Lady Caroline Lamb: Difference between revisions

Lady Caroline Lamb
Lady Caroline Lamb
	Portrait of Lady Caroline Lamb by Thomas Lawrence, c.1805
Born	13 November 1785
Died	25 January 1828 (aged 42)
Spouse	William Lamb (m. 1805)
Children	Stillborn child; George Augustus Frederick; A daughter
Parents	Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough; Lady Henrietta Spencer;

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Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby; 13 November 1785 – 25 January 1828) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist, best known for Glenarvon, a Gothic novel. In 1812, she had an affair with Lord Byron, whom she described as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Her husband was the Honourable William Lamb, who after her death became 2nd Viscount Melbourne and British prime minister.

Family background

Lamb was the only daughter of Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough, an Anglo-Irish peer, and Henrietta, Countess of Bessborough. She was known as the Honourable Caroline Ponsonby until her father succeeded to the earldom in 1793. While her brother, Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, was severely injured in the Battle of Waterloo, in the days after the battle, she had an affair with the Duke of Wellington.^[1] She was related to other leading society ladies and was the niece of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, and cousin (by marriage) of Annabella, Lady Byron. She was related to Sarah Ponsonby, one half of the Ladies of Llangollen, and Diana, Princess of Wales.^[2]

She was never Viscountess Melbourne because she died before Melbourne succeeded to the peerage.

Youth and education

As a small child, Lamb was considered delicate and for her health spent much time in the country. She travelled with her mother and other family to Italy, where she recovered from an illness caused by worms that nearly ended her life.^[3] After returning with her mother to England, she rejoined a lively group of children who lived at Devonshire House and Roehampton, her cousins, the children of William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire: by his first marriage, to Lady Georgiana Spencer, three children, Lady Georgiana ("Little G"), Lady Harriet Cavendish ("Hary-o"), and Lord Hartington ("Hart", later the 6th Duke of Devonshire); and by his mistress and second wife, Lady Elizabeth Foster, two children, Augustus Clifford and Caroline St Jules, later wife of George Lamb. During childhood, she became particularly close to Lady Harriet, who was only three months older than her.^[4] Her behaviour reportedly grew increasingly troublesome to her family, and she experimented with sedatives like laudanum and had a special governess to control her.^[3]

Lady Morgan reported in her memoirs that Lady Caroline told her that she had grown up as a tomboy and was unable to read or write until adolescence.^[5] As a child, Lady Caroline considered being able to wash a dog one of her most satisfying accomplishments.^{[citation needed]} While many scholars have accepted that (and other melodramatic claims made by Lady Morgan),^[6] published works of correspondence about her family members make it extremely unlikely. The grandmother she shared with her Cavendish cousins, the Dowager Lady Spencer, was zealously dedicated to promoting education and later employed their governess as her own companion. The governess was Miss Selina Trimmer, the daughter of Mrs Sarah Trimmer, a well-known and respected author of moral tales for children. She taught them an extensive curriculum, considerably beyond mere literacy. There is a published letter that Lady Caroline wrote on 31 October 1796 (just before her eleventh birthday) that not only demonstrates her literacy but also shows a merciless wit and talent for mimicry.^[4]

Lady Caroline was exceptionally well educated at home. She also attended a school in Hans Place, Knightsbridge, London, the successor to Reading Abbey Girls' School, where she was taught by Frances Arabella Rowden. Rowden was not only a published poet, but also, according to another pupil, Mary Russell Mitford, "she had a knack of making poetesses of her pupils".^[7]

In her early adult years, Lady Caroline not only wrote prose and poetry, but also took to sketching portraiture. She spoke French and Italian fluently, was skilled at Greek and Latin and also enjoyed music and drama.

Marriage and family

Lady Caroline Lamb, *née* Ponsonby by John Hoppner

In June 1805, at the age of nineteen, Lady Caroline Ponsonby married William Lamb, a rising politician and heir to the 1st Viscount Melbourne. Although their meeting had been shrewdly orchestrated by William Lamb's mother, theirs was a love match. The couple had become "mutually captivated" during a visit to Brocket Hall in 1802 and for many years the pair enjoyed a happy marriage.^[4] In 1809, his brother George married her namesake cousin Caroline St Jules.

