 Sir Thomas Beckford, Sheriff of London was his uncle, as was Captain Richard Beckford, who was trading in Jamaica from 1659.England had invaded the island in 1655 and the Colony of Jamaica proved a lucrative business proposition for Englishmen who wished to create sugar plantations there.In 1662, Peter Beckford emigrated to the island, taking with him two or three enslaved Africans, and engaged himself as hunter and horse catcher.