John Byron KB (abt. 1599 - 1652)

Ancestors

Preceded by New creation

Baron Byron of Rochdale 1643 - 1652

Succeeded by Richard Byron his brother

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Lord of the Manor 1.2 Overtures to War 1.3 Civil War 1.4 Exile 2 Sources

Biography

Lord of the Manor

The Byron family, aka Biron and de Burun, was of Norman origin and was long settled at the manor of Clayton in Lancashire. In medieval times, they were sometimes referred to as "baron" or "lord" (of the manor), but John, Baron Byron of Rochdale, was the first actually raised to the Peerage. ^{[1] [2]}

John Byron was the oldest son, born about 1599, of Sir John Byron of Newstead, Nottinghamshire, and his wife Anne Molyneux.^{[3] [4]} He matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1615 and took the degree M A in 1618. ^[5] He has been said to have had military experience in the "wars in the low countries", but there seems to be no record of such service. It may have taken place between 1620 and 1624, part of a 17th-century Grand Tour in which he visited France and Italy.^[6] His duties at home were probably more compelling, particularly after the death of his father Sir John on 28 September 1625, leaving him the head of the family.^[7] He was elected MP for Nottingham in 1624 and 1626, and for Nottinghamshire in 1628. He also served as High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire in 1634. ^[8]

John Byron was also a courtier. He had come into his inheritance at almost the same time as King Charles I (27 March 1625), who made him Knight of the Bath^[9] at his coronation in 1626 - an honor generally reserved for the highest quality of gentlemen. He was also named "King's servant of the Privy Chamber" (Gentleman of the Bedchamber), a clear sign of royal favor.

In 1629, he married Cecilie Bindloss, widow of Sir Francis Bindloss, and eldest daughter of Lord de la Warre. She had one son, Robert, from her first marriage, but her marriage with Sir John Byron would be childless. She died in 1638 or 1639, leaving Robert as the ward of Sir John; during the war, Robert fought for Parliament. ^[7]

Besides duties at court and in the county, Sir John Byron was also occupied with financial matters, as the Sir John Byron his grandfather had left the estate greatly in debt. Despite the necessity of selling off property, in 1638 he purchased the manor of Rochdale in Lancastershire, ^[10] once a valued possession of the family. Unfortunately, any plans he might have had for developing the coal mines on the property would fall victim to the depredations of war.

Overtures to War

King Charles I was a foolish ruler. He believed that he was divinely entitled to govern without the interference of Parliament, to which Parliament objected. And in a kingdom becoming ever more Puritan, he was determined to restore the institutions of the established Church, to which the Puritans objected as "Popery". Most foolishly, he thought he could force these church institutions on staunchly Presbyterian Scotland.

The Byrons were loyal both to the established Church and to the King, so that Sir John Byron followed the example of his uncle Sir Nicholas Byron, who was in fact a professional soldier, by captaining a troop of Horse for the 1640 invasion of Scotland known as the Second Bishops' War.^[11] The Scots easily drove the English back.

At the end of 1641, the King appointed Sir John Byron Lieutenant of the Tower of London, to which Parliament vehemently objected, as Byron was a Royalist. He quickly found himself under siege in the Tower by the London Trained Bands - a situation which he would experience again in the war. Eventually, in early 1642, he begged the King to allow him to resign from the thankless position.^[12]

By this time, war was inevitable, and Sir John Byron was with the King when, on 22 August 1642, he raised his standard at Nottingham. He was not alone. John Byron had six brothers grown to manhood: Richard, Thomas, William, Robert, Philip, and Gilbert; all of them would serve in the King's armies, but contrary to legend, they were probably not all present on the occasion. Some were already in the King's forces.^[13]

Civil War

Sir John Byron saw much action during the war, with mixed success. He was a courageous but impetuous soldier; as a commander, he seems to have had little sense of strategy. In August, he was appointed Colonel of the first new Regiment of Horse raised by the Royalists^[14] In the Battle of Edgehill, 23 October 1642, the first major engagement of the war, his regiment was stationed in the reserve, but seeing the enemy cavalry put to flight, they chased off in pursuit, abandoning their position and leaving the Royalist Foot exposed to attack. While the battle is not accounted a Royalist defeat, Sir John Byron's regiment was doubtless responsible for losing the victory. Worse, he would repeat the mistake again at Marston Moor in 1644, which was indeed a major Royalist defeat.

