Beckinsale was married twice. In 1965, he married his pregnant girlfriend, a local Nottingham woman named Margaret Bradley, whom he had met in 1964 while singing at a folk club. Their daughter, actress Samantha Beckinsale, was born on 23 July 1966. When Beckinsale was accepted into RADA, they moved to London. Beckinsale became immersed in student life and he and his wife grew apart. They separated in 1968 when Margaret took Samantha back to live in Nottingham and Beckinsale left London to work in repertory in Crewe. They divorced in 1971 and Beckinsale did not see his daughter for years. Margaret later remarried and her new husband raised Samantha as his daughter. Samantha was unaware that her real father was Richard Beckinsale until she was 11. Beckinsale and Samantha reconnected soon after and spent time together, before his death in 1979.