Arthur A'Beckett

He was born in London to solicitor William A'Beckett and Sarah Abbott. He attended London University and qualified as a medical practitioner. From 1835 to 1837 he was staff surgeon to the British Legion in Spain, where he received several Spanish decorations. In 1838 he married Emma Louise Elwin, with whom he had ten children. He migrated to New South Wales in 1838, and practised as a successful surgeon.

From 1856 to 1860 he was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. His brother Sir William A'Beckett was Chief Justice of Victoria, while his son William Channing A'Beckett later served in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He died in Sydney in 1871.[1]

Arthur A'Beckett, lawyer, journalist and son of the writer Gilbert Abbott À Beckett, joined the staff of the magazine Punch in London in 1875. His first novel Fallen Among Thieves, "an early country house murder & detective story", had appeared in 1870.[2]