Extract from I NEVER KNEW THAT ABOUT ENGLAND, by Christopher Winn
Read the following passage and on lined paper, answer the questions.
NEWSTEAD, Nottinghamshire
Lord Byron, mad, had, and dangerous to know, inherited Newstead Abbey when he was 10 years old. The building has been in the hands of the Nottingham Corporation since 1931
On a dark and stormy day, when the wind is howling and the skies are grey, NEWSTEAD ABBEY is the most romantic and ghostly place in Nottinghamshire. It was founded by HENRY II, as a penance for the murder of Thomas Becket, and being born of such an evil deed seems to have cast an ancient shadow on this beautiful place. In 1540, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, it was bought by SIR JOHN BYRON, who created a house out of the monastic ruins. The fifth Lord Byron, the poet’s great-uncle, retired to Newstead in dissolute disgrace, run out of London after killing William Chaworth of Annesley in a duel at a tavern in Pall Mall. He let the house fall into ruin, wiped out all the deer in the park, neglected the gardens, ill-treated his wife and tenants and finally died alone in the one habitable room left.
The poet, the sixth LORD BYRON (1788-1824), inherited Newstead Abbey when he was ten, but it was in such a state of disrepair that he and his mother had to rent BURGAGE MANOR in SOUTHWELL. Byron moved into Newstead in 1808, after he had taken his degree. The wild, haunting beauty of the place, remote, decayed, full of ghosts, family history and inevitable doom, added immeasurably to Byron’s romantic image and undoubtedly inspired his passionate and rebellious poetry. Byron loved Newstead Abbey and swore never to sell it, but his debts mounted and his hand was forced. He saw it for the last time in 1814, when it was sold to his friend COLONEL THOMAS WILDMAN, who had made a fortune in the West Indies. He began to restore the house and it stayed in private hands until 1931, when it was given to Nottingham Corporation, (now Nottingham City Council).
Byron is buried in HUCKNALL church, 4 miles (6.5 km) to the south. Next to him lies his daughter, AUGUSTA ‘ADA’ KING, Countess of Lovelace. She was a talented mathematician who helped CHARLES BABBAGE with his calculating machine, forerunner of the computer. The one-time standard computer language, ADA, was named after her.
- How old was Lord Byron when he inherited Newstead Abbey?
- Who founded Newstead Abbey and why?
- What happened to Newstead Abbey in 1540?
- What happened to the fifth Lord Byron?
- How long did the poet Lord Byron own Newstead Abbey?
- Why did Lord Byron sell Newstead Abbey and to whom?
- Who currently owns Newstead Abbey and when did they acquire it?
- Where is Lord Byron’s resting place?
- Who was Lord Byron’s daughter?
- What is Lord Byron’s daughter famous for?