April 19 1824 – English Romantic Poet Lord Byron Dies
*Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Throughout the history of British literature, there are a litany of world-renowned authors of poetry and prose. On April 19, 1824, George Gordon Byron – famously called Lord Byron – joined the ranks of those artists who have tragically died young when he succumbed to a fever while off fighting in the Greek War of Independence. At once revered as a hero and prolific lover, Byron’s legacy continues to make a splash with each new generation. Of all the families into which a future poet could be born, it might be said Byron hit the jackpot. His mother’s family, descended from King James I of Scotland, were of the wealthy Gordon clan – the reason Byron’s father, the Royal Navy Captain John “Mad Jack” Byron, pursued his mother Catherine in the first place. Having already seduced a married woman to nab his first wife, John moved on with Catherine shortly after being widowed. With a reputation for being particularly abusive (verbally and physically), not to mention his tendency to build up extravagant debts, John put the family under pressure immediately. Catherine sold off much of her estate to pay his creditors and the two moved to France with John’s surviving daughter, Augusta, where Catherine became pregnant. Near the end of 1787, she moved back to England to ensure Byron would be born an Englishman, settling in London and welcoming the baby boy on January 22, 1788.