Lord Byron

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I have read that you are descended from the poet Lord Byron and have inherited his pistols. Is this true? — Tatiana Romanova

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The claim that I am connected to the poet by blood is not mine alone — though I did mention it in passing in the first edition of The Highgate Vampire which was dedicated to the memory of Lord Byron — "my illustrious ancestor who abhored the vampire yet ironically has ever since been its literary archetype." The claim is that of my forebears, supported by Byron scholars, chief among whom is Professor Leslie A Marchand (see Acknowledgements in Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know). Their claim is my legacy. Quite obviously I have been unable to have DNA testing carried out because when last Lord Byron was exhumed for inspection I was not yet born, coupled with the fact that the seventh Lord Byron (George Anson Byron, successor to the title upon the death of the poet), while a cousin, is not the sixth Lord's progeny and George Anson Byron's successors, therefore, are not directly descended from the poet.

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I am the current custodian of the pistols once owned by Lord Byron. They are displayed in a glass cabinet when not in their original wooden case. I should add that a great many artefacts of what one might describe as Byronia have come into my possession down the years. A few select items are on permanent display in appropriate rooms, chiefly the front drawing room and dining room. The latter contains many family portraits in their silver frames.

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The pistols were made by Leopold Becher of Carlsbad, and were used in numerous duels until they became the property of the poet George Gordon Noel Byron, sixth Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) who used the pistols for firing at empty brandy bottles. Whilst Byron accepted a challenge to a duel, it did not proceed as it was felt his death would be too great a loss. The flintlock mechanism was subsequently replaced with superior percussion hammers. I have come to inherit these very fine pistols which are on display at my retreat on the Dorsetshire coast.

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Byron’s great uncle, the fifth Baron, had killed William Chaworth in a duel in 1765 and been fined. I would recommend as further reading to those with an interest in the poet and his contemporaries my book Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know which biography reveals much about Lord Byron, Lady Caroline Lamb and the Romantic Movement of which they were undoubtedly leading lights.

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