“Mad, bad and dangerous to know,” was how one of Lord George Gordon Byron’s lovers, (Lady Caroline Lamb), once described him. An influential poet, one of the fundamental authors of the Romantic Era, Lord Byron was the first of what we would consider celebrities. Born January 22nd, 1788 in London, George Byron was the 6th ‘Lord Byron’, inheriting the title from his father, ‘Mad Jack’ Byron.  Although a prolific author, Byron is potentially even more well known for the litany of affairs and scandals that followed him. Even causing him to have to flee England in 1816 due to suspected incest with his half sister. Byron eventually made his way to Greece, intent upon helping them fight the Ottoman Empire in the Greek Independence War. Lord George Byron died on April 19th, 1824, at age 36, (Lord Byron (1788-1824) - Find a Grave Memorial). in Missolonghi in 1924, beloved by Greece. 

Lord Byron's death was long and drawn out. On the 15th, one of his physicians reported that Byron was suffering from a rheumatic fever, and upon conferring with additional physicians, the determination was made that Byron was in need of bleeding. The lord was vehemently against this, denying his doctors the right to take his blood on multiple occasions. The doctors kept insisting that the way to cure Byron was more bloodletting, to which, after much battering by his doctors, the lord responded "you are, I see, a d---d set of butchers. Take away as much blood as you will; but have done with it." (MILLINGEN, Illness 132). Twenty ounces were drawn, followed the next morning by the application of leeches. On the 18th, before losing his senses, Byron proclaimed, "I have given my money and my time for {Greece} - and now, I give my life." (Hobhouse, 78). That day, the final treatment administered was an antispasmodic, consisting of valerian and ether. This did the opposite of intended, actually increasing Byron's convulsions, until a second dose was given, at which point he became comatose. Lord George Byron finally died at six pm on April 19th, just under three months after his 37th birthday. (MILLINGEN, Illness 135).

So beloved was Byron, that the thunderstorm coinciding with his death was considered by locals to be a sign of the “wrath of the heavens” (Citation). The next morning, Byron was given a 37-gun salute from the top of the Grand Battery, one gun for each year of his life. Notices were distributed, cancelling Easter Week celebrations throughout the city. The prince ordered all shops (apart from grocers and pharmacies) and public offices closed for 3 days (Barber, Chapter 21). Requiem services were arranged in all major cities, and, once again on order of the prince, mourning black was to be donned for 3 weeks. The storm that accompanied Byron’s death was wild enough that the first of his funeral’s was unable to be held until April 22nd, when he was brough to the church of St. Nicholas, draped in a black cloak, and given a Greek helmet, sword, and laurel crown while he lay in state for a day, (Webb) and was brought back to his home on the evening of April 23 (Barber, Chapter 21).

After this, is where things begin to get complicated. There were conflicting accounts of what was to be done with the lord’s body. Byron’s valet, Fletcher, said that Byron had told him “it is not with while to take such a body as this home,” although Byron did later add that it would “on the whole [be] better to do so.” (Hobhouse, 76). Another account, this time from one of Byron’s friends, William Perry, said that the lord had told him that “If I should die in Greece, and you survive me, see that my body is sent to England.” (Hobhouse, ). A third account, from Dr. Miligan, one of the physicians with Lord Byron on his deathbed, purports the lord to have said “Her let my bones moulder- Lay me in the first corner, without pomp or circumstance.” (Webb). No matter where he was to be buried, or who was asked, Lord Byron did have one consistent request across accounts. “Let not my body be hacked.” (Lovejoy). This desperate, deathbed plea, was resoundingly and almost immediately ignored.

Instead, Lord Byron was promptly autopsied. Five doctors took to him with blades, removing "the heart, brains, lungs and intestines.... [and placing them] in separate spirit-filled vases, after which the body was spliced back together and packed in a tin coffin." (Webb).  His autopsy, unwanted, was done before embalming and "found a congested brain, a flabby heart, and a diseased liver" Another account says that "the cranium resembled completely that of a man much advanced in age; its sutures were obliterated; its two tables were united into one; no traces of the diploe remained, and the texture of it was as hard as ivory. The adhesion of the dura mater to the interior of the skull-cap was extraordinarily strong. Its vessels were large, highly injected, and it had acquired at least twice its usual thickness. Each of its surfaces was covered with strong organized bands, uniting them powerfully to the adjacent parts. Its prolongation, the falciform process, was perhaps even more inflamed, and adhered firmly to the hemispheres; and the tentorium cerebelli, though in a less degree, was also strongly injected. The pia mater presented the appearance of the conjunctiva on an inflamed eye. The whole system of sanguiferous vessels, of the cerebrum and cerebellum, was gorged with blood, and their substance was surprisingly hard. The ventricles contained several ounces of serous fluid. The lungs were perfectly healthy and crepitant; and what is seldom observed in natives of cold climates, had not contracted the slightest adhesion to the pleura. The appearance, presented by the heart, was singular. Its parietes were as collapsed, and of a consistence, as flabby as those of persons, who have died of old age. Its muscular fibres were pale, and hardly pronounced; and the ventricles had no thickness whatever. The liver was beginning to undergo the alterations, observed in persons, who have indulged in the abuse of alcoholic liquors. Its bulk was smaller, its texture harder, its colour much lighter than in its healthy condition. The stomach and intestines presented no remarkable phenomena" (MILLIGEN, Anecdotes 143-144).

