Author: Beldam, Joseph
Biography:
BELDAM, Joseph (1795-1866: ancestry.co.uk)
He was born on 26 Dec. 1795 (not 1796 as in ACAD) at Royston, Hertfordshire, the third son of William Beldam and Mary Ann (or Marianne) (Woodham) Beldam. His birth was registered at Dr. Williams's library on 19 May 1802. In 1815 he was apprenticed as a clerk to Robert Gee, an attorney of the King’s Bench before matriculating at Peterhouse, Cambridge, in 1818; he seems not to have taken a degree. He entered the Middle Temple on 22 Jan. 1818 and was called to the bar in 1825. He became very active in the anti-slavery movement and served as standing counsel to the Anti-Slavery party. He was also a Justice of the Peace for Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. In later life, he developed his interest in antiquities, and was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Society of Antiquaries. The 1851 Census shows him living at 7 Princes Street, Westminster; in 1861 he was in Royston living with a younger brother. He died unmarried at Royston on 6 June 1866 leaving effects of under £10,000. (ancestry.co.uk 17 Apr. 2019, 7 July 2025; ACAD 17 Apr. 2019) SR