City Readers Digital Historic Collections at the New York Society Library

William Beckford of Somerley (died 1799) was a Jamaican slave-owner and writer. Illegitimate son of Richard Beckford, he was part of the influential Beckford family and inherited four sugar plantations, which he personally supervised:

• Roaring River Estate, Westmoreland

In 1790 he published A Descriptive Account of the Island of Jamaica, a two volume description of contemporary life in Jamaica from a planter's point of view.