BeeWte. 
By W. H. WiCKES. 
rpHIS beautiful and interesting- mineral is local to Bristol in a 
*Jl two-fold sense, being- found in several places in the district, 
and also deriving its name from that of a former Dean of Bristol. 
This should render it worthy of more attention than it has hitherto 
received, as it does not appear to have been described in the past 
proceedings of this Society. 
The name “ Beekite ’’ is useful, and replaces in a convenient 
form the more cumbrous ones previously used, either of “Orbicular 
Silex” or “Annular Chalcedony.” 
Before proceeding with a description of the mineral, it may be 
of interest to give a few particulars of the person after whom it 
is named. Henry Beeke, born 1751, died 1837, was at Oxford 
(Oriel, 1775, and Corpus Christi, 1776 — :Vicar of St. Mary-the- 
Virgin, 1782, and Professor of Modern History, i 3 oi). In 1814 
he was promoted to the Deanery of Bristol, which he appears to 
have held for the remainder of his life. 
In Latimer’s “ Annals of Bristol,” under the date of 1834, 
appears as follows, “The Dean, Dr. Beeke, then in his 84th 
year, was a finished scholar, and before age disabled him, an 
energetic promoter of literature and science in the City. His only 
short-coming, apparently, was his stature ; Sydney Smith alleging 
that if Bishop Gray stood on the Dean’s shoulders, their combined 
height would not equal that of the Archbishop of Canterbury.” 
Stanley Hutton says — “ Henry Beeke was a great authority on 
Finance, was consulted by William Pitt, and assisted him in his 
Income Tax Bill, of which according to some, he was the original 
suggestor. His chief work, ‘ Observations on the produce of the 
Income Tax,’ was eulogised by McCulloch as the best example 
of statistical reasoning in Finance that had then appeared.* 
Whether this phase of his ability will tend to endear his memory, 
is a little doubtful. But he seems to have been a man of more 
than average intelligence, and it is rather curious that so little is 
known about him or his writings. But for the fact that his name 
was given to the mineral under notice, he would probably be 
entirely forgotten. As it is, all we are informed is that “it is 
named after Dr. Beeke, who first called attention to it.” But in 
what manner he did so, or who invented the name, no record has, 
as yet, been found. Probably the sponsor was one of the grand 
group of “old masters” who did such fine and lasting work in 
our district about that time. 
Bristol and its Associations.” — page 537. 
