Person    | Male  Born 2/6/1829  Died 18/4/1891

Joseph Beck

Saving Clissold Park have some lovely old photos of this man but they have eschewed the normal form of potted biography and instead have provided 13 bullets points: 

  • Chairman of the Clissold Park Preservation Committee, which secured the Park for the public for ever.
  • Optical & Microscope Manufacturer
  • Chairman of the Coal, Corn and Finance Committee of the Corporation of London
  • Member of the Court of Common Council
  • Stoke Newington Vestryman 
  • Governor of St. Thomas’ Hospital
  • A member of the Council of the City of Guilds Institute
  • A member of the Thames Conservancy Board
  • Her Majesty’s Lieutenant for the City of London
  • Representatives of the Corporation on the governing bodies of the City Parochial Charities
  • Representatives of the Corporation of London on the River Lea Conservancy
  • Traveller & Mountaineer
  • Keen Cyclist

Grace's Guide gives a business-focussed view: Born Stamford Hill, apprenticed to an optician, joined his brother's optical instrument manufacturing firm. 1857 became a partner. 1891 living at Barton House, Albion Road which is very close to Clissold Park.

These two websites agree that his date of birth was 1829 not 1828 as given on the memorials and our colleague, Andrew Behan, states that according to the Society of Friends (Quaker) Register of Births he was recorded as having been born on 2 June 1829 in Stamford Hill, Hackney. He was the fourth of the eleven children of Richard Low Beck (1792-1854) and Rachel Beck née Lucas (1802-1874).

In 1856 he married Emma Elizabeth Allen (1829-1908) and they had seven children.

Probate records confirm that he died, aged 61 years, on 18 April 1891 at 233 Albion Road, Stoke Newington. His will was proved on 12 August 1891 jointly by his widow and Conrad Beck (1864-1944) of 68 Cornhill, London, who was both a manufacturing optician and one of his sons. His personal estate totalled £17,350-19s-2d.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Joseph Beck

Commemorated ati

Beck and Runtz fountain

MDFCTA confirms that this fountain is of a unique design but we can find no r...

Read More

Joseph Beck at Barton House

Joseph Beck, 1828 - 1891, Chairman of the Clissold Park Preservation Committe...

Read More

Other Subjects

Barbican Horticultural Society

Barbican Horticultural Society

From their website: "Our Aims: Provide information and practical help to Barbican gardeners of all experience levels; Encourage the cultivation of plants in window-boxes, terraces and public spaces...

Group, Community / Clubs, Gardens / Agriculture

1 memorial
Hampstead Heath

Hampstead Heath

For the history of this beautiful place go to: external site.

Place, Gardens / Agriculture

1 memorial
New River Loop - restoration

New River Loop - restoration

London Gardens Trust says "In 1890 the portion of the New River around Enfield village was piped underground, thereby making this stretch redundant. It was saved from being filled in by a public ca...

Event, Gardens / Agriculture

1 memorial
Epping Forest Act 1878

Epping Forest Act 1878

The Epping Forest Act placed all the commons and forest in the parish of Epping, except Rye Hill, under the protection and management of the City of London, thus ensuring their preservation. We le...

Event, Gardens / Agriculture, Law

1 memorial
Groundwork

Groundwork

An environmental agency based in Birmingham. It works with communities across the United Kingdom, to help them create places in which to live and work in a greener, more sustainable way and to impr...

Group, Gardens / Agriculture

4 memorials