Sir William Beeston was born in Titchfield, the younger son of his namesake father, in 1636. In 1660 he decided to try his luck in the very new colony of Jamaica, which had only been seized by the English a few years earlier. This was the ear when piracy of Spanish ships was a commonplace activity and although Beeston was not a pirate he was part of the merchant economy that benefited from the trade. Eventually he was appointed Governor and knighted by William III and he was able to retire to England a wealthy man.