Beardall was an Englishman who worked for the Florida Land and Colonization Company (FLCC) at its local office in Sanford, Florida. He served as an assistant to the company agent, E. R. Trafford. Beardall had worked previously for the Scottish industrialist Sir William MacKinnon before joining the FLCC. The FLCC was a joint-stock venture that invested in Florida land development and sales in the 1880s and early 1890s. The company was formed by Henry Shelton Sanford with help from a group of British investors. Located at 13 Austin Friars in London, the company was officially registered in London on June 10, 1880. With the formation of the FLCC, all of Henry Sanford's Florida properties were transferred to the company in exchange for a ₤10,000 cash payment and another ₤50,000 in company stock. Sanford was named President and Chairman of the Board. In 1880, the company owned 26,000 acres scattered across Florida, including in the cities of Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Sanford, as well as in Alachua and Marion counties.

Almost from the outset, there was serious friction between the British board members and Henry Sanford. Disagreements erupted over business strategy, as Sanford frequently proposed initiatives deemed too bold for the cautious British investors. As a result of consistently meager profits from its inception, following Henry Sanford's death in 1891 many of the investors lost the motivation to continue. On September 15, 1892, the various directors acted to dissolve the company. Its assets, including roughly 65,000 acres of Florida land, were divided among shareholders.]]> Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.]]> Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.]]> Florida Land Colonization Company Collection, Henry Shelton Sanford Papers Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.]]> Adobe Acrobat Reader]]> ]]> Connecticut Historical Society after 1901.]]> Tennessee State Library and Archives for processing until June 1, 1960.]]> Sanford Museum in 1960.]]> Sanford Museum in Sanford, Florida. Rights to this item belong to the said institution, and therefore inquiries about the item should be directed there. RICHES of Central Florida has obtained permission from the Sanford Museum to display this item for educational purposes only.]]>