John Byron, 1st Baron Byron

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John Byron, 1st Baron Byron

John Byron, 1st Baron Byron (* 1598 or 1599 ; † 23 August 1652 in Paris , France ) was an English nobleman and, as a royalist, a supporter and general of Charles I of England.

Origin and family background

John Byron came from the gentry of the English county of Nottinghamshire . His great-grandfather, also called John Byron, acquired the land of Newstead Abbey and the associated monastery building under Henry VIII on the occasion of the dissolution of the English monasteries . John Byron was the eldest of seven sons and heir to John Byron († September 28, 1625) at Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire and Clayton in Leicestershire . His mother was Anne Molyneux. He was probably born in 1599 because he is mentioned as 15 years old in 1614.

Life and career

Byron began his career in politics. He was elected to the House of Commons for Nottingham in 1624 . He kept this seat until 1625. In 1626 he returned to Parliament, this time not for the city of Nottingham, but as a representative of the county of Nottinghamshire. In the meantime he had been knighted ( Knight Bachelor ) in 1625 on the occasion of the coronation of Charles I.

As a loyal supporter of the king, he continued his career. He was High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire from 1634 to 1635 , then Gentleman of the Bedchamber and in December 1641 Lieutenant of the Tower of London to keep the Tower as a base for the King against the rebellious Parliament. In February 1642 he had to vacate the tower by order of the House of Lords . Byron went to the king's army, whom he served as a staunch royalist throughout the civil war between the king and parliament. At the Battle of Edgehill in 1642 he was in command of the royal reserve army.

The King rewarded him for his loyalty and services by Letters Patent of October 24, 1643 by elevation to Baron Byron , of Rochdale in the County Palatine of Lancaster . Byron thus became the hereditary peer of the kingdom. However, since he had no children, the deed of appointment stipulated that his six brothers, all of whom were royalists, and their male descendants should be eligible to inherit the title. Lord Byron was Field Marshal General of the Royal Forces in Worcestershire , Shropshire and Cheshire and North Wales and also Governor of Chester . He defended Caernarfon Castle , which he was able to hold against the parliamentary army until 1646. In June 1646 he had to capitulate under honorable conditions and hand over Caernarfon Castle to the troops of Parliament.

Byron went to France to the court of the English queen, who was living in exile there, and was appointed tutor of the Duke of York, the second son of Charles I and later King James II , an office he held until his death in 1652. In 1648 he supported the unsuccessful royalist invasion of England by the Scots under Hamilton.

Byron was married twice: first to Cecily West, daughter of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr , then from 1644, after Cecily's death in 1638, to Eleanor Needham, daughter of Robert Needham, 2nd Viscount Kilmorey . Both marriages remained childless. His eldest brother Richard followed him as heir to the title.

Individual evidence

  1. a b c The Complete Peerage, Volume II, Alan Sutton, London, 1982, pp. 454f.
  2. ^ Index to High Sheriffs, Sheriffs and Wardens
  3. ^ A b Dictionary of National Biography, Volume VIII, Article John Byron, pp. 158 ff.
predecessor Office successor
New title created Baron Byron
1643-1652
Richard Byron