Beckford William

Beckford, William, the only son of the foregoing, whose great wealth he inherited, was born in 1760. He spent several years in travel, living for a time in Oriental magnificence at Cintra, near Lisbon. In 1784 he published in French The history of the Caliph Vathek, which was translated into English, and enjoyed an unmerited reputation. He devoted seventeen years and more than a quarter of a million of money to rebuilding Fonthill Abbey, his father's old house near Bath, but sold it in 1822 soon after it was finished. He then made for himself a mysterious and luxurious abode in Bath itself, where he spent his last years in almost solitary study. Towards the end of his life he published two volumes of travels in Italy and Spain. He died in 1844.