Frederick Gerald Byng

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Frederick G. Byng (back row, far right) with the King and Queen of Hawaii in the Royal Box in the Theater Royal Drury Lane (1824)

Frederick Gerald Finch Byng , called Poodle Byng , (born December 4, 1784 , † June 5, 1871 in London ) was an English eccentric .

Life

Frederick Gerald Byng was the fifth and youngest son of John Byng, 5th Viscount Torrington ; he had a total of twelve siblings. After finishing school in Eton , he served briefly in the army. In 1801 he entered the Foreign Office . He became known as a member of the dandy clique around George Beau Brummell , who sat in the arched window of the White’s men's club on St. James Street in London to gossip about the appearance and clothing of passers-by. At the coronation of King George IV in 1820, Frederick Gerald Byng was there as a page and then mocked his fat calves.

Even in Eton, Byng was nicknamed the Poodle because of his strong curls that fell into his face . He later took up this nickname ironically by having a carefully clipped poodle accompany him on trips. We have survived the saying of Brummell, who shouted in front of Byng with a poodle in a carriage: “Ah, how d 'ye do, Byng? A family vehicle, I see. " (Eng. "How are you, Byng? A family carriage, as I see.") Poodle Byng was known to his contemporaries for his countless acquaintances and his - according to his own account - numerous love affairs and high gambling debts. There were many stories about his quirks; he regularly complained to hosts about the food, criticized their home furnishings and servants, and gave unsolicited advice. Because of his penchant for gossip, he was nicknamed Paul Pry after a play about a gossipy man. He is mentioned in almost all letters and diaries of the Regency period as an eccentric "first class" and even later: "Poodle Byng [...] flits in and out of Victorian memoirs like an elderly and homeless bat." (Eng. "Poodle Byng scurries in and out of Victorian memoirs like an elderly and homeless bat.")

In 1824 Frederick Gerald Byng was commissioned by Foreign Secretary George Canning to look after King Kamehameha II of Hawaii , his wife Kamāmalu and court during their stay in England and to show them around London. As a thank you, King Byng gave a traditional Hawaiian feather coat ( ahu 'ula ) made of red and gold feathers from clothes birds , which can now be seen in the National Museums of Scotland (NMS) in Edinburgh . The royal couple contracted measles after spending two months in England and both died within days in July at Osborne House .

In 1830, Byng was appointed Gentleman Usher of the Privy Chamber and held that title until his death. In this capacity he attended the coronation of Queen Victoria . After he resigned from the State Department in 1839, he became involved in the Sanitary Movement , was a member of the Waste Water Commission of Westminster and presbyter of his parish St. James . Towards the end of his life he was generally known as the Regency Remnant (German Regency remnant ).

family

Byng was married to Catherine Neville, his mother's maid. The couple had two daughters (Elizabeth and Frederica) who both died in childhood. Catherine Byng died just months after her husband in 1871.

A great uncle of Byng was Admiral John Byng , who was executed in 1757; his nephews included Percy Francis Hall and Herbert Byng Hall .

Publications

  • With John Leslie: Report of Committee appointed to inquire into Mr. Freeman's allegations against the officers (of the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers) in Surrey and Kent . 1849
  • Smithfield and Newgate Markets . London. James Ridgway 1851.
  • "On Improving the Dwellings of the Poor". In: Charles JC Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury: Meliora: or, Better times to come . 1852.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Hon. Frederick Gerald Byng (1784–1871) on historyhome.co.uk
  2. ^ Brian Thompson: The Disastrous Mrs. Weldon. The Life, Loves, and Lawsuits of a Legendary Victorian . Doubleday 2001, p. 56. ( limited preview in Google Book search)
  3. ^ J. Susan Corley: "National Museums Scotland Displays One of Kamehameha II's Featherwork 'Ahu'ula Cloaks" on evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu
  4. ↑ In 1838 a brother-in-law of Byngs, Rev. Colin Alexander Campbell, donated the feather coat to the Saffron Walden Museum . It is believed that he made this donation on behalf of Byng, because at the time of the visit from Hawaii - clad in a skirt made of feathers - had been caricatured and ridiculed (see [1] ) and Byng wanted to avoid a renewed stir. In 1948 the NMS bought the coat for £ 600 from the Saffron Waldon Museum , which was in dire need of money for renovations. In Edinburgh the coat slumbered forgotten in the stock until 2011, when it was prominently exhibited in the newly opened Facing the Sea gallery .
  5. ↑ Picture of the feather jacket on nms.ac.uk  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.nms.ac.uk  
  6. ↑ history.ac.uk
  7. ↑ Jonathan David Gross (Ed.): Byron's “Corbeau blanc”. The Life and Letters of Lady Melbourne. Rice University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-89263-351-4 , p. 419. ( limited preview in Google book search)
  8. ↑ Frederick Gerald Byng at genealogy.links.org

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Byng, Frederick Gerald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Byng, Frederick Gerald Finch (full name); Poodle Byng (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman and eccentric
DATE OF BIRTH December 4, 1784
DATE OF DEATH June 5, 1871
Place of death London