Peter Beckford (colonial administrator)

Colonel Peter Beckford (c. 1643 – 3 April 1710) was an English-born planter, merchant, military officer and colonial administrator who served as the acting governor of Jamaica in 1702.

A prominent member of the planter class in the English colony of Jamaica, by the time of his death Beckford had acquired ownership over 20 plantations, 1,200 slaves and earnt what historian Noel Deer described as "perhaps the greatest fortune ever made in planting.

[citation needed] After the Commonwealth of England launched a successful invasion of Jamaica in 1655, the colony proved a lucrative business proposition for English colonists who wished to establish sugar plantations there.

He took an active part in island politics, representing Saint Catherine Parish in the House of Assembly of Jamaica in 1675, and was later called to the colonial council, where he was appointed President.

[5][6] His death resulted from an accident on 3 April 1710 when he rushed to the defence of his son, who had caused a commotion when the governor, Thomas Handasyd, tried to dissolve the House of Assembly.