Hobhouse and Hanson, both friends of Byron's were listed as executor's of the lord's will, on both wills. According to the first, George Gordon Byron left everything to George Byron and to heirs of the title. He desired to be buried without any funeral service at Newstead, and to have G.G.B. and some other initials (only) on his coffin. According to another will, from 1813, the two were still executors, along with a Charles Hanson, and in that Byron left half to George Byron and half to Mrs. Leigh. (Hobhouse, 80). This, along with the varying reports of where he wished to be interred, made for complications in determining where to bury the lord. Greece and England were the two main arguments made, and eventually, due to more accounts saying he wished to be buried in England. 

Of course, to get him to England required some effort. After he was autopsied, the removed organs were "placed in separate spirit-filled vases, after which the body was spliced back together and packed in a tin coffin" (Webb). In addition to this, he was 'embalmed'. Not very well, it seems, considering upon viewing it was found that "It did not bear the slightest resemblance to my dear friend. The mouth was distorted and half open, showing those teeth, in which, poor fellow, he once so prided himself, quite discoloured by the spirits. His upper lip was shaded with red mustachios which gave a totally new colour to his face, his cheeks were long and bagged over the jaw, his nose was quite prominent at the ridge, and sunk in between the eyes, perhaps from the extraction of the brain. His eyebrows [were] shaggy and lowering. His forehead, marked with leech-marks probably, his eyelids closed and sunken – I presume the eyeballs having been removed when he was embalmed. His skin was like dull yellow parchment." (Hobhouse, 95). Hobhouse thought he didn't look like Byron at all. The embalming was done with alcoholic spirits, both to his body itself and to his organs in their own separate cask. The coffin was than encased in a large barrel for shipping. (Hobhouse, 91). He was then sailed to England on the ship Florida, which departed Greece on May 25th, to the sound of cannons (Webb). 

Initially it was proposed that Byron be buried in the poets section of Westminster Abby but this was denied, by the Dean of Westminster, being refused internment due to the number of scandals that littered Byron's past (Webb).  Eventually it was determined that he would be buried in the family Vault, under the Church of Hucknall Torkard, where Byrons have been buried for centuries, only a few miles from the ancestral Byron home, Newstead Abbey. 

The day of the funeral, Hobhouse was there "to attend the removal of [his] Dear Byron's remains as mourner and executor" (Hobhouse, 99). Some forty seven or so carriages were sent by mourners, along with a huge crowd of pedestrians. The carriages themselves were mostly empty, wanting to "to pay ones last respects to the poet and hero of Greek Liberation without appearing to condone his still scandalous reputation" (Webb). Byron himself was the head of the procession, his hearse being "followed by a coach drawn by six black horses, bearing the vases containing his internal organs, draped with a black velvet pall" (Webb). Once the cortege reached it's end, the lord's body was laid in state for four days at Blackamorear's Head in Pelham Street, where people could que to see his coffin. When moving him from Nottingham to Hucknall Tokard, the crowds following and clamouring to witness the lord were a quarter of a mile long, "welled by civic dignitaries and representatives from Missolonghi," (Webb), and made it difficult to carry his coffin into the church. Despite this, Hobhouse thought that, "On the whole as much honour was done to the deceased as circumstances would admit of. He was buried like a nobleman, since we could not bury him as a poet" (Hobhouse, 99). 

Initially the vault was under the south wall of the church, but during restoration in 1887-1888, the chancel and chapel itself had to be moved. It was said that the chapel was moved stone by stone, and the vault undisturbed. All this is to say that the vault, which initially laid directly under the church, and now lays just west of the church. It was this restoration and movement, that led to the concerns in 1938, of Lord Byron's body being missing from his burial vault. "The vault itself was a rectangular chamber, seven feet six inches in length and six feet in breadth. The walls were five feet four inches high, bearing upon them sloping slabs set at an angle of about sixty degrees, which supported flat stones at their apex. The walls were plastered, but at the top of the east wall the plaster was omitted for a few inches, /evidently for the purpose of ventilation, showing a course of red bricks with open joints" (Barber, Chapter 22). Within this space, all the coffins of the family were stacked upon each other, filling the room. The layout of the vault and coffins can be seen in this drawn plan.   (Barber, Chapter 22).

