Baron Byron, of

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

in the

County Palatine of Lancaster Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashir ...

, is a title in the

Peerage of England The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain. There are five peerages in t ...

. It was created in 1643 by

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

for Sir John Byron, a

Cavalier The term Cavalier () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of King Charles I and his son Charles II of England during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration (1642 – ). It ...

general and former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. The peerage was created with remainder to the heirs male of his body, failing, to his six brothers: Richard, William, Thomas, Robert, Gilbert, and Philip, and the heirs male of their bodies. Lord Byron died childless and was succeeded according to the special remainder by his next eldest brother

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

, the second Baron. The latter's great-grandson, the fifth Baron, killed his cousin and neighbour William Chaworth in a duel on 26 January 1765. He was brought before his peers in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

but under the statute of

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

he was found guilty only of

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

and forced to pay a small fine. Byron henceforth became known as "the Wicked Lord" and "the Devil Byron". He was succeeded by his great-nephew,

George Gordon Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

, the sixth Baron, the famous Romantic poet. He was the son of

John "Mad Jack" Byron Captain John Byron (1757 – 2 August 1791) was a British Army officer and letter writer, best known as the father of the poet Lord Byron. In 1824, an obituary of his son gave him the nickname "Mad Jack Byron", and though there is no evidence f ...

, son of Vice-Admiral John "Foulweather Jack" Byron, second son of the fourth Baron and the younger brother of the fifth Baron. Lord Byron died without male issue and was succeeded by his first cousin, the seventh Baron, who was an

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. On the death of his great-grandson, the eleventh Baron (who had succeeded his first cousin once-removed in 1949), this line of the family expired. The late Baron was succeeded by his distant relative (his fifth cousin), the twelfth Baron. He was the great-great-great-grandson of Reverend Richard Byron, third son of the fourth Baron. As of 2009 the title is held by his second son, the thirteenth Baron, who succeeded in 1989. From the 16th century until 1818, the family residence of the Lords Byron was

Newstead Abbey Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, England, was formerly an Augustinian priory. Converted to a domestic home following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, it is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron. Monastic foundation The prio ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

. Most of the Byrons—including the sixth baron's daughter, the famed mathematician

Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (''née'' Byron; 10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the A ...

—are buried in the family vault in the nearby Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Hucknall.

Barons Byron (1643)

John Byron, 1st Baron Byron John Byron, 1st Baron Byron KB (1599 – 23 August 1652) was an English nobleman, Royalist, politician, peer, knight, and supporter of Charles I during the English Civil War. Life Byron was the son of Sir John Byron of Newstead Abbey, Nottin ...

(1599–1652) *

Richard Byron, 2nd Baron Byron Richard Byron, 2nd Baron Byron (1606 – 4 October 1679) was an English nobleman, Royalist, politician, peer, knight, and supporter of Charles I during the English Civil War. Life Byron was the son of John Byron (died 1625) and Anne Molyneux, an ...

(1606–1679) *

William Byron, 3rd Baron Byron William Byron, 3rd Baron Byron (1636 – 13 November 1695) was an English nobleman, peer, politician, and unskilled poet. Life Byron was the son of Richard Byron, 2nd Baron Byron and Elizabeth Rossell. He succeeded to the title of 3rd Baron B ...

(1636–1695) *

William Byron, 4th Baron Byron William Byron, 4th Baron Byron (4 January 1669/70 – 8 August 1736) was an English nobleman, politician, peer, and Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Prince George of Denmark. Early life Byron was the only surviving son of William Byron, 3 ...

(1669–1736) *

William Byron, 5th Baron Byron William Byron, 5th Baron Byron (5 November 1722 – 19 May 1798), was a British nobleman, peer, politician, and great-uncle of the poet George Gordon Byron who succeeded him in the title. As a result of a number of stories that arose after a d ...

(1722–1798) *

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

(1788–1824), the English Romantic poet * George Anson Byron, 7th Baron Byron (1789–1868) * George Anson Byron, 8th Baron Byron (1818–1870) * George Frederick William Byron, 9th Baron Byron (1855–1917) * Frederick Ernest Charles Byron, 10th Baron Byron (1861–1949) * Rupert Frederick George Byron, 11th Baron Byron (1903–1983) * Richard Geoffrey Gordon Byron, 12th Baron Byron (1899–1989) * Robert James Byron, 13th Baron Byron (b. 1950) The

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

is the present holder's son, Charles Richard Gordon Byron (b. 1990).

Family tree

References

External links

Biography of George Anson Byron senior
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Byron, Baron 1643 establishments in England Baronies in the Peerage of England Byron family Noble titles created in 1643 Peerages created with special remainders