A founder of first *Figaro in London* and then *Punch*, Gilbert Abbott à Beckett was also a magistrate, a playwright, and a long-time companion of Charles Dickens and of William Makepeace Thackeray, but best known as a satirist. His sons Gilbert Arthur à Beckett (1837-1891) and Arthur William à Beckett (1844-1909) pursued similar careers in satire and may easily be confused with him.