Caroline gave birth to a stillborn child in January 1806, and she and William later had a son, George Augustus Frederick, born on 11 August 1807, and a premature daughter, born in 1809, who died within 24 hours.^[8] Lady Caroline suffered long recovery periods after each birth.

Her son was born with severe mental problems. Although most aristocratic families typically sent such relatives to institutions, the Lambs cared for their son at home until his eventual death in 1836, eight years after Lady Caroline's death. The stress of their son's ill health, combined with William Lamb's consuming career ambitions, drove a wedge between the couple.^[3] A further difficulty was that William's siblings all detested Caroline, whom they called "the little beast", and she and her mother-in-law had hated each other from the start. Their lifelong enmity was reportedly a great cause of unhappiness to Caroline.^[9]

Relationship with Lord Byron

From March to August 1812, Lady Caroline embarked on a well-publicised affair with Lord Byron. He was 24, and she was 26. She spurned his attention on their first meeting, which was at a society event at Holland House. According to the memoirs of her friend Sydney, Lady Morgan, Lady Caroline claimed she coined the phrase "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" soon after she had met the poet. It became his lasting epitaph, but there is no contemporary evidence to prove that she coined the famous phrase at the time.^[3] She wrote him a fan letter. His response was to visit her because of her high social status and then to pursue her passionately.^[10]^[11]

Lady Caroline and Lord Byron publicly decried each other as they privately pledged their love over the following months.^[10]^[12] Byron referred to Lamb as "Caro", which she adopted as her public nickname.^[13] After Byron ended the affair, her husband took Lady Caroline to Ireland. The distance did not cool Lady Caroline's interest in the poet, and she and Byron corresponded constantly during her exile.^[10] When Lady Caroline returned to London in 1813, however, Byron made it clear that he had no intention of restarting their relationship. That spurred increasingly-public attempts to reunite with her former lover.^[11] Matters came to a head at a ball in honour of the Duke of Wellington when Byron publicly insulted Lady Caroline, who responded by breaking a wine glass and trying to slash her wrists.^[14] She did not seriously injure herself, and it is most unlikely that she had any suicidal intentions, but her reputation was damaged and her mental stability was questioned. Byron himself referred to it as a theatrical performance: "Lady Caroline performed the dagger scene" (a reference to Macbeth).

Lady Caroline's obsession with Byron would define much of her later life, as well as influencing both her and Byron's works. They would write poems in the style of each other about each other and even embed overt messages to one another in their verse.^[12] After a thwarted visit to Byron's home, Lady Caroline wrote "Remember Me!" into the flyleaf of one of Byron's books. He responded with the hate poem: "Remember thee! Remember thee!; Till Lethe quench life's burning stream; Remorse and shame shall cling to thee, And haunt thee like a feverish dream! Remember thee! Ay, doubt it not. Thy husband too shall think of thee! By neither shalt thou be forgot, Thou false to him, thou fiend to me!"^[13]

Her cousin Harriet (now Lady Granville) with whom Lady Caroline's relationship had deteriorated after childhood, visited her in December 1816 and was so incredulous at her unrepentant behaviour that she ended her description of the visit in a letter to her sister, "I mean my visits to be annual".^[15]

Literary career

Lady Caroline Lamb was noted to have been involved in a few different literary circles that met in the Holland House, Lady Charleville's, Lord Ward's, Lord Lansdowne's and others of similar repute.^[16]

Lady Caroline's most famous work is Glenarvon, a Gothic novel that was released in 1816 just weeks after Byron's departure from England. Although published anonymously, Lady Caroline's authorship was an open secret. It featured a thinly disguised pen-picture of herself and her former lover, who was painted as a war hero who turns traitor against Irish nationalism. The book was notable for featuring the first version of the Byronic hero outside of Byron's own work as well as a detailed scrutiny of the Romantic period and, more specifically, the Ton.^[17] Lady Caroline included scathing caricatures of several of those prominent society members.^[12] One of them, the Countess of Jersey, cancelled Lady Caroline's vouchers to Almack's in retribution for her characterisations. This was the opening salvo in a backlash that found Lady Caroline outcast from fashionable society:^[18] although her sister-in-law, Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper, got Lady Caroline readmitted to Almack's in 1819, her reputation never fully recovered.^[3]

