Black Dick, or to give him his correct name, Sir Richard Beaumont was born in 1574 He was Knighted in 1609 by King James the First who gave him the nickname "Black Dick of the North".
He was MP for Pontefract in 1625 and was created a baronet on 16th August 1628. He died unmarried in 1631 and lies in a splendid tomb in the Beaumont Chapel of Kirkheaton Church.
Black Dick's tower is a prominent feature of Mirfield's sky line although surprisingly it doesn't have any relationship to Black Dick himself. Its true function being that of a summer house in the gardens of Whitley Hall and was built some time after his death.

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