William Beckford

William Beckford

From Bad Gays by Huw Lemmey & Ben Miller

February 3, 2026 · 1h 9m · Season 9 · Episode 132

About this episode

This episode explores the life of William Beckford, a wealthy figure whose fortune was tied to property and slavery, and his cultural pursuits.

William Beckford, who was born not in Bath but in London in 1760, is someone for whom property, in every sense of the word, was the defining factor in his life. He was a novelist, a member of parliament, a collector of art, antiquities, and books, a travel writer, and a builder of great palaces; he regarded himself as a man of culture, but he made his cultural qualities known by buying and building things. And he could afford to buy and build things - ridiculous things - because he was rich, extraordinarily rich, richer than we can possibly imagine. So all his status, his legacy, the thing that made him who he was, came from his wealth, and his wealth came from another form of property he owned: chattel slaves. And that wealth also enabled him to pursue troubling relationships with boys. ----more---- SOURCES James Lees-Milne, William Beckford (Compton Press, 1976) J. W. Oliver, The Life of William Beckford (Oxford University Press, 1932) Guy Chapman, William Beckford (Scribner, 1937) Caroline Stanford, Beckford’s Tower History Album (National Trust) A number of essays on Rictor Norton’s website about him including “The Fool at Fonthill” https://www.rictornorton.co.uk/ Our intro…

Topics covered

  • history
  • wealth
  • slavery
  • art
  • culture

Keywords

  • William Beckford
  • chattel slaves
  • novelist
  • member of parliament
  • art collector

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Arpeggia Colorix

Books & works: The Life of William Beckford, The Fool at Fonthill

Places: Bath, London

More episodes of Bad Gays

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Bad Gays podcast page.