Gilbert Beesby

Gilbert Beesby was a native of Lincoln, and is usually described as a skinner, but he also had dealings in the cloth trade. Nothing is known about him before September 1371, at which time he not only became bailiff of Lincoln but was also sued in the mayor’s court over the ownership of a messuage in the city. The case ended in his favor. In 1779 and 1780 Beesby served as a tax assessor and collector in Lincoln and by then has achieved real prominence in the community. He served as a mayor from 1780 until 1781, and the next year he was a Member of Parliament, as well as in 1388, and 1401.