Months after his death, in Greece a funeral oration was given in Byron's memorial. On October 17th, 1824, Rev. Father Ambrosious gave the eulogy in ancient greek. Over the course of the oration, Byron was lauded as a hero, concluding with the loving lines: "We also, sojourners in this place, imitating Greece, our native county in gratitude, perform this Funeral Service, deeply lamenting our loss, and humbly praying our Lord and God to give repose to the soul of this friend of the Greeks and of mankind, and appoint it to the abodes of the just. Finally, brethren, let us thrice repeat with all our hearts and with one accord: “IMMORTAL BE THY MEMORY, THOU DESERVEDLY BLESSED AND EVER-TO-BE-REMEMBERED HERO !!!”" (Elinepa). This was also the funeral oration that wrongly announced that the Lord's heart has stayed in Greece. One of his organs remained in Greece, yes, but it was his larynx, not his heart. 

Over a century later, Lord Byron still is disrespected in death, as in 1938, the vicar, Reverend Canon Barber, raised concerns of Byron's body being missing from the vault. He set out to open the vault, writing to Parliament, and the then current Lord Byron for permission to enter the burial vault. Upon receiving it, Barber gathered an audience of 40, and entered the burial vault on June 15th, 1938. Not only was the vault opened, but so too was Byron's coffin. The casket holding the late lord's organs was left sealed, but Barber did look inside of the main coffin. The sight of George Byron's body was unexpected, having only skeletonized from the elbows and knees to the tips of his fingers and toes. The rest of the lord's body was free of visible decomposition. Potentially most shockingly and sensational, was the fact multiple people who saw Byron's body reported that he had an above average sized penis. Barber said it was "massively noticeable" and Houldsworth, one of the curious workers who opened the vault, reported much the same. "'I've seen men. But I never saw nothing like him.' He then pointed to a spot just above his knee. 'He was built like a pony'" (Franco). It wasn't enough for Byron's wishes to be ignored in the time immediately following his death, no he had to be disinterred and gawked at. A curiosity, entertainment. His scandalous legacy and reputation have followed him through time. 

Despite this legacy, Westminster Abbey did eventually honor him. "In 1969, a memorial floor stone was at last installed in Westminster Abbey's Poets' Corner" (Lord Byron (1788-1824) - Find a Grave Memorial). Over a hundred years after his death and their initial refusal to inter the great Lord Byron, he was finally honored as a poet, the way Hobhouse and the rest of Byron's bereaved companions initially wanted. 

Barber. “CHAPTER 21. HEIGHTS OF GLORY. 1824.” Nottinghamshire History > Byron and Where He Is Buried (1939), www.nottshistory.org.uk/books/byron1939/chapter21a.htm. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025. 

Barber. “CHAPTER 22. THE BYRON VAULT. 1638—1852.” Nottinghamshire History > Byron and Where He Is Buried (1939), www.nottshistory.org.uk/books/byron1939/chapter22a.htm. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025. 

Elinepa. “‘funeral Oration for Lord Byron’ by Demetrios Galanos the Athenian.” ΕΛΛΗΝΟ-ΙΝΔΙΚΗ ΕΤΑΙΡΕΙΑ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΥ & ΑΝΑΠΤΥΞΗΣ, 2 July 2023, elinepa.org/funeral-oration-for-lord-byron-by-demetrios-galanos-the-athenian/. 

Franco, Samantha. “The Enormously Well-Preserved Secret Discovered in Lord Byron’s Burial Vault.” Thevintagenews, 3 Nov. 2022, www.thevintagenews.com/2022/11/03/lord-byron-vault/. 

Hobhouse. January 1st-July 16th 1824: Byron’s Death and Funeral, petercochran.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/32-1824-byrons-death-and-funeral1.pdf. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025. 

“Lord Byron (1788-1824) - Find a Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave, www.findagrave.com/memorial/9794032/byron. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025. 

Lovejoy, Bess. “On the Curious Fate of the Body of Lord Byron: Guest Post by Bess Lovejoy, Friend and Authoress of ‘Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses.’” Morbid Anatomy, morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-curious-fate-of-body-of-lord-bryon.html. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025. 

MILLINGEN, JULIUS. “Anecdotes of Lord Byron during his last illness—Post mortem appearances.” Recollections of the Life of Lord Byron, www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=JuMilli.1831&&select=chap.15. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

MILLINGEN, JULIUS. “Illness, and Death of Lord Byron—Conduct of His Physicians.” Recollections of the Life of Lord Byron, www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=JuMilli.1831&&select=chap.14. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025. 

Webb. “Requiesit in Pace: The Death of Lord Byron.” Crede Byron, www.praxxis.co.uk/credebyron/deathof.htm. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.