THE TEENAGE LETTER-WRITER
She may have described him as a “fat, bashful boy”, but this letter from a young Byron to his neighbour, Elizabeth Pigot, reveals the pair’s close bond
In May 1798, the fifth Lord Byron died. The unexpected heir to the title was his great-nephew, George Gordon Byron, who became the sixth Baron Byron of Rochdale at just 10 years old.
Born on 22 January 1788, Byron spent his early years with his mother in Aberdeen after being abandoned by his father, John ‘Mad Jack’ Byron. Following the inheritance of his great-uncle’s title, Byron headed south to the family’s ancestral home, Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire, but found it had fallen into a ruinous state. Byron and his mother therefore ended up residing at Burgage Manor, in the nearby town of Southwell.
The nearby town of Southwell. The above letter, written in August 1804 when Byron was 16 years old, was sent to Elizabeth Pigot (1783–1866), one of his earliest correspondents and potentially his first real friend. Pigot lived with her family opposite the poet’s house in Southwell, and described Byron as a “fat, bashful boy”.
Despite this rather unflattering description, Pigot was fond of Byron, and their friendship grew. Indeed, the message (sent while Byron
