RARE LETTER FROM LADY NOEL BYRON BYRON (Anne Isabella Noel, née Millbanke, 1792-1860, 11th Baroness Wentworth and Baroness Byron, wife of Lord Byron)

Formal Autograph Letter in the third person presenting “her compliments to Mr Staffenden and requests to be informed on what terms he would attend her school at Ealing Grove on occasions of illness...” 1 sie 8vo., Fordhook, 4th May

A highly educated and strictly religious woman, she seemed an unlikely match for the “amoral” and agnostic poet, and their marriage soon ended in acrimony. Lady Byron's reminiscences, published after her death by Harriet Beecher Stowe, revealed her fears about alleged incest between Lord Byron and his half-sister. The scandal about Lady Byron's suspicions accelerated Byron's intentions to leave England and return to the Mediterranean where he had lived in 1810. Their daughter Augusta Ada, Countess of Lovelace, worked as a mathematician with Charles Babbage, the pioneer of computer science.
Fordhook House was directly opposite Ealing Common Station and had been the country home of the author Henry Fielding. In 1832 Anna, Lady Byron came to live here with her young daughter Augusta Ada. Lord Byron and his wife were separated and he never lived at the house, nor met his daughter. A social campaigner who was interesting in penal reform and the abolition of slavery, Anne lived in Ealing between 1822-40. She left a lasting legacy in Ealing, when she worked with Lord Henry Brougham to create Ealing Grove School, the first “industrial school” in England.

Item Date:  1836

Stock No:  41692      £475

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