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 512 BYRON he bequeathed his whole property to his sister, Mrs. Leigh. The will was duly proved after his death, but it does not appear that she ever came into possession of the estates, for in her later years she received a royal pension. By- ron's title devolved upon his cousin, George Anson Byron (born March 8, 1789, died March 1, 1868), who was an admiral in the British navy, and became lord in waiting to the queen. He was succeeded by his son, George Anson Byron (born June 30, 1818, died Nov. 20, 1870), who was succeeded by his nephew, George Frederick William Byron (born Dec. 27, 1855), the 9th and present Lord Byron of Kochdale. Besides the longer works above enumerated, Byron's smaller poems number about 200; among which are the "He- brew Melodies," "Epistle to Augusta," "The Dream," "Darkness," " Churchill's Grave," and " Stanzas to the Po." His letters, which are given in full or in part in Moore's "Life," number more than 1,000. Byron as a poet was overestimated during his lifetime and unduly depreciated after his death. "While he lived, his rank, his personal beauty, his domestic mis- fortunes, and a certain air of romantic mystery with which he knew how to invest his charac- ter, actions, and writings, made an impression on the public, and especially on women and young men, which has never been exceeded in intensity in the history of literature. For a tune his sentimental melancholy, his cynicism, and his skepticism infected not only English literature, but even English society, and By- ronism became the rage through a large and fashionable circle. After his death a natural reaction took place, and Byron's reputation as a poet sank far below its just value. More re- cently the tendency of criticism seems to be toward the opinion that, in spite of the morbidness and shallowness of much of his thought, he was one of the great masters of the English language, and that his place is among the highest of English poets. On the continent of Europe, especially in France, Ger- many, Italy, and among the Slavic races, his poetry has always maintained its influence, un- doubtedly in some degree because of its political bearing, and its fervent advocacy of liberal and democratic ideas. The works relating to Byron are numerous. Most of them, as those of Dallas, Medwin, Lady Blessington, Leigh Hunt, Kennedy, and the countess Guic- cioli, are of little value. Moore's "Letters and Journals of Lord Byron, with Notices of his Life " (London, 1830), is the standard work. Of later works the two most important are in German : Eberty, Lord Byron, eine Biographie (2 vols., Leipsic, 18G2), and Elze, Lord Byron (2 vols., Leipsic, 1870; translated into Eng- lish, " Lord Byron, a Biography, with a Criti- cal Essay on his Place in Literature," London, 1872). II. Anne Isabella Jlilbanke, wife of the preceding, bora May 17, 1792, died May 16, 1860. She was the only child of Sir Ralph Milbanke and his wife Judith Noel, the sister of Thomas Noel, Viscount Wentworth, of whose large estates she ultimately became heir. She- was married to Lord Byron Jan. 2, 1815, and separated from him in February, 1816. Upon the death of her uncle without issue, in 1815, the title of Viscount Wentworth became ex- tinct, but the mother of Lady Byron became Baroness Wentworth ; and upon her death in 1822 this -title remained in abeyance between Lady Byron and her cousin the earl of Scars- dale, upon whoso death in 1856 Lady Byron became Baroness Wentworth. For nearly 30 years she devoted her large income to benevo- lent purposes, especially for industrial schools and reformatory institutions. III. Ada Augusta, daughter of the preceding, born in London, Dec. 10, 1815, died Nov. 27, 1852. In 1835 she married William, Lord King, afterward earl of Lovelace. Her eldest son, Byron Noel, Baron Wentworth, usually known by the cour- tesy title of Viscount Ockham, horn May 12, 1836, died Sept. 1, 1862. He put aside the claims of his rank, engaged as a common work- man in a ship yard, and insisted upon being called simply Ockham. He never married, and upon his death was succeeded by his brother, Ralph Gordon Noel, born July 2, 1839, who in 1861 took by royal license the surname of Milbanke, in place of that of King. He is the present Baron Wentworth. BYRON, Henry James, an English playwright, born in Manchester in the earlier part of this century. He is the son of Mr. Henry Byron, who was in the British consular service, and he completed his education in London. He early wrote for periodicals, was the original editor of the comic paper " Fun," and published a novel, " Paid in Full." He produced in 1858 at the Strand theatre, London, his first bur- lesque extravaganza, "Fra Diavolo," which was followed by "Babes in the Wood," "Jack the Giant Killer," "Dundreary Married and Done For," and many other popular farces and pantomimes. He made his first appear- ance as an actor in the Globe theatre, London, in October, 1869, in his own drama "Not such a Fool as he Looks." Among his remaining plays are "War to the Knife," "A Hundred Thousand Pounds," "Good News" (1872), and "Old Soldiers "(1873). BYRON, John, an English admiral, born Nov. 8, 1723, died April 10, 1786. He was a mid- shipman on board the Wager, one of Lord Anson's circumnavigating squadron, was cast away on a desolate island off the coast of Pata- gonia, where he remained five years, suffering great hardships, returned to England in 1748, and rose to high rank in his profession. In 1758 he commanded three ships of the line, and distinguished himself in the war with France. In 1764 he was placed in command of an exploring voyage between the Cape of Good Hope and South America, in the course of which he discovered two islands, one of which still bears his name. In 1768 he pub- lished a narrative of his sufferings and priva-