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1813 RARE UNPUBLISHED DRAFT LORD BYRONS POEM THE GIAOUR
RARE LETTER SIGNED BY ANNABELLA MILBANKE. LOCK OF HAIR.
1813.
A very lengthy and howlingly rare four page letter written entirely in the delicate hand of Anne ( Annabella ) Isabella Milbanke, the wife to be of Lord Byron, Poet. Signed at the end in her usual way, her initials AIM
The letter has no year date, only the date of April 21st, but according to the postmark of ASHBY DE LA DOUCH/123, which was in use between 1801 to 1815, and the general content of the letter, it must have been written around 1813.
Within the letter is a section of An unpublished poem (at the time ) by Lord Byron, The Giaour
Which was drafted between September 1812 with the first versus eventually published in June 1813, the remaining versus thereafter.
The verses in the letter go from.....As rising on its purple wing...... to...... Around its glances written in death.
The draft of the versus within the letter vary slightly from the eventual published version with a change to about three or four words in the verses.
This differing draft in Annabellas hand is exceedingly rare in its own right.
The letter mentions various places and named persons connected with Annabella Milbanke:-
Lord Byron
Staunton Harrold, seat of the Earl Ferrers.
Lady Tamworth.
Seaham, Annabella's family seat.
Lady Gosford, a close friend of Annabella's.
Lady Olivia Acheson.
Frank Doyle, husband of Selina.
Also included within the letter is a large lock of hair. Presumably taken from Lady Byron possibly after her death,
which was a common occurance in Victorians times.
There is no reference within the letter to the lock of hair, which may have been added at a later date.
A magnificent piece of social history of the time from such a prominent personage
With exceptional content:-
The unpublished poem ( which differs from the published version ), A clear set of her initials at the letters end,
and of course the lock of hair from Annabella.
A fascinating unique addition to any Byron collection.
A truly one off howling rarity never to be repeated.
Best suited to a serious Byron enthusiast or Institution.
when it is gone it is gone forever!!
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Anne Isabella Milbanke. ( 11th Baroness Wenthworth), 1792 to 1860.
Born in London, Anne Isabella Milbanke, the only child of Admiral Sir Ralph Milbanke, Baronet, and Lady Judith Milbanke, sister of Thomas Noel, Lord Wentworth.
When Lord Wentworth died, a few months after her marriage, her father, who inherited a large part of the estate, changed his name to Sir Ralph Noel, and she and her husband did also, when her mother died.
This was a condition of inheritance; her mother also wrote a letter to the Prince Regent, requesting that he make her daughter Lady Wentworth so her parents wouldn't have to call her Byron.
So she was first Anne Isabella Byron, Baroness or Lady Byron, and then Anne Isabella Noel, Lady Byron.
Her uncle had been both Viscount and Baron Wentworth, which were inherited differently.
When her cousin died without heirs in 1856, she became Baroness Wentworth as sole claimant, but she did not use the title.
She signed her letters then A. I. Noel Byron. She was known to the world as Lady Byron, to her friends by the nickname Annabella.
She was a gifted child, and, to cultivate her intelligence, her parents hired as her tutor a former Cambridge University professor, William Frend. Under his direction, Annabella's education proceeded very much like that of a Cambridge student, her studies involving classical literature and philosophy, as well as science and mathematics, in which she particularly delighted. This fascination led her husband Lord Byron to nickname her his princess of parallelograms.
Anne Isabella developed into a stiff, religious woman with strict morals. She was very aware of her intellect and unashamed to demonstrate it in her social realm. Often described as cold and prim, she seemed an unlikely match for the man who would become her ultimate obsession, the dramatically dark and morally fractured Lord Byron.
Their first meeting was in March of 1812 and she later confessed to her mother that though she would not venture to introduce herself to Byron, tho she would certainly accept his introduction of himself to her if it were offered.
Following the success of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, when Byron's popularity was soaring, Annabella continually rejected his attentions.
Spurned, Byron committed himself to the pursuit of her and, in October 1812, he proposed marriage. In response, Annabella wrote a summary of his character and three days later refused him. However, both were plagued with a persistent interest in one another.
In August 1813, she contacted Byron in writing. The letters continued into the next year, some offering reassurance and support during times in which public opinion of him was not favourable, others describing the imperfect attachment she felt for him.
During this time, he accepted an invitation from Sir Ralph Milbanke to visit Seaham Hall, the family home in County Durham.
Lord Byron made a second proposal to Miss Milbanke in September of 1814 and she accepted. The couple were married privately, and by special license, at Seaham Hall on January 2nd, 1815 ( the officiating clergyman was her illegitimate cousin, the Rev. Thomas Noel of Kirkby Mallory, natural son of her uncle, Viscount Wentworth ); they lived at Piccadilly Terrace, London.
Byron was in extreme financial distress. He rejected money he was offered for his written works, feeling the sums were insufficient, and was having difficulty selling his estates at Newstead Abbey and Rochdale to clear his debt.