In 1643, Sir John Byron was promoted to brigade commander and was instrumental in several notable victories.^[15] The 13 July Battle of Roundway Down gave him the opportunity to deploy his favorite tactic: the cavalry charge.

Byron's brigade charged Waller's horse, steadfastly ignoring the covering fire from the Parliamentarian foot and artillery. Byron ordered his troopers not to fire their pistols until they were among the Parliamentarian horse. Supported by Lord Crawford's reserve, Byron swept the Parliamentarian right wing from the field. The triumphant Royalists pursued the fleeing Parliamentarian cavalry, a number of whom were driven over the edge of a precipitous slope on the edge of Roundway Down.^[16]

Fortunately for Byron, this pursuit took place only when the enemy was fleeing the field.

A more momentous encounter was the 20 September Battle of Newberry, when the Royalist forces, commanded personally by the King, attempted to block the movement of a strong Parliamentary force from reaching London. The Royalists failed to secure the high ground, on terrain where hedgerows made it unsuitable for cavalry action. Sir John Byron's Horse made successive charges against heavy resistance to support their infantry, but the enemy brought up reinforcements to secure the position; the Royalists withdrew. Byron's commentary on their performance was scathing and harsh; despite the high casualties, he had wanted to continue the fighting another day.^{[17] [18] [19]}

Shortly afterward, in October 1643, King Charles created him Baron Byron of Rochdale^[20]; as he had no sons, the succession to the title would go to his brothers.^{[19] [21]} He also gave him the promotion to Field-Marshal of Royalist forces in Cheshire, Lancashire and north Wales; the most critical task was to hold the port city of Chester, where the Royalists expected reinforcements from the English army previously sent to Ireland, now returning to fight in the King's cause.^[22]

This enterprise started badly, as the mercenary troops from Ireland massacred English villagers who had taken shelter in Barthomley Church on Christmas Eve.^[23] Lord Byron's letter dismissing criticism of this action was intercepted and published, to the great detriment of his reputation.

The Rebels had possessed themselves of a Church at Bartumley, but wee presently beat them forth of it, and put them all to the sword, which I find to be the best way to proceed with their kind of people, for mercy to them is cruelty.^[24]

Early in 1644, he began a campaign to clear the Parliamentarian forces from the region, but his January attack on the city of Nantwich was a disaster when his army became separated on opposite sides of a river in flood, with the bridge washed away.^{[25] [26] [27]}

Following this defeat, Prince Rupert took overall command, effectively demoting Byron, who had retreated to Chester. He fought under Rupert at the Battle of Marston Moor in July, in command of the cavalry in the front line on the right wing, directly facing the Ironsides of Oliver Cromwell on the other side of a ditch. While under "a positive command not to quit his ground, but in that posture only to expect and receive the charge of the enemy",^[28] instead he charged across the ditch. Rupert spoke afterward of how "by ye improper charge of ye Ld Byron much harm was done."^[29] Stuart Reid proposes a theory exculpating him, but Rupert's opinion held the day at the time and sent Byron back to Chester, where he was intermittently besieged through 1645 and 1646.

If Byron was impetuous on the offensive, in defense he was tenacious. By this time, it was clear that Charles I's cause was doomed. As the siege of Chester went on, with the city choked off and no supplies able to come in, hunger advanced into starvation. There were complaints that the diet was reduced to "Cats, Dogs, yea, and those failing . . . but one meal in three days."^[30] Among those who died were the widow of one of Byron's brothers and her infant daughter.^[31] The civil officials of the town begged him to surrender and leave. Although Byron's orders did not require him to hold out further, he did not surrender until 6 February 1646.

