Talk:William Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon

Default sort question
Why is this sorted by "Devon" instead of "Courtenay"? Jason Quinn (talk) 13:03, 2 December 2009 (UTC)
 * I changed it to "Courtenay".  Blue Rasberry    (talk)   14:35, 2 September 2011 (UTC)


 * I changed it back; see WP:PEERS: we sort by name of peerage, then common name.
 * James F. (talk) 13:26, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

Relationship with Beckford
It seems that both Courtenay and Beckford worked extensively with architect James Wyatt if the unsourced information on this Wikipedia article is correct. Does anyone have sources about Courtenay's commission to Wyatt?  Blue Rasberry   (talk)   14:35, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

imprecise term?
As "homosexual affair" is anachronistic anyways, and implies consent, is there a better way of terming the relationship? Courtenay was a child when it began and was beaten when the relationship was disclosed. In modern terms we would call this abuse. I'm not trying to make a political point, but "affair" has its own connotations. Wickedjacob (talk) 03:38, 21 May 2017 (UTC)

The relationship lasted six years, so consent was surely implicit here. The relationship was disclosed by a third party witnessing the beating incident, when the boy was sixteen and obviously already homosexual, and Beckford, a self professed pederast. The monochrome print image in the article, titled: 'William "Kitty" Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon, in boyhood', is in fact of Beckford as a boy, and not Courtenay. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.196.245.137 (talk) 11:56, 23 October 2017 (UTC)

"The relationship lasted six years, so consent was surely implicit here." from 10 to 16? the power differential between an adult and a child means consent is in no way implicit. Otherwise you are arguing nothing is ever abuse if it continues for years.

"he monochrome print image in the article, titled: 'William "Kitty" Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon, in boyhood', is in fact of Beckford as a boy, and not Courtenay." also wrong.

Wickedjacob (talk) 18:34, 21 September 2021 (UTC)


 * thanks for bringing this up. I just put up an infobox and listed Beckford as "partner" entirely because it seems Courtenay was notable in society due to his relationship with Beckford. I feel icky about it since, as you said, there was no consent. a 10yo can't give consent to an 18yo and a groomed 16yo can't give consent to a 24yo. anyway, if anyone knows of a better way to include Beckford in his infobox please make the change. Puppies937 (talk) 04:41, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Source for age when meeting William Beckford
If the National Trust for Scotland is credible, then it could be that they met when Courtenay was eleven, not ten. Here is the link to the article; https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/william-beckford-1760-1844-part-one I'm not sure if this is good enough to cite, but it seems good enough as there's no citation for it right now. Gurblet (talk) 02:28, 4 October 2023 (UTC)