950. Colchester. Mayor, Alderman and Justice of the Peace10.
His father Edwin Beard and brother Ernest Stanley Beard11 were also eminent in the politics and business of Colchester, but Reginald perhaps represents the apogee of family fame. Reginalds family is easily traceable back to the 18th century in Coggeshall (and so may be connected with John Beard above) and will feature in an upcoming tree.
- Thomas Beard – Wikipedia ↩︎
- Brooks – BX9338 .B7 1813 v2 p396 ↩︎
- H.Smith, “The Ecclesiastical History of Essex” (Benham and Co) p401 and T.W.Davids, “Annals of Evangelical Noncoformity” (Jackson, Walford and Hodder 1863) p.350 ↩︎
- “Presbyterian Essex” The Essex Review Vol.33 p.31. For more about the siege see Siege of Colchester – Wikipedia ↩︎
- Landed families of Britain and Ireland: (118) Altham of Mark Hall, Oxhey Place and Timbercombe ↩︎
- The Benyon Estate ↩︎
- “Biographical History of Gonville and Cauis Colleges 1349-1897” vol 2 1713-1897 (Cambridge University Press) ↩︎
- Conservative Club, Coggeshall, Essex | Educational Images | Historic England ↩︎
- “Notes And Queries” vol 10, 1854 (George Bell) : ↩︎
- “Who’s Who In Essex 1935” (Ebenezer Baylis) ↩︎
- “Essex Who And Where 1904” (Chadwick-Healey) ↩︎
Beards Of Essex 
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