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George Gordon Lord Byron

George Gordon, the 6th Lord Byron, was born in 1788. He succeeded the title and in 1798 took the family home of Newstead Abbey.

After attending Cambridge Byron quickly scaled the poetic ladder and secured much acclaim in 1809 with his satirical poem English Bards and Scotch Reviewers – an attack on the criticism of his early works.

After taking the traditional Grand Tour of Europe, visiting Spain, Portugal, Italy and the Balkans Byron returned to England and launched a career that would see him become a celebrity of his day. His social status, liberal beliefs and looks had led him to create an iconic presence. Being born with a club foot added to the mix.

Byron's first epic work was Childe Harold. The first two Cantos were published in 1812 and successive instalments became increasingly popular leading Byron to live a very public existence. His reputation developed to become the embodiment of the Romantic lifestyle.

Byron's first marriage to Anne Isabella Millbanke lasted little more than a year despite siring a daughter, Augusta Ada. The separation was played out in public, with Byron accused, amongst other things, of an incestuous relationship with his half-sister, Augusta Leigh.

The controversy forced Byron to leave England in 1817, never to return until his death in 1824. He fled to Switzerland, became a close friend of Shelley through his relationship with Mary Shelley's half-sister Claire Clairemont, who in 1817 bore him another child, Allegra.

Byron continued to be hugely successful in England despite his exile, producing further Cantos of Childe Harold and embarking on further epic poems, The Prisoner of Chillon and Don Juan.

He settled in Venice, but continued to be politically active and gave money and support to the Greek independence from the Turks. He died after catching a fever on one of his expeditions to the Greek islands. His body was paraded to crowds through the streets of London.

Image: National Portrait Gallery, London

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