The Fall of the House of Byron: Scandal and Seduction in Georgian England

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Emily is the Head of Family, and specialises in family law with particular expertise in complex financial proceedings, often with an international dimension. Emily leads the Family Department at Boodle Hatfield - a team renowned for their 'exceptional legal finesse combined with an ability to vigorously defend [their] client’s best interests in a calm and measured way'. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Her particular areas of expertise include unlocking wealth concealed in business assets, or protecting wealth that is exposed, from undue risk. The text is not solely a biography of Byron the poet, but his presence is felt throughout, and Brand is always attentive to the ways that, in both his life and his work, Byron was influenced and shaped by his ancestry – his seafaring grandfather for example inspiring elements of Don Juan – and this is reinforced with the inclusion of his poem ‘Newstead Abbey’ at the end of the book.

However, her history is as much caught up with the “fiddle-faddle” of the bon ton, and is all the more enjoyable for it…a ravishing family saga’ The Sunday Times Brings to life the colourful characters of the Georgian era’s most notorious families with all the verve and skill of the era’s finest novelists … A powdered and pomaded, sordid and silk-swathed adventure’ Hallie Rubenhold ‘A chocolate box full of delicious gothic delights – jump in’ Lucy Worsley ‘Brand is a great historian, equal to the huge challenge of telling the story of history’s most turbulent and colourful lives’ Dan Snow ‘A mesmerizing tale of sex, obsession, madness, invention, and reinvention. His family, he would come to learn, had in recent decades become known for almost unfathomable levels of scandal and impropriety, from elopement, murder, and kidnapping to adultery, coercion, and thrilling near-death naval experiences. Brand should be commended for her command of detail and use of often extremely obscure period sources to illuminate both character and setting.She was also passionate about the arts and was known in her later life for writing a book of advice for young ladies, Thoughts in the Form of Maxims. Just as it had shocked the society of Georgian London, the story of the Byrons, and the folklore of their outlandish scandal, would his influence his life and poetry for posterity. She has worked on a number of ground-breaking cases including Radmacher v Granatino (concerning a German prenuptial contract), Prest v Petrodel (piercing the corporate veil) and Young v Young (involving complex financial structures, asset tracing, non-disclosure and enforcement). Although over the years I have changed subject matter, I have always maintained an interest in the use of colour and light and find it amazing how one person can view a colour so differently from another, and the fact that we have limited colour vision – what are we missing? This was the home that a small, pudgy boy of ten from Aberdeen – who the world would later come to know as Lord Byron, the Romantic poet, soldier, and adventurer – would inherit in 1798.

Emily Brand is an author, historian and genealogist specialising in social history and romantic relationships during the long 18th century.I had attended a few evening classes in Lewisham borough and did a life drawing course with City Lit, whilst I was still teaching, but apart from these hadn’t done any further studying and still haven’t! Brand is also adept at handling challenging children disputes (with special expertise in relation to children with autism).

Her book The Fall of the House of Byron (John Murray, 2020) was selected as BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week, and a Sunday Times, Mail on Sunday and BBC History Magazine Book of the Year. As well as being a family biography, this is also a history of the eighteenth century, encompassing major historical events such as the American and French Revolutions, and the Jacobite rebellion. I take part in The Catford Arts trail annually and in the last few years have been placed at Ninth Life (a pub in Catford) and I help to run the annual art exhibition at Beckenham Place Mansion, which is part of the park’s annual flower show. Her book The Fall of the House of Byron (John Murray, 2020) is a sweeping history of the 18th century through the eyes of one notorious family.In 2021 she contributed alongside historians including Simon Schama and Bettany Hughes to What is History, Now? Brand has done an excellent job of placing the sexploits of the Byron family into the context of a broader social and political history . Her excellent judgement together with her first class skill in putting clients at their ease makes for a formidable combination that puts her in a class of her own.

Just as it had shocked the society of Georgian London, the outlandish and scandalous story of the Byrons – and the myths that began to rise around it – would his influence his life and poetry for posterity. The Gothic element is further underlined by the presence of Newstead Abbey, once an Augustinian priory, at the centre of the narrative. The Fall of the House of Byron follows the fates of Lord Byron’s ancestors over three generations in a drama that begins in rural Nottinghamshire and plays out in the gentlemans’ clubs of Georgian London, amid tempests on far-flung seas, and in the glamour of pre-revolutionary France.More and more owners of digital assets are starting to consider how they can pass the assets on as part of their succession planning. She focuses on high-level financial work where assets are often ‘in the region of hundreds of millions’ and include complex international businesses, private equity and trust structures. We also use them to help detect unauthorized access or activity that violate our terms of service, as well as to analyze site traffic and performance for our own site improvement efforts.