Byron responded to the novel; "I read Glenarvon too by Caro Lamb….God damn!" The book was a financial success that sold out several editions but was dismissed by critics as pulp fiction. However, Goethe deemed it worthy of serious literary consideration.^[19]

In 1819, Lady Caroline mimicked Byron's style in the narrative poem "A New Canto". Years before, Lady Caroline had impersonated Byron in a letter to his publishers to have them send her a portrait of Byron. It worked, and the tone and substance of her request fooled them into sending the painting.^[12] She used that skill to respond to Byron's "Don Juan I and II". Lady Caroline was most concerned with the allusions Byron had made about her; for example, the line "Some play the devil—and then write a novel" from "Don Juan II".^[4]^[13] In "A New Canto", Lady Caroline wrote—as Byron—"I'm sick of fame; I'm gorged with it; so full I almost could regret the happier hour; When northern oracles proclaimed me dull." Byron never publicly responded to the poem. A reviewer of the time opined, in part; "The writer of this lively nonsense has evidently intended it as an imitation of Lord Byron. It is a rhapsody from beginning to end."^[4]^[20]

Lady Caroline published three additional novels during her lifetime: Graham Hamilton (1822),^[21] Ada Reis (1823), and Penruddock (1823).^[22]

Later life and death

Byron's confidante and close friend was his wife's maternal aunt, William Lamb's own mother, the colourful Elizabeth Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne.^[9] Lady Melbourne had been instrumental in bringing about the politically-advantageous marriage of her son to Lady Caroline, despite disliking both her and her mother.

However, once Lady Caroline had begun her affair with Byron, her mother-in-law began a long and blatant campaign to rid her son of his wife. As Lord David Cecil remarks, she had long since concluded that Caroline deserved all her misfortunes. William Lamb refused to submit and regretted that his mother had conspired against his wife with Byron. Calling Byron treacherous, William Lamb was supportive of his wife to her death.^[23]

Ultimately, it was Lady Caroline who prevailed on her husband to agree to a formal separation in 1825. Both parties had had numerous extramarital affairs by then, and Lamb had long been known to eschew duplicity.^[3] She took up permanent residence at Brocket Hall. Her struggle with mental illness became more pronounced in her last years and was complicated by her abuse of alcohol and laudanum. By 1827, she was under the care of a full-time physician as her body, which had always been frail, began to shut down and she retained fluids (a condition then known as dropsy, and now known as oedema). William Lamb was now Chief Secretary for Ireland and made a perilous crossing to be by her side when Lady Caroline died on 25 January 1828.^[3]^[9]

Lady Caroline was buried in the graveyard of St Etheldreda's Church in Hatfield; her husband was later buried within the church.

In popular culture

The 1905 novel The Marriage of William Ashe by Mary Augusta Ward was based on Lady Caroline and her husband.

The 1964 historical novel This for Caroline by Doris Leslie is based on her life.

In 1972, the film Lady Caroline Lamb was released with Sarah Miles in the lead role and Richard Chamberlain as Byron.

In 2003, the BBC broadcast Byron with Jonny Lee Miller in the title role and Camilla Power as Lady Caroline Lamb.^[24]