During the summer of 1815, he began to unleash his anger and hostility on Lady Byron. His moods were dark and he began to drink heavily. In a letter to his half-sister, Augusta Leigh, he stated his suspicions that Lady Byron had broken the lock on his desk and searched it.
Later in the year, he began an affair with Susan Boyce, a London chorus girl.
Lady Byron became increasingly distressed. She was in the late stages of pregnancy and feared Byron may have been going mad.
In November 1815, she wrote to Augusta and told her of Byron's moods and behaviour. In answer to her sister-in-law's letter, Augusta travelled to the Byrons' home to assist. Upon her arrival, she became the recipient of Byron's wrath; and she believed him to be temporarily insane.
On December 10th, she gave birth to their only child, a daughter, Ada. This did nothing to quiet Byron's despair. The event, instead, seemed to increase it.
In January of 1816, as the Byrons passed their first anniversary, Lord Byron suggested they sold the house at Piccadilly Terrace. He recommended that Annabella take Ada to the home of her parents and stay there temporarily until he settled their finances.
In disbelief, Annabella sought medical advice. She was now certain her husband had gone mad. She invited a physician to their home to assess Byron. Byron was unaware of the true purpose for the visit. It was recommended to her that she do as Byron requested and relocate to her parents' estate.
Lady Byron began a detailed documentation of Byron's behaviour, moods, and speech. She contacted his solicitor and friend, John Hanson, and communicated her concerns that Byron would take his own life. She also provided Hanson with a pamphlet on hydrocephalus accompanied by notes that suggested Byron could be suffering from this particular affliction. Following this conversation, Lady Byron took Ada and travelled to her parents' residence at Kirkby Mallory in Leicestershire.
She would not see Byron again.
During the first month at Kirkby Mallory, Lady Byron wrote to Byron affectionately, addressing him as dearest Duck.
Her mother wrote to him and invited him to come to their home. However, concern for the preservation of Annabella soon became prevalent, and her parents sought legal counsel. A legal separation was recommended and a letter proposing the separation was sent to Byron. Augusta, who had remained with Byron at Piccadilly Terrace since Annabella's departure, intercepted the letter, fearing Byron would commit suicide if he knew of it.
She returned the letter to Kirkby Mallory and communicated her opinion that greater consideration should be taken in the matter of the Byrons' marriage.
A week later, however, the proposal was sent once again to Byron by messenger. This time it reached him and he refused to believe Lady Byron no longer desired to be married to him; he asked Augusta to write to her; and himself responded to the proposal with a refusal to dissolve their marriage, but changed his mind a short while later when Annabella made clear her suspicions that Byron's relationship with Augusta was incestuous.
He then agreed to grant Lady Byron's request if only she would prove to him that the desire for legal separation was her own and not that of her parents. In response, Annabella personally communicated her feelings to Augusta and Byron kept his word.
In March 1816, the separation was made legal. Following the settlement, Augusta wrote to Annabella; her solicitor replied to the private note. This cold treatment of his half-sister enraged Byron.
Not long after the dissolution of his marriage, he left England and lived the remainder of his days abroad.
Though she wished to have Byron removed from her life, Lady Byron obsessed over him until her death.
She had spent the duration of their relationship trying desperately to save his soul and secure him a place in Heaven. In the years following their separation, she convinced herself that the time she had spent with Byron certainly guaranteed he would experience God's embrace upon his death.
She kept his letters, copies of her own to him, and letters about him. She carefully documented their relationship, supposedly in preparation for any challenge Byron may have made for custody of Ada. He never did pursue his daughter, though he did send for both of them shortly before his death in Greece on April 19, 1824.
Lady Byron drew deep personal satisfaction from this final gesture. Her obsession with Byron did not end with his death. Instead, she allowed Byron to ultimately define her life. Though she faithfully committed herself to various causes, such as prison reform and the abolition of slavery, he continued to haunt her for the remainder of her days.
As Ada grew, Lady Byron feared her daughter would be predisposed to Byron's behaviours and dark moods. She attempted to keep Byron's genes at bay by schooling Ada in science and mathematics, and discouraging literary study. Though her effort was great, it eventually seemed in vain. Ada was a gifted mathematician, but expressed mathematics in metaphors. She also embodied many of her father's rebellious qualities.
She married at nineteen years of age, had three children, and amassed considerable gambling debt before dying from cancer on November 27, 1852.
Lady Byron attended her daughter's deathbed, and refused her opiates, on the grounds that they would cloud her mind too much for repentance; nor did she attend her funeral. Ada was thirty-six years old at the time of her death, just as Byron had been.
Lady Byron died on May 16, 1860, the day before her 68th birthday. Her death was the result of a lengthy battle against cancer.
She is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, Kensal Green in London. Prior to her death, she shared the story of her marriage to Byron with Harriet Beecher Stowe who published the account in 1869 and all but destroyed Lord Byron's reputation.
It was the first time suspicions of an incestuous relationship between Byron and his half-sister were publicised.
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