to John Chity on the current high price of North Side Sugar.
October, 7, 1763.
William Beckford, (1709-1770), planter and politician, was the father of the writer William Thomas Beckford (1760-1844). In 1762 Beckford was appointed Lord Mayor of London, however his family fortune had been built on extensive sugar plantations in Jamaica. The content of this letter supports the charge that he and his brothers were responsible for the manipulation of the sugar market: 'I am in hopes, the present prices will not fall, but rather increase for the scarcity will be found to be greater than was at first imagined'. Beckford purchased Fonthill, from where this letter was penned, around 1744 and turned it into one of the most lavish homes in England.
Autograph letter; 4to (16 x 20.5 cm); single leaf with address and wax seal, postmarked Bristol, old fold lines, in a very good state of preservation.
Autograph letter; 4to (16 x 20.5 cm); single leaf with address and wax seal, postmarked Bristol, old fold lines, in a very good state of preservation.
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