References

^ Douglass, Paul (2004). Lady Caroline Lamb. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. pp. 172–173. ISBN 1-4039-6605-2.
^ Dickson, Leigh Wetherall (September 2006). Beyond Byron, Legitimising Lamb: The Cultural Contexts of Caroline Lamb's Life and Works (PDF) (PhD thesis). Sheffield Hallan University.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Douglass, Paul (2004). Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography. Palgrave Macmillan, 354 pp. ISBN 1-4039-6605-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Leveson-Gower, Sir George (Ed.), Hary-O: the Letters of Lady Harriet Cavendish 1796–1809, London: John Murray (1940).
^ Owenson, Sydney (Lady Morgan) (1862). Dixon, William Hepworth (ed.). Lady Morgan's memoirs autobiography, diaries and correspondence. Wm. H. Allen & Co. ISBN 0-404-56793-2.
^ "Lady Caroline Lamb," The Literary Encyclopedia
^ eds, Lilla Maria Crisafulli & Cecilia Pietropoli (2008). "appendix". The languages of performance in British romanticism. Bern: P. Lang. p. 301. ISBN 978-3039110971.
^ Paul Douglass (1999). "The madness of writing: Lady Caroline Lamb's Byronic identity". Pacific Coast Philology. 34 (1). Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association: 53–71. doi:10.2307/1316621. JSTOR 1316621.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cecil, David (18 October 2001). The Young Melbourne & Lord M. London, UK: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 566. ISBN 1-84212-497-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c Sunday Times: Property (17 November 2002). "Ireland: Poetic justice at home of Byron's exiled lover". The Times. Dublin. Retrieved 21 February 2010. 'Mad, bad and dangerous to know' has become Lord Byron's lasting epitaph^{[dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b Castle, Terry; Grosskurth, Phyllis (13 April 1997). "Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved 21 February 2010. A biography that sees Lord Byron as a victim of circumstances
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Millstein, Denise Tischler (May 2007). Byron and 'Scribbling Women': Lady Caroline Lamb, The Brontë Sisters, and George Eliot (A Dissertation). Shreveport: Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Department of English.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wu, Duncan. "Appropriating Byron: Lady Caroline Lamb’s A New Canto". Wordsworth Circle. 26.3 (1995): 140–46.
^ Paul Douglas (2004) Lady Caroline Lamb (Macmillan) pp. 152–153
^ Leveson-Gower, F. (Ed.), Letters of Harriet Countess Granville 1810–1845, London: Longmans, Green, and Co. (1894).
^ Thomson, A. T. (1861). The queens of society. :By Grace and Philip Wharton [pseuds.] Illustrated by Charles Altamont Doyle and the brothers Dalziel. New York. hdl:2027/miun.aan5995.0001.001.
^ Dickson, Leigh Wetherall and Douglass, Paul (Eds.)"The Works of Lady Caroline Lamb." Pickering & Chatto (2009) Volume 1: Glenarvon: lii + 451; Volume 2: Graham Hamilton and Poems xxx + 229; Volume 3: Ada Reis, A Tale xx + 222.
^ Weinreb; Gronow (21 February 2010). "Almack's Assembly Rooms". London, UK: The Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
^ Hennig, John "Goethe's Klaggesang. Irisch." Monatshefte, Vol. 41, No. 2" University of Wisconsin Press (1949) pp. 71–76
^ Monthly Review New Series v. 94 (1821), 329. London
^ Douglass, Paul (2004). Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-4039-6605-6.
^ Douglass, Paul (2004). Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-4039-6605-6.
^ Cecil, David, The Young Melbourne & Lord M, p. 178.
^ "Pick of the Day". The Independent. London. 27 September 2003. p. 71. Retrieved 5 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Media related to Caroline Lamb at Wikimedia Commons

Library resources about
Lady Caroline Lamb

[1] Douglass, Paul (2004). Lady Caroline Lamb. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. pp. 172–173. ISBN 1-4039-6605-2.

[2] Dickson, Leigh Wetherall (September 2006). Beyond Byron, Legitimising Lamb: The Cultural Contexts of Caroline Lamb's Life and Works (PDF) (PhD thesis). Sheffield Hallan University.

[Douglassbio-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Douglass, Paul (2004). Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography. Palgrave Macmillan, 354 pp. ISBN 1-4039-6605-2.

[Hary-O-4] Leveson-Gower, Sir George (Ed.), Hary-O: the Letters of Lady Harriet Cavendish 1796–1809, London: John Murray (1940).

[Morgan-5] Owenson, Sydney (Lady Morgan) (1862). Dixon, William Hepworth (ed.). Lady Morgan's memoirs autobiography, diaries and correspondence. Wm. H. Allen & Co. ISBN 0-404-56793-2.

[LitEnc-6] "Lady Caroline Lamb," The Literary Encyclopedia

[7] s, Lilla Maria Crisafulli & Cecilia Pietropoli (2008). "appendix". The languages of performance in British romanticism. Bern: P. Lang. p. 301. ISBN 978-3039110971.

