Augusta Leigh: Byron's Half Sister - A Biography

by Michael Bakewell, Melissa Bakewell

Augusta Leigh was the child of one of the most notorious scandals of late 18th-Century England - the elopement of 'Mad Jack' Byron with the beautiful and willful Marchioness of Carmarthen - and scandal would pursue Augusta her whole life. Her marriage to the equerry of the Prince of Wales brought her nothing but poverty and seven children. Her love affair with her half-brother, Lord Byron, was largely responsible for his separation from his wife and his subsequent exile. This is the first biography of her life in thirty years.

Genres: Biography

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Michael Bakewell (7 June 1931 – 11 July 2023) was a British radio and television producer and radio playwright.

His work included adapting The Lord of the Rings (with Brian Sibley) into a 1981 radio series for the BBC and a series of 27 adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories broadcast between 1985 and 2007 by BBC Radio 4.

He was born in Birmingham, England. After graduating from Cambridge in 1954, he was recruited by the BBC's Third Programme. He became the first Head of Plays at the BBC in the 1960s.

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read a book about her brother, it felt only right knowing the controversy these two had surrounding them to see it from prehapes her point of view. I found her life equally as fascinating and tragic as her brothers. Although hers was not impossed by herself, she was it seems a warm, overtly trusting soul, who did something wicked and incomprehensible, but prehapes was seeing it through simple eyes.
This book also give a wonderful account of life during those times and that even though centuaries have past, oh how the 'upper' class live!

Well worth a read if youre interested in the Byronic infamy!

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my usual cup of tea and this did not inspire me to try anymore in this style. For one thing there were a lot of excerpts from letters and the Writing style from 1815 was quite different and quite difficult to read. But mainly it is because the people were all so aggravating; stumbling from one drama to Another totally unforgiving of eachother and quite incompentant when it comes to handling normal Life situations like earning a living.
It just seemed to me that one half of the upperclasses didn't ahve enough to do and so wasted thier time on parties and stabbing eachother in the back and the other half seemed semi idiots.
Of course there is Another side to this economic and political Group but none of those people featured very much in this Life story.
If you like 200 year old gossip read it, if not stay well away.

[Julia Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't read a lot of biographies so when I find one that grips me, it is all the more pleasurable. This was a wonderfully written look at a woman whose life was tied closely to her infamous half brother, Lord Byron. Augusta's daughter, born in 1814, was thought to have been fathered by Lord Byron and rumours of their incestuous relationship abounded. There is far more to this book than scandal, however, and I really do recommend it.

[Alexander Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting biography. Probably a little kind to Byron in the circumstances.