Lord Byron - poet, rebel, champion of liberty…

After winning early fame as the most fashionable poet of Georgian England, Byron's reputation turned from celebrity to notoriety. Exiled by hostile public opinion amid mounting debts and the aftermath of a disastrous marriage, his best known work, Don Juan, was written during extensive travels through Europe and the near East.

Mad, bad and dangerous to know, the Romantic poet Lord Byron is famous the world over as a passionate lover, a political revolutionary and a man who inspired the Greeks to victory over Turkish rule. One of England’s greatest literary heroes, Byron’s first poem was written at the age of ten. It was about Nottingham, and his connection to the county is well documented. 

Byron’s legacy went beyond his work. His daughter Ada Lovelace, was a gifted mathematician who worked closely with Charles Babbage – the father of modern computers. Though she never met her father, Ada was laid to rest beside him in the family vault at St Mary's.