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Introduction Useful links
LIFE & WORKS: Early Years Tour Early Fame Marriage & Exile Revolutionary & Martyr
Byron and Newstead Abbey
Byron's Life and Works: Early Fame
Byron returned to England in July 1811 and on February 27 1812 made his first
speech in the House of Lords. In it he condemned the Frame-Breaking Bill,
which made smashing the new mechanical looms a capital offence.
Byron defended the many Nottinghamshire workers who had lost their livelihoods to machines and argued for government policies which would help the people and relieve their poverty. He sat on the committee that successfully modified the bill, substituting fines or imprisonment for the death penalty.
However, he soon gave up his parliamentary career to concentrate on writing. The poem he wrote during his Mediterranean travels was published in March 1812 under the title Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, and created a sensation, selling out in the first three days. Unlike Byron's earlier poems, which had not attracted much notice, Childe Harold made him a celebrity. His readers were fascinated by this first appearance of the 'Byronic hero', which remained an inspiration for European artists, writers and composers throughout the 19th century. The poet's fame increased with the brilliant success of more verse tales about brooding outlaws and distant lands, published soon after. Continue with the story of Byron...
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