Exile

Following the King's surrender, Lord John Byron moved to the English court in exile at Paris, where he had been appointed governor of James, the young Duke of York.^[6] In 1644, he had married a second time, to Eleanor, widow of Peter Warburton. This marriage also produced no children.^[32]

Both before and after the King's execution, Byron was involved in Royalist plots to restore the monarchy, although he no longer led armed forces in the field. His career had made him a hated figure in Parliamentary England, due in large part to the publication of such remarks as his taking credit for the Barthomley Church massacre. So that on 11 November 1648, Parliament voted him one of seven figures to be exempted from pardon, which meant his estates were confiscated and his life was forfeit.^[33]

He died in Paris, August 1652.^[19]

The war almost destroyed the Byron family. Of Lord John's six brothers, two died during the war, two in the interval afterward - as well as his uncle Nicholas. Only two brothers survived until the Restoration, including Richard, who became the second Lord Byron, and only Richard had sons surviving to perpetuate the name and title. The Byron widows and orphans were often obliged to seek relief from a grudging monarchy that the family had paid such a high price to preserve.

Sources

1. ↑ Marshall, George William. The Visitations of the County of Nottingham. [1]
2. ↑ Robert Thoroton, 'Papplewick and Newstede', in Thoroton's History of Nottinghamshire: Volume 2, Republished With Large Additions By John Throsby, ed. John Throsby (Nottingham, 1790), pp. 283-290. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/thoroton-notts/vol2/pp283-290
3. ↑ Brown, RIchard Charles. Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, vol 08.[2]
4. ↑ Cokayne, Complete Peerage, 1910. p 454, note b [3]
5. ↑ Alumni Cantabrigiensis, Pt 1, Vol 1. [4]
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Hyde, Edward. Life of Clarendon. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1827. p 284.[5]
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Walker, Violet W. The House of Byron. London: Quiller Press, 1988. p 53.
8. ↑ History of Parliament Online.[6]
9. ↑ Shaw, The Knights of England.[7]
10. ↑ Rowse, A L. The Byrons and Trevanions. New York: St Martin's Press, 1977. p 45.
11. ↑ http://wiki.bcw-project.org/bishops-wars/english-horse-regiments/sir-john-byron
12. ↑ Walker, pp 64-65
13. ↑ Walker, pp 69-70
14. ↑ http://wiki.bcw-project.org/royalist/horse-regiments/john-lord-byron.
15. ↑ Reid, Stuart. All the King's Armies. Spellmount, 2007. pp 55-57.
16. ↑ bcw-project.org/military/english-civil-war/west-country/roundway-down
17. ↑ http://bcw-project.org/military/english-civil-war/southern-england/first-newbury
18. ↑ Reid, pp 61-65.
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1 19.2}
20. ↑ The original patent no longer exists; it was destroyed on the orders of Parliament, along with other patents granted by the King after 4 January 1641. Cokayne, Complete Peerage, 1910. p 454, note b [8]
21. ↑ Walker, p 74
22. ↑ Reid, pp 95-96.
23. ↑ Reid, p 96
24. ↑ Walker, p 75
25. ↑ http://bcw-project.org/military/english-civil-war/wales-marches/nantwich-campaign#nantwich
26. ↑ Reid, pp 97-99
27. ↑ http://bcw-project.org/military/english-civil-war/wales-marches/nantwich-campaign
28. ↑ Reid, p 150
29. ↑ Reid, p 161
30. ↑ Walker, 83
31. ↑ Rowse, p 76
32. ↑ Walker, p 81
33. ↑ 'House of Lords Journal Volume 10: 1 December 1648', in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 10, 1648-1649 (London, 1767-1830), pp. 617-622. British History Online [9]