Lord Byron
...line includes the “Wicked” Lord Byron, "Mad” Jack Byron and “Foul Weather” Jack Byron. The family tendency for peculiar behavior was expressed by young George Gordon’s upbringing. When Byron was just three his financially irresponsible father died, leaving the family with a heavy debt. Byron’s mother then proudly moved from their poor home in Aberdeen, Scotland to England. Byron fell in love with the ghostly halls and spacious grounds of Newstead Abbey, their “new” home which had been given to the Byron’s by Henry VIII. He and his mother lived in the run down estate for a while. While in England he was sent to a “public” school in Nottingham where the very eccentric doctor Lavender tended him to for his clubfoot. During this time, young Byron was left in the care of his nurse May Grey. He was subjected to her drunken tantrums, beatings, neglect, and sexual habits. This abuse was not stopped early enough to protect the him from lifelong mental troubles. Byron also suffered from constant exposure to his mother’s bad temper. Mrs. Byron both spoiled her son and abused him, often calling him a “lame brat”. Eventually John Hanson, Mrs. Byron’s attorney, rescued him from the unnatural affections of May Grey (she had begun to show strange “attractions” to Byron when he was little more than 9 years old), the tortures of Lavender, and the fluctuating temper of his mother. The effects of these early tribulations would be felt and displayed in his works for many years to come. At seventeen he entered Cambridge University. Determined to overcome his physical handicap, Byron became a good horse rider, swimmer, boxer, and marksman with a musket. He enjoyed literature in all its forms, but cared little for other subjects. After graduation he went on a out on his own and found inspiration for many of his later works. The first canto of Don Juan describes Juan’s mother, Donna Inez, as being a woman who frequently lectured and preached to her son. Donna Inez watched carefully over every detail of her son’s education and Catherine Byron did the same for her son, clumsily attempting to provide Lord Byron with preparation for adult life. Mrs. Byron became obsessed with making...