"William Thomas Beckford (1 October 1760 – 2 May 1844) was an English novelist; an art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer, plantation owner and sometime politician, reputed at one stage to be the richest commoner in England. 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. He is remembered as author of the Gothic novel Vathek (1786), builder of the lost Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire and of Lansdown Tower ("Beckford's Tower") in Bath, and above all for his art collection." - (en.wikipedia.org 20.07.2021)
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