Beccles

Beccles is a small market town in Suffolk, England, around the area of The Broads. The town had a population of about 9, 850 people around 2005.[1] Beccles has a suburb called Worlingham which has a combined population of about 13,580.[1] Beccles is twinned with Petit-Couronne in France.

Beccles
Population9,746 (2001)
OS grid referenceTM428897
District
  • Waveney
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBECCLES
Postcode districtNR34
Dialling code01502
PoliceSuffolk
FireSuffolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
  • Waveney

History
Beccles Town Hall that was built in the 18th century.

Beccles was once a flourishing Saxon riverport, but today it is in the Waveney valley. There is a popular boating centre. The town was granted its Charter in 1584 by Queen Elizabeth I.

The Peck family was associated with Beccles for a long time.[2] The Puritan Peck was eventually forced to leave, and went to Hingham, Massachusetts, founded by many members of his parish, where he lived for several years, until King Charles I had been executed and Oliver Cromwell was in charge of government.[3] At that time, Robert Peck decided to return to Hingham, Norfolk, and continued his pastorship of St. Andrews Church. He died in Hingham but he left descendants in America, as well as his brother Joseph Peck, who settled in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.[4][5]

References
  1. "Estimates of total Population of areas in Suffolk" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  2. Fen, Beccles (1826). An account of the corporation of Beccles Fen, with a tr. of their charter. Repr. with notes and additions. p. 25.
  3. (Mass., Hingham (1893). Genealogical. town. p. 107.
  4. Peck, Ira Ballou (1868). A Genealogical History of the Descendants of Joseph Peck: Who Emigrated with His Family to this Country in 1638; and Records of His Father's and Grandfather's Families in England; with the Pedigree Extending Back from Son to Father for Twenty Generations; with Their Coat of Arms, and Copies of Wills. Also, an Appendix, Giving an Account of the Boston and Hingham Pecks. A. Mudge & son. p. 29.
  5. Perkins, Mary Elizabeth (1895). Old Houses of the Antient Town of Norwich [Conn.] 1660-1800. Bulletin Company. p. 329.
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