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Who were Lord Byron’s parents?
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Lord Byron
British Romantic poet George Gordon, Lord Byron, c. 1820.
Lord Byron was the son of Captain John Byron, often referred to as "Mad Jack," and his second wife, Catherine Gordon, a Scottish heiress.12
Captain John Byron was a profligate who squandered most of his wife's fortune, leading the family to live on a meager income in Scotland following the poet's birth. John Byron died in France in 1791. It is important to distinguish the poet's father from his grandfather, the British admiral John Byron, who was also known as "Foul-weather Jack".123