[8] Paul Douglass (1999). "The madness of writing: Lady Caroline Lamb's Byronic identity". Pacific Coast Philology. 34 (1). Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association: 53–71. doi:10.2307/1316621. JSTOR 1316621.

[cecil-9] Cecil, David (18 October 2001). The Young Melbourne & Lord M. London, UK: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 566. ISBN 1-84212-497-8.

[timesonline-10] Sunday Times: Property (17 November 2002). "Ireland: Poetic justice at home of Byron's exiled lover". The Times. Dublin. Retrieved 21 February 2010. 'Mad, bad and dangerous to know' has become Lord Byron's lasting epitaph^{[dead link‍]}

[nytimes-11] Castle, Terry; Grosskurth, Phyllis (13 April 1997). "Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved 21 February 2010. A biography that sees Lord Byron as a victim of circumstances

[scribblingwomen-12] Millstein, Denise Tischler (May 2007). Byron and 'Scribbling Women': Lady Caroline Lamb, The Brontë Sisters, and George Eliot (A Dissertation). Shreveport: Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Department of English.

[Duncan._1995-13] Wu, Duncan. "Appropriating Byron: Lady Caroline Lamb’s A New Canto". Wordsworth Circle. 26.3 (1995): 140–46.

[14] Paul Douglas (2004) Lady Caroline Lamb (Macmillan) pp. 152–153

[Granville-15] Leveson-Gower, F. (Ed.), Letters of Harriet Countess Granville 1810–1845, London: Longmans, Green, and Co. (1894).

[16] Thomson, A. T. (1861). The queens of society. :By Grace and Philip Wharton [pseuds.] Illustrated by Charles Altamont Doyle and the brothers Dalziel. New York. hdl:2027/miun.aan5995.0001.001.

[17] Dickson, Leigh Wetherall and Douglass, Paul (Eds.)"The Works of Lady Caroline Lamb." Pickering & Chatto (2009) Volume 1: Glenarvon: lii + 451; Volume 2: Graham Hamilton and Poems xxx + 229; Volume 3: Ada Reis, A Tale xx + 222.

[18] Weinreb; Gronow (21 February 2010). "Almack's Assembly Rooms". London, UK: The Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos. Archived from the original on 13 August 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.

[19] Hennig, John "Goethe's Klaggesang. Irisch." Monatshefte, Vol. 41, No. 2" University of Wisconsin Press (1949) pp. 71–76

[20] Monthly Review New Series v. 94 (1821), 329. London

[21] Douglass, Paul (2004). Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-4039-6605-6.

[22] Douglass, Paul (2004). Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 145. ISBN 978-1-4039-6605-6.

[23] Cecil, David, The Young Melbourne & Lord M, p. 178.

