George Gordon, Lord Byron

Malcolm Kelsall (Cardiff University)
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George Gordon, sixth baron Byron, was born on 22nd January 1788 at 16 Holles Street, London. He was the son of the profligate “mad Jack” Captain Byron, formerly of the Guards, by his second wife, Catherine Gordon of Gight, Aberdeen, Scotland. Within two years, Mrs. Byron, her fortune having been dissipated by her husband, returned to Aberdeen with her son, and in 1791 her husband died in France (aged thirty-six). In 1794 George Gordon, on the death of the fifth Lord Byron’s grandson, became heir to the barony to which he succeeded in May 1798 and was brought back to England. He entered Harrow School in 1801, Trinity College, Cambridge in 1805, and took his seat in the House of Lords in 1809.

His first excursion into poetry, Fugitive Pieces (1806) was destroyed at the request of a

1647 words

Citation: Kelsall, Malcolm. "George Gordon, Lord Byron". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=683, accessed 19 March 2024.]

683 George Gordon, Lord Byron 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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