John Cator

John Cator (1728 – 26 February 1806) was an English Member of parliament and a wealthy timber merchant and landowner with properties in Blackheath and Beckenham - now in London but in the county of Kent during the late 18th century.

The son of John Cator, a Herefordshire timber merchant, glove maker and Quaker, Cator joined the family business which had relocated to a new London base at Mould Strand Wharf (now the Bankside site of the Tate Modern art gallery) in Southwark, and sought to capitalise on the growth of the capital by investing in property, mainly in south-east London and Kent. He married Mary Collinson (daughter of botanist Peter Collinson) in 1753. In 1778, Fanny Burney wrote:

He was MP for Wallingford from 1772 to 1780, for Ipswich in 1784 (election declared void), and for from 1790 to 1793. He was appointed High Sheriff of Kent for 1780–81.

Cator's first land purchase in Beckenham was at Stump's Hill in 1757, where he built a house between 1760 and 1762. His father-in-law visited in September 1762, commenting:

In 1773, he became Lord of the Manor of Beckenham, having purchased the manor and land from Lord Bolingbroke. and shortly after built a Palladian-style mansion, Beckenham Place (attribution unknown, but may be architect Sir Robert Taylor), much admired by Dr Samuel Johnson, which today serves as the club-house of a golf club.

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