Who was Lord Byron?
Poet.
Date and Place of Birth:
Born as George Gordon on 22nd January 1788, London,
England.
Family Background:
Son of Captain John "Mad Jack" Byron
and his second wife, Catherine Gordon, a Scottish heiress.
Education:
Aberdeen Grammar School. Harrow School. Trinity
College, Cambridge.
Chronology/Biography of Lord Byron:
1788: Moves to Aberdeen
with mother.
1791: 2nd August
Death of his father.
1798: Becomes 6th
Baron Byron of Rochdale. Visits Newstead Abbey for the first time.
1808: Takes possession
of Newstead Abbey.
1809: 13th March.
Takes up his seat in the House of Lords. 2nd July. Leaves England
to travel in Europe, Greece and Turkey.
1811: Returns to
England. Death of his mother.
1812: Makes maiden
speech in the House of Lords. Becomes famous on the publication
of the first parts of “Childe Harold”. Has affairs with Lady Caroline
Lamb and Lady Oxford.
1813: Affair with
his half-sister Augusta Leigh. Becomes engaged to Annabella Milbanke.
1815: Birth of Daughter
Augusta Ada.
1816: Lady Byron
leaves to live with her parents. 21st April. Deed of Separation
signed. 25th April. Leaves England and lives in Switzerland (May-October).
Becomes friendly with Shelley.
Affair with Claire Clairmont who becomes pregnant. November. Settles
in Venice.
1817: 12th January,
Birth of Allegra, his daughter by Claire Clairmont.
1818: Takes charge
of Allegra.
1819: Has affair
in Venice with Countess Teresa Guiccioli.
1820: Lives in Ravenna,
Italy. Countess Guiccioli is separated from her husband. Byron joins
an Italian revolutionary society called the Carbonari.
1821: Sends Allegra
to a convent in Bagnacavello. Moves to Pisa where Shelley
is now staying.
1822: 20th April.
Allegra dies of typhoid fever. 8th July. Shelley
drowns in a boating accident. Moves to Genoa and becomes involved
with Leigh Hunt.
1823: June. Plans
to go to Greece to take part in their struggle for independence
from the Turks. 3rd August Arrives in Cephalonia.
1824: 5th January.
Arrives in Missolonghi. 15th February. Suffers from convulsions.
9th April. Contracts illness after riding in the rain.
Written Works:
- 1806: “Fugitive
Pieces”. (printed privately)
- 1807: “Hours
of Idleness”. “Poems on Various Occasions”
- 1809: “English
Bards and Scotch Reviewers”. “Imitations and Translations from
the Classics, with original poems”
- 1812:“Childe
Harold's Pilgrimage” (Cantos 1-2)
- 1813: “The Bride
of Abydos”
- 1814: “The Corsair”.
“Ode to Napoleon”. “Lara”
- 1815: “Collected
Works”. “Hebrew Melodies”
- 1816: "Monody
on the Death of Sherida."“Poems on his Domestic Circumstances”.
“The Prisoner of Chillon”. “The Siege of Corinth”
- 1817:
Childe Harold” (Cantos 3). “Beppo”. “The Lament of Tasso”.
“Manfred”
- 1818: Childe
Harold” (Canto 4).
- 1819:
Don Juan” (Part 1-2)
- 1820: "Marino".
"Faliero".
- 1821:
The Two Foscari”. “Cain”. “Sardanapolus”. “Foscari”. “Marino
Faliero”. “Don Juan” (Parts 3-5).
- 1822: “The Vision
of Judgement”
- 1823: “Werner”.
“The Age of Bronze”. “Don Juan” (Parts 6-14). “The Island”
- 1824:
Don Juan" (Parts 15-16)
- (1825):
“Correspondence”
Marriage:
Jan 2nd 1815 to Annabella Milbanke, at Seaham
Hall.
Places of Interest:
CUMBRIA:
Dove Cottage and Museum, Grasmere, LA22 9SH.
(Wordsworth Trust.)
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE:
Newstead Abbey, Newstead Abbey Park, NG15 8G
KENT:
Roamed the White Cliffs in 1816 before his departure
for Greece.
LONDON:
National Portrait Gallery.
Date and Place of Death:
19th April 1824. Missolonghi, Greece of fever.
Remains brought back to England by Leicester Stanhope who had joined
him in Greece fighting for the cause.
Age at Death:
36.
Site of Grave:
St.
Mary Magdalen Church, Hucknall, Torkard, Nottinghamshire.
