Lady Caroline Lamb
Early 19th Century Author and Mistress to Lord Byron
History provides conflicting descriptions of Lady Caroline Lamb. Some early biographers describe her as a deeply disturbed woman who was desperately in love with Lord Byron. However, recent biographers reveal an intelligent and accomplished woman who discarded the social conventions of her time.
The Early Life and Education of Lady Caroline Lamb
Lady Caroline Ponsonby was born in 1785 as the third child of Frederick Ponsonby, the 3rd Earl of Bessborough and his wife, Henrietta.
Caroline learned to read at age four and could draw a map without assistance. According to her father, the five-year-old Caroline could speak French and Italian and had a talent for music.
Due to her mother's ill health, Caroline came to live with her mother's sister, Georgiana Cavendish, the Duchesss of Devonshire, at the age of nine. Caroline grew up in unconventional household alongside the Duke of Devonshire's legitimate and illegitimate children.
Caroline received an excellent academic education and exposure to some of the era's greatest minds in both higher learning and politics through the Duchess of Devonshire's celebrated salons and other social events.
Caroline grew up into an independent young woman whose appearance and dramatic outbursts contradicted her sharp mind. She was small, slender, with short curly blond hair and spoke with a lisp, making her appear child-like.
The Marriage of Lady Caroline Lamb and William Lamb
Caroline and William Lamb married in 1805 and were by all accounts, deeply in love. They married despite initial objections from Caroline's family, who thought Caroline could marry a man of higher social status.
The couple's marriage became strained and they frequently argued publicly. After Caroline suffered two miscarriages, she gave birth to a son with severe mental problems that may have been a type of autism. During this time period, most aristocratic families sent mentally challenged relatives to institutions. The Lambs cared for their son at home.
Over the years Caroline and William would engage in affairs. Besides the Byron affair, Caroline was also a lover of the Duke of Wellington. However, they remained close confidants and supported each other in difficult times.
The Affair Between Lady Caroline Lamb and Lord Byron
Caroline admired Lord Byron's poetry. Byron was fascinated by the woman who could match him in wit and had a habit of dressing like a page. Their passionate courtship during 1812 and 1813 was based on sex, poetry discussions, letter writing and intense debates.
Byron pressured Caroline to leave her husband and elope with him. When he got her to agree to the elopement, Byron lost interest in her. She would not accept the breakup and made unsuccessful attempts to win him back, including sending him a love poem with a gift of her pubic hair. She remained married to William.
The Novels and Writings of Lady Caroline Lamb
After the Byron affair, Caroline wrote three satirical novels which criticized Whig politics, aristocratic circles and included recognizable people. Her novels made her a social outcast but her husband refused to leave her despite pressure from his family.
- Glenarvon - Based on her affair with Byron (1816)
- Graham Hamilton - About a man who breaks societal moral code and becomes an outcast (1822)
- Ada Reis- A novel about witchcraft (1823 )
She also wrote two satires of Byron's Don Juan: A New Canto and Gordon: A Tale. She later wrote and sold song lyrics to Isaac Nathan.
Caroline spent the remainder of her life working on writing projects. She died in 1828 after her health declined due to alcohol and opium abuse. Her husband later became the 2nd Viscount Melbourne and Prime Minister in 1834. He never remarried.
Sources:
Douglass, Paul, Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography, Palgrave Macmillan (2004)
Caro: The Lady Caroline Lamb Website
Portrait of Lady Caroline Lamb
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Lady Caroline Lamb by Thomas Lawrence
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