{"id":35224,"date":"2024-04-18T09:51:29","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T07:51:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=265568"},"modified":"2024-04-20T09:12:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T07:12:51","slug":"mad-bad-and-dangerous-to-know-the-scandalous-life-of-lord-byron","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/mad-bad-and-dangerous-to-know-the-scandalous-life-of-lord-byron\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMad, bad and dangerous to know\u201d: the scandalous life of Lord Byron"},"content":{"rendered":"

From keeping a pet bear at Cambridge to navigating countless love affairs, there are many words to describe Lord Byron other than \u2018poet\u2019 <\/p>

By Lauren Good\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 18 April 2024 at 07:51 AM<\/p>

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Who was Lord Byron?<\/h2>\n
Born George Gordon Byron on 22 January 1788, the poet \u2013 one of the famous of the Romantics<\/a> \u2013 was the only son of Captain \u2018Mad Jack\u2019 Byron and Catherine Gordon, a Scottish heiress. Catherine relocated to Aberdeen with her infant son in 1789, where she was left to fend for herself after her husband\u2019s exile to avoid being jailed for debt.<\/p>\n
Byron\u2019s childhood in Aberdeen was marred by hardship; his mother was volatile, flitting between violence and tenderness towards her son. She even allegedly dubbed him a \u2018lame brat\u2019 due to a birth defect affecting his foot.<\/p>\n
Contemporary accounts suggest Byron was born with a clubfoot affecting his right side, which would have led to other physical health complications such as a shorter leg and altered gait.<\/p>\n
In 1798, at the age of ten, Byron inherited Newstead Abbey and the title \u2018Baron Byron of Rochdale\u2019 upon his great uncle\u2019s death. He would eventually sell the Abbey in 1818 for \u00a394,500, to settle his debts.<\/p>\n
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Read more | Lord Byron: 9 objects that defined the infamous poet\u2019s life and story<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Following his initial education at Aberdeen Grammar School, Byron then attended Harrow from the age of 13. By this time, he had discovered his love of writing and found a favourite spot: the graveyard of St Mary\u2019s Church in Harrow-on-the-Hill.<\/p>\n
He would refer to this location in a letter to John Murray when arranging the burial of his daughter Allegra, in 1822, saying: \u201cThere is a spot in the churchyard, near the footpath, on the brow of the hill looking towards Windsor, and a tomb under a large tree (bearing the name of Peachie, or Peachey), where I used to sit for hours and hours when a boy.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Harrow, Byron attended Trinity College, Cambridge, which he later reminisced as \u201cthe most romantic period of [his] life\u201d. It was during his time there that an intriguing incident unfolded: upon being denied permission to bring his pet dog, Byron exploited a loophole in the university\u2019s regulations and arrived with a bear instead. Remarkably, his argument that there were no explicit provisions against the more unconventional pet prevailed, and he could be seen walking the grounds with the bear.<\/p>\n
After his time at university, Byron took up a seat in the House of Lords. However, he soon became restless and instead began a two-year long tour around Europe with his friend, John Cam Hobhouse. It was on this trip that he fell particularly in love with Greece, a passion that would define the later period of his life.<\/p>\n
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