English Aristocracy. Born Anne Isabella Milbanke, the only child of The Honourable Judith Noel and Admiral Sir Ralph Milbanke, 6th Baronet. Called Annabelle by friends, she was an intelligent child and she received a remarkable education for a woman of her position and era, with grounding in classics, science, and mathematics, which was her particular interest. In March 1812, she met the poet, Byron, for the first time. Very popular at the time, Byron was apparently entranced by the woman who was uninterested in him. In October 1812, he proposed marriage, and she refused. Within six months, they began a correspondence. He famously referred to her as 'his princess of parallelograms.' Byron made a second proposal in a letter dated September 9, 1814, he apparently expected her to refuse again, but she surprised him by accepting. A highly educated and highly religious woman, no one seemed to think her a her a likely match for the amoral and agnostic poet. They were, however, married by special license a her home in January 1815. The couple took a house in London, but Byron was in financial difficulties at the time, his drinking heavy, and his affairs numerous. By all accounts, he treated his wife cruelly. When she became pregnant, Byron's behavior became worse, reportedly telling her he hoped she would die in childbirth. Under the impression her husband might be going mad, she submitted documentation of symptoms to his physician and solicitor seeking advice. In December 1815, she gave birth to a daughter, Augusta Ada. A month later, she left London for her parents’ home, and she never saw her husband again. In April 1816, Byron signed a deed of separation and left the country. Her father changed the family surname to Noel by Royal License, and she became known as Anne Isabella Noel Byron. In 1820, upon the death of Lord Wentworth, who had been both a viscount and a baron, the viscountcy became extinct, and the barony fell into abeyance. Eventually, the barony passed to Anne, and she became Baroness Wentworth in her own right, but did not use the title. She educated her daughter as she had been educated, and sponsored an industrial and agricultural school at Ealing Grove which ran from 1834 to 1848. She also involved herself in the prison reform movement, as well as the abolitionist movement, one of the few prominent women to attend the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. Her daughter predeceased her in 1852, and upon her death, her titles passed to her grandson.
Bio by: Iola
Family Members
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Ralph Milbanke-Noel
1747–1825
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Judith Noel Milbanke
1751–1822
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George Gordon Byron
1788–1824
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George Gordon Byron
1788–1824
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Augusta Ada Byron King
1815–1852
Flowers
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See more Lady Byron memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Lady Byron
England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Lady Byron
Westminster, London, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1919
Lady Byron
U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current
Lady Byron
Web: Moray, Scotland, Local Heritage Index, 1632-2014
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