Captain John Byron

George Gordon, sixth Baron, was the son of Captain John Byron, ‘Mad Jack’ who had eloped with and married Lady Carmarthen, with whom he had a daughter, Augusta, who was to be of great importance in Byron’s life. As his second wife Captain Byron married Catherine Gordon of Gight, a Scot who was Byron’s mother.

He was born with a club-foot, which had a profound effect on his personality. Mary Shelley was to write, “No action of Lord Byron’s life – scarce a line he has written – but was influenced by his personal defect.” In 1798 he inherited the title and moved South, visiting his family seat Newstead Abbey where in 1802 he first met his half-sister Augusta.