BECKFORD, WILLIAM (1760-1844), British Writer and Politician

An English novelist of some reputation, Beckford was unfortunate enough to have the only passionate affair in his life ruined by scandal. At the age of nineteen, he fell in love with eleven year old William Courtenay. Five years later, they were caught in bed together, and the Morning Herald reported the next day on "the rumor concerning a Grammatical mistake of Mr. B- and the Hon. Mr. C-, in regard to the genders." It was one of England's first reported gay scandels. Beckford moved to Switzerland and began his career as a novelist. Some of his novels included homosexual episodes. He later returned to England and served in the House of Commons.