William Beckford | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:William_(Thomas)_Beckford.jpg) Portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1782 | |
| Born | 29 September 1760 Soho Square, London, England |
| Died | 2 May 1844 (aged 83) |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, art collector, politician |
| Notable work | Vathek (c. 1781); Memoirs of Extraordinary Painters (1780); Letters from Italy with Sketches of Spain and Portugal (1835) |
William Thomas Beckford (29 September 1760 – 2 May 1844) was an English novelist, art critic, planter and politician.[1] He was reputed at one stage to be England's richest commoner.
The son of William Beckford and Maria Hamilton, daughter of the Hon. George Hamilton, he served as a Member of Parliament for Wells in 1784–1790 and Hindon in 1790–1795 and 1806–1820. Beckford is best known for writing the 1786 Gothic novel Vathek, for building Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire and Beckford's Tower in Bath, and for his extensive art collection.
- ^ John Burke, Genealogical and Heraldic History of The Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 1, London, 1833, p. 678.