[24] "Pick of the Day". The Independent. London. 27 September 2003. p. 71. Retrieved 5 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Short description|English writer}}
-{{About|the person|the film|Lady Caroline Lamb (film)}}
+{{About|the Anglo-Irish novelist|the Chief Executive of NHS Scotland|Caroline Lamb|the film|Lady Caroline Lamb (film)}}
 {{Other people|Lamb|Lamb (surname)}}
 {{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
 {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
 {{Infobox person
-| name               = Lady [[Caroline Lamb]]
+| name               = Lady Caroline Lamb
 | image              = Portrait of Lady Caroline Lamb.jpg
-| caption            = ''Lady Caroline Lamb'', painted by [[Thomas Lawrence (painter)|Sir Thomas Lawrence]]
+| caption            = Portrait of Lady Caroline Lamb by [[Thomas Lawrence]], c.1805
 | birth_date         = {{birth date|1785|11|13|df=y}}
 | death_date         = {{death date and age|1828|1|25|1785|11|13|df=y}}
@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 * [[Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough|Lady Henrietta Spencer]]}}
 | spouse             = {{marriage|[[William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|William Lamb]]|1805}}
-| children           = Stillbirth child<br/>George Augustus Frederick<br/>A daughter
+| children           = Stillborn child<br/>George Augustus Frederick<br/>A daughter
 }}
-Lady '''Caroline Lamb''' (née '''Ponsonby'''; 13 November 1785 – 25 January 1828) was an [[Anglo-Irish people|Anglo-Irish]] aristocrat and novelist, best known for ''[[Glenarvon]]'', a [[Gothic novel]]. In 1812, she had an affair with [[George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Lord Byron]], whom she described as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Her husband was the Honourable [[William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|William Lamb]], who after her death became [[2nd Viscount Melbourne]] and British [[prime minister]].
+'''Lady Caroline Lamb''' (née '''Ponsonby'''; 13 November 1785 – 25 January 1828) was an [[Anglo-Irish]] aristocrat and novelist, best known for ''[[Glenarvon]]'', a [[Gothic novel]]. In 1812, she had an affair with [[Lord Byron]], whom she described as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Her husband was the Honourable [[William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|William Lamb]], who after her death became 2nd [[Viscount Melbourne]] and British [[prime minister]].
 ==Family background==
-She was the only daughter of [[Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough]], an [[Anglo-Irish people|Anglo-Irish]] peer, and [[Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough|Henrietta, Countess of Bessborough]]. She was known as the '''Honourable Caroline Ponsonby''' until her father succeeded to the earldom in 1793. While her brother, [[Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby]], was severely injured in the Battle of Waterloo, in the days after the battle she had an affair with the [[Duke of Wellington]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Douglass |first1=Paul |title=Lady Caroline Lamb |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |location=New York |isbn=1-4039-6605-2 |pages=172–173 }}</ref> She was related to other leading society ladies and was the niece of [[Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire]], and cousin (by marriage) of [[Anne Isabella Byron, Baroness Byron|Annabella, Lady Byron]]. She was related to Sarah Ponsonby, one half of the [[Ladies of Llangollen]], and [[Diana, Princess of Wales]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dickson|first=Leigh Wetherall|url=https://shura.shu.ac.uk/20520/1/10701167.pdf|title=Beyond Byron, Legitimising Lamb: The Cultural Contexts of Caroline Lamb's Life and Works|publisher=Sheffield Hallan University|date=September 2006|type=PhD thesis}}</ref>
+Lamb was the only daughter of [[Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough]], an [[Anglo-Irish]] peer, and [[Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough|Henrietta, Countess of Bessborough]]. She was known as the '''Honourable Caroline Ponsonby''' until her father succeeded to the earldom in 1793. While her brother, [[Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby]], was severely injured in the [[Battle of Waterloo]], in the days after the battle, she had an affair with the [[Duke of Wellington]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Douglass |first1=Paul |title=Lady Caroline Lamb |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |location=New York |isbn=1-4039-6605-2 |pages=172–173 }}</ref> She was related to other leading society ladies and was the niece of [[Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire]], and cousin (by marriage) of [[Anne Isabella Byron, Baroness Byron|Annabella, Lady Byron]]. She was related to Sarah Ponsonby, one half of the [[Ladies of Llangollen]], and [[Diana, Princess of Wales]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dickson|first=Leigh Wetherall|url=https://shura.shu.ac.uk/20520/1/10701167.pdf|title=Beyond Byron, Legitimising Lamb: The Cultural Contexts of Caroline Lamb's Life and Works|publisher=Sheffield Hallan University|date=September 2006|type=PhD thesis}}</ref>
