William Beckford

May 2, 1844: English novelist, art collector, critic, travel writer, plantation owner, and for some time politician William Beckford died in Bath, Somerset. Reputed at one stage to be England's richest commoner, he is remembered for the Gothic novel 'Vathek', for building the lost Fonthill Abbey in Wiltshire as well as Lansdown Tower ("Beckford's Tower") in Bath, and for his art collection.