George Gordon, Lord Byron, was born January 22, 1788, to "Mad Jack" Byron and Catherine Gordon. The elder Byron, notorious for his carousing and attempted seduction of women of means, took his wife's family name due to his own financial desperation; in Catherine he believed he had found his escape from chronic poverty. Having married her, however, Byron almost immediately abandoned his wife and newborn son to continue living the debauchery of a bachelor, communicating to his wife mainly to ask for money. "Mad Jack" only once mentioned his only son (his only licit son, at least) in his correspondence.
For her part, Catherine was an overprotective and domineering parent, herself given to...
