Byron (no one ever called him George) was born on 22 January 1788, in London. His parents, Catherine Gordon Byron (of the old line of Scottish Gordon’s) and John Byron, had been hiding in France from their creditors, but Catherine wanted their child born in England and so he was. John stayed in France, living in his sister's house, and died in 1791, possibly suicide, but Catherine took her son to Scotland. Here, he lived through his reading, being especially fond of Roman history, and dreamed of leading regiments of brave soldiers.
When his father died, George became, at the age of ten, the sixth Lord Byron. Newstead, the ancestral home in England, was an absolute wreck, so his mother moved them to nearby Nottingham. They were very poor, but Mrs. Byron finally got her son a decent income. He was sent to Dr. Glennie's Academy at Dulwich and then to Harrow. He enrolled in Cambridge, where he wrote lots of verses, and spent lots of money.
While staying at his mother's (something Byron did only when absolutely unavoidable), a neighbor of Mrs. Byron's encouraged Byron to publish his poems. In 1806, the book "Fugitive Pieces" appeared. Byron sent copies to two of his friends, one of whom wrote back to say that he thought the poem "To Mary" was far too shocking to be read by the general public. Byron took this opinion very seriously, and ordered every copy of the volume burnt. The book was republished (minus the offending poem) in March 1806 as "Hours of Idleness". It sold well, but reviews were mixed, and Byron answered his detractors with the very successful satire "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers".
In June 1809, Byron and some of his friends set off on a European tour, which ended up as a tour of the Middle East. They eventually found themselves in Albania, where Byron was very well received by Ali, the Pasha of Yanina. It was around this time that Byron began work on "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage", at which he would work for the next eight years.
Eventually,
he returned to England, but England turned out to be a very sad place for him.
His mother died of a stroke before he was able to see her again; one of
his best friends drowned; and his sister Augusta's marriage was almost
completely wrecked. He wrote no poetry for a long time. But, at the insistence
of a friend, the first two Cantos of "Childe Harold" were
published in
February 1812, and Byron became an overnight sensation. Women everywhere
were throwing themselves at him, in some cases almost literally. But when he
proposes Annabella Milbanke, she turns him down.
All right, now we come to the strange part. In 1813, Augusta, his half-sister, came to visit him as a way of escaping her financial and personal problems, and I'm afraid there's little doubt that she and Byron had an affair at this time.
In 1814, though, Byron was right back proposing to Annabella, and this time she gave in. They were married on 2 January 1815. On 10 December 1815, Annabella gave birth to a girl, named Augusta Ada. In February 1816, Annabella asked for a formal separation, which Byron, somewhat in shock, agreed to. London society, doubtful before, made up its mind and he was thoroughly snubbed everywhere he went. So in April, Byron set out for Europe once again. In May, the group met Percy Shelley and Mary Godwin (later Shelley), who were shocking everyone by living in sin.
Shelley
and Byron hit it off extremely well. They traveled everywhere together,
finally ending up in Italy, and Byron decided that this was the place for
him. While there, he finished up "Childe Harold", wrote "Manfred",
and started on "Don Juan", though his health was poor.
Here, he also got involved with local politics in 1820, joining the Italian freedom fighters working for democracy. In 1822, Shelley drowned when his boat capsized. The following year, Byron became involved in the Greek fight for independence from Turkey. Byron sailed for Greece, even though he was convinced he was sailing towards his own death. He joined forces with a Greek prince named Mavrocordato and financed a navy for the freedom fighters.
In February of 1824, he had an epileptic seizure. Two months later, he was caught in a sudden storm while horseback riding, and he caught a chill from which he never recovered. Byron died on 19 April 1824, having suffered extreme delirium for many days. He was never able to read the letters of praise, which had arrived from England a few days before, so he never knew that his native country had forgiven his indiscretions.