 She was never Viscountess Melbourne because she died before Melbourne succeeded to the peerage.
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 ==Youth and education==
 [[Image:Angelica Kauffmann, Portrait of Henrietta, Countess of Bessborough (1793).jpg|thumb|left|Lady Caroline's mother, [[Henrietta Ponsonby, Countess of Bessborough|Henrietta]], Countess of Bessborough, by [[Angelica Kauffman]] in 1793]]
+[[File:Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne - NPG 5185 - National Portrait Gallery.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Lord Melbourne (Lawrence)|Portrait of Lord Melbourne]]'' by [[Thomas Lawrence]], 1805.]]
-As a small child, she was considered delicate and for her health spent much time in the country. She travelled with her mother and other family to Italy, where she made an agonizing recovery from an illness caused by worms that nearly ended her life.<ref name="Douglassbio">{{cite book|last=Douglass|first=Paul|title=Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, 354 pp.|date=October 2004|isbn=1-4039-6605-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ladycarolinelamb00doug_0}}</ref> After returning with her mother to England, she rejoined a lively menage of children who lived at [[Devonshire House]] and Roehampton, her cousins, the children of [[William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire]]: by his first marriage, to [[Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Lady Georgiana Spencer]], three children, [[Georgiana Howard, Countess of Carlisle|Lady Georgiana]] ("Little G"), [[Harriet Leveson-Gower, Countess Granville|Lady Harriet Cavendish]] ("Hary-o"), and Lord Hartington ("Hart", later the [[William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire|6th Duke of Devonshire]]); and by his mistress and second wife, [[Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire|Lady Elizabeth Foster]], two children, [[Augustus Clifford]] and Caroline St Jules, later wife of [[George Lamb (politician and writer)]]. During childhood, she became particularly close to Lady Harriet, who was only three months older.<ref name=Hary-O>Leveson-Gower, Sir George (Ed.), ''Hary-O:  the Letters of Lady Harriet Cavendish 1796–1809'', London:  John Murray (1940).</ref> Her behaviour grew increasingly troublesome to her family, she experimented with sedatives like [[laudanum]] and had a special governess to control her.<ref name="Douglassbio" />
+As a small child, Lamb was considered delicate and for her health spent much time in the country. She travelled with her mother and other family to Italy, where she recovered from an [[Parasitic worm|illness caused by worms]] that nearly ended her life.<ref name="Douglassbio">{{cite book|last=Douglass|first=Paul|title=Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan, 354 pp.|date=2004|isbn=1-4039-6605-2|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ladycarolinelamb00doug_0}}</ref> After returning with her mother to England, she rejoined a lively group of children who lived at [[Devonshire House]] and [[Roehampton]], her cousins, the children of [[William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire]]: by his first marriage, to [[Lady Georgiana Spencer]], three children, [[Georgiana Howard, Countess of Carlisle|Lady Georgiana]] ("Little G"), [[Harriet Leveson-Gower, Countess Granville|Lady Harriet Cavendish]] ("Hary-o"), and Lord Hartington ("Hart", later the [[6th Duke of Devonshire]]); and by his mistress and second wife, [[Lady Elizabeth Foster]], two children, [[Augustus Clifford]] and Caroline St Jules, later wife of [[George Lamb (politician and writer)|George Lamb]]. During childhood, she became particularly close to Lady Harriet, who was only three months older than her.<ref name=Hary-O>Leveson-Gower, Sir George (Ed.), ''Hary-O:  the Letters of Lady Harriet Cavendish 1796–1809'', London:  John Murray (1940).</ref> Her behaviour reportedly grew increasingly troublesome to her family, and she experimented with sedatives like [[laudanum]] and had a special [[governess]] to control her.<ref name="Douglassbio" />
-[[Lady Morgan]] reported in her memoirs that Lady Caroline told her that she had grown up as a [[tomboy]] and was quite unable to read or write until adolescence.<ref name=Morgan>{{cite book
+[[Lady Morgan]] reported in her memoirs that Lady Caroline told her that she had grown up as a [[tomboy]] and was unable to read or write until adolescence.<ref name=Morgan>{{cite book
 |title=Lady Morgan's memoirs autobiography, diaries and correspondence
 |url=https://archive.org/details/ladymorgansmemoi01morguoft
@@ Line 38: / Line 39: @@
 |editor-link=William Hepworth Dixon
 }}</ref>
