Beef-eaters, yeomen of the royal guard, whose institution dates from the reign of Henry VII., and whose office it is to wait upon royalty on high occasions; the name is also given to the warders of the Tower, though they are a separate body and of more recent origin; the name simply means (royal) dependant, a corruption of the French word buffetier, one who attends the sideboard.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Beechy, Sir William * Beehive houses