Byron, George Gordon, 6th Baron Byron (1788-1824)

1822-1823

1 file (2 items)

One item purchased from "K.F.R.", 10th July 1925 (acc.67083); the other accessioned restropectively "from store" c.1930, original acquisition details not recorded (acc.64127).

Byron was born in London in 1788, the son of a naval captain who deserted his wife after spending her money and who was the son of Vice-Admiral Byron, younger brother of the 5th Baron. Baron was brought up in Scotland by his mother until the age of 10, when the death of his great-uncle brought him the title of 6th Baron, and his mother moved the family back to London. In 1801 he went to Harrow School, taking part in the first ever cricket match between Harrow and Eton, then after school went to Trinity College Cambridge. He was already publishing poetry and became one of the leading figures of the second wave of Romanticism in the United Kingdom (despite his own tendency to criticise other Romantic authors and to praise instead Augustan figures such as Pope). He led a life filled with scandal and notoriety, having numerous affairs including with married women (Lady Caroline Lamb), possibly with boys (the choirboy John Edleston) and possibly with his half-sister (Augusta Leigh): all have been the subject of much speculation. In 1815 he married Lady Caroline's cousin Anne Isabella Milbanke, but the marriage was unhappy; he did, however, have a daughter who grew up to be the scientist Ada Lovelace. Another lasting impact of his marriage was his adoption of the extra surname Noel, as a condition of inheriting his mother-in-law's estate on her death; subsequently to this he often signed himself "Noel Byron." Probably because of his notoriety Byron spent much of his adult life abroad, chiefly in Italy. In 1823 he travelled to Greece to take command of troops in the war for independence, dying of disease there in 1824.