George Gordon Noel Byron was born on January 22^nd,1788 in London, England. His mother, Catherine Gordon, then took him to the poorer regions of Aberdeen, Scotland, and there is where he spent most of his early childhood. As a boy he went by the name George Noel Gordon. He attended grammar school in Aberdeen for the first nine years of his life. He was born with a clubfoot which he became very sensitive of as he grew up. His clubfoot was cared for by his nurse May Gray, and it was rumored that she had made sexual advances on him at the age of nine. It was also thought that he had an unnatural love for his distant cousins Mary Duff and Margaret Parker at the time.

At 10, George’s great uncle “wicked” Lord Byron died and left the title and his estate for George in England. George immediately loved the Newstead Abbey which King Henry III gave to the Byron family. There he was tutored by Nottingham, and a nut job named Leander was put in charge of treating his clubfoot. Mrs. Byron’s attorney, John Hanson took his away from all the craziness of Leander, Mary Gray, and his fiery tempered mother and brought him to London, where a legit doctor prescribed a leg brace for his clubfoot. He then went to a school in Dulwich in 1799.

In 1803, he bolted to Newstead and stayed with his tenant, Lord Grey. His love for his distant cousin Mary Chaworth was shattered when for disregarded him as “that lame boy” and wanted nothing to do with him. To cope with his grief, he started writing poetry and she was a defining symbol of his unattainable love. As 1806 rolled around, he found himself in trouble with debt from party and other activities. He organized most of his poems available and put them into a volume called Fugitive Pieces. Hours of Idleness was published the following June.

In 1809, after entering an “abyss of sensuality” with his friend John Cam Hobhouse, he published English Lards and scotch Reviewers. Him and Hobhouse then decided to massive tour. As he started by sailing the Libson packet, Byron meet a married woman and proceeded to fall in love with her, even coming close to getting in a duel over her. At Janina, Byron started writing Childe Harold, an autobiographical poem, and continued as they sailed to Athens. He wrote The Maid of Athens after lodging and based it on a widow’s daughter named Theresa Macri. Once his journey came to a close back in London on July 14^th, 1811, he spoke very kindly of Greece and the people there, often speaking about his longing to go back some day.

Byron’s mother had grown sick while he was away, and she died on the 1^st of August before he had a chance to see her. Eight months later on the 27^th of February, 1812, he spoke for the first time in the House of Lords. Then in early March Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage was a hot commodity. The poem touched on the battle between romantic ideal and reality. He was then sent into a mass of affairs with Lady Caroline Lamb, Lady Oxford, Lady Frances Webster, and if that wasn’t enough, also possibly his half sister Augusta Leigh.

He decided he could escape all the guilt and strain of these affairs through marriage, and on January the 2^nd, 1815, he married Anne Isabella (Annabella) Milbanke. After their honeymoon which he called “not all sunshine” the Byron’s returned to London and settled there. But happiness did not last long as debts and financial embarrassment irritated Byron enough for him to escaped to his publishers house. On December the 10^th Lady Byron gave birth to Augusta Ada, and moved to her parents house with the child and told Byron that she was not coming back. Rumors about Byron’s relationship with half sister Augusta Leigh began to fly and was blamed for the break up. As the rumors grew, Byron decide to get out of England and signed the separation papers and never returned.

After traveling a bit, him and friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley to the head of the lake and in that time Byron gathered enough material to complete Prisoner of Chillon, and also a third canto of Childe Harold. At summers end, Shelley and his entourage, including Clair Clairmont, who was carrying Byron’s illegitimate daughter. After a tour of Bernese Oberland with Hobhouse, Byron wrote a Foustain poetic drama Manfred, that reflected Byron’s romantic frustrations and misfortunes.

On October the 5^th, Byron and Hobhouse again were on the move, this time for Italy. Once there, Byron lodged with Venetian draper, and he continued his misguided love, falling for his wife Marianna Segati. In May him and Hobhouse were off to Rome and viewed the ruins that turned out to be the inspiration for his fourth canto of Childe Harold. In the summer at La Mira, he met Margarita Cogni, the wife of a baker, who followed him to Venice and proceeded to take Marianna Segati place as the subject of his affection. Later that summer Byron wrote his first canto of Don Juan, a picaresque verse satire.

The sale of Newstead Abby allowed him the money he needed to finally clear his debts and left him with a little extra money that supported him while he was in Italy. Yet he grown restless and dissatisfied. In 1818 he was visited by Shelley and his entourage again, and they were surprised to find that he had grown fat and sported long hair and beard. But after meeting with Countess Teresa Guacamole a year later, rejuvenated him. He very predictable fell in love with the married 19 year old Countess, and followed her to Ravenna. Later in the summer followed him back to Venice and stayed with him until her husband sent for her. While in Ravenna, he formed a closeness with the Italian people there and it inspired him. He wrote The Prophecy of Dante, three cantos for Don Juan, the poetic dramas Marino Faliero, Sardanapalos, The Two Foscari and Cain. All of which were published in 1821. He then left for Pisa, and over the next year he lost both Shelley and his daughter Allegra.

On October 15^th, 1822, The Liberal was published. He then moved to Genoa where he stayed with Teresa’s family. Byron then butted heads with his publisher, John Murray, and decided to give John Hunt the rest of his later work. But he soon grew restless again and decided he needed a way to prove himself as a noble and courageous man. He got in contact with the London Greek Committee in April of 1823 and accepted an offer to aide in the Greek war for independence. On July 16^th, Byron took a charter ship to Ionian island of Cephalonia. He arrived on August 2^nd and settled in Metaxata. Upon arriving, Byron sent 4000 pounds of his own money in aid of sea service for the Greeks. He then sailed to Missolonghi and met with Greek leader Prince Alexandros Mavrokordatos. He was very passionate about the war and did everything in his power to help.

Unfortunately though, Byron fell ill on February 15^th, 1824, and his bleeding weakened him physically, but not emotionally. Still very passionate about the war, the spring of 1824 was his downfall. He was very determined and continued to carry out his duties, but miserable weather and his grit most likely caused him to come down with a violent cold that aggravated his bleeding fits and further drained him. After almost rallying back to health, he eventually fell into a coma and never woke up. On April 19^th, 1824, around 6 o’clock, the legendary Lord Byron passed away a hero for the Greeks. He was embalmed and his heart was buried in Missolonghi. His remains went back to England, which refused a burial in Westminster Abby and ultimately ended up in a vault in Newstead with his ancestors. After 145 years, a memorial to Lord Byron was finally placed on the floor of the Abby.