-As a child, Lady Caroline considered being able to wash a dog one of her most satisfying accomplishments.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} While many scholars have accepted that (and other melodramatic claims made by Lady Morgan) at face value,<ref name=LitEnc>"Lady Caroline Lamb," [http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2597 The Literary Encyclopedia],</ref> published works of correspondence about her family members make it extremely unlikely. The grandmother she shared with her Cavendish cousins, the formidable [[Georgiana Spencer, Countess Spencer|Dowager Lady Spencer]], was zealously dedicated to promoting education and later employed their governess as her own companion. The governess was Miss Selina Trimmer, the daughter of Mrs [[Sarah Trimmer]], a well-known and respected author of moral tales for children. She taught them an extensive curriculum, considerably beyond mere literacy. There is a published letterthat  Lady Caroline wrote on 31 October 1796 (just before her eleventh birthday) that not only demonstrates her literacy but also shows a merciless wit and talent for mimicry.<ref name=Hary-O/>
+As a child, Lady Caroline considered being able to wash a dog one of her most satisfying accomplishments.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} While many scholars have accepted that (and other melodramatic claims made by Lady Morgan),<ref name=LitEnc>"Lady Caroline Lamb," [http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2597 The Literary Encyclopedia]</ref> published works of correspondence about her family members make it extremely unlikely. The grandmother she shared with her Cavendish cousins, the [[Georgiana Spencer, Countess Spencer|Dowager Lady Spencer]], was zealously dedicated to promoting education and later employed their governess as her own companion. The governess was Miss Selina Trimmer, the daughter of Mrs [[Sarah Trimmer]], a well-known and respected author of moral tales for children. She taught them an extensive curriculum, considerably beyond mere literacy. There is a published letter that Lady Caroline wrote on 31 October 1796 (just before her eleventh birthday) that not only demonstrates her literacy but also shows a merciless wit and talent for mimicry.<ref name=Hary-O/>
-Lady Caroline was exceptionally well educated at home. She also attended a school in [[Hans Place]], Knightsbridge, London, the successor to [[Reading Abbey Girls' School]], where she was taught by [[Frances Arabella Rowden]]. Rowden was not only a published poet, but also, according to another pupil, [[Mary Russell Mitford]], "she had a knack of making poetesses of her pupils".<ref>{{cite book|last1=eds|first1=Lilla Maria Crisafulli & Cecilia Pietropoli|title=The languages of performance in British romanticism|date=2008|publisher=P. Lang|location=New York|isbn=978-3039110971|page=301|edition=Oxford; Bern; Berlin; Frankfurt am Main; Wien$nLang.|chapter=appendix}}</ref>
+Lady Caroline was exceptionally well educated at home. She also attended a school in [[Hans Place]], Knightsbridge, London, the successor to [[Reading Abbey Girls' School]], where she was taught by [[Frances Arabella Rowden]]. Rowden was not only a published poet, but also, according to another pupil, [[Mary Russell Mitford]], "she had a knack of making poetesses of her pupils".<ref>{{cite book|last1=eds|first1=Lilla Maria Crisafulli & Cecilia Pietropoli|title=The languages of performance in British romanticism|date=2008|publisher=P. Lang|isbn=978-3039110971|page=301|location=Bern |chapter=appendix}}</ref>
-In her early adult years, Lady Caroline not only wrote [[prose]] and poetry, but also took to sketching portraiture. Those courtly skills stood her in good stead.  She spoke French and Italian fluently, was skilled at Greek and [[Latin]] and also enjoyed music and drama.
+In her early adult years, Lady Caroline not only wrote [[prose]] and poetry, but also took to sketching portraiture. She spoke French and Italian fluently, was skilled at Greek and Latin and also enjoyed music and drama.
 ==Marriage and family==
-[[Image:Carolinelamb.jpg|thumb|right|Lady Caroline Lamb, ''née'' Ponsonby]]
+[[Image:Carolinelamb.jpg|thumb|right|Lady Caroline Lamb, ''née'' Ponsonby by [[John Hoppner]]]]
-In June 1805, at the age of nineteen, Lady Caroline Ponsonby married [[William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|William Lamb]], an up-and-coming politician and [[heir]] to the 1st [[Viscount Melbourne]]. Although their meeting had been shrewdly orchestrated by William Lamb's mother, theirs was a love match. The couple had become "mutually captivated" during a visit to [[Brocket Hall]] in 1802 and for many years the pair enjoyed a happy marriage.<ref name=Hary-O/> In 1809, his brother [[George Lamb (politician and writer)|George]] married her namesake cousin Caroline St Jules.
+In June 1805, at the age of nineteen, Lady Caroline Ponsonby married [[William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne|William Lamb]], a rising politician and [[heir]] to the 1st [[Viscount Melbourne]]. Although their meeting had been shrewdly orchestrated by William Lamb's mother, theirs was a love match. The couple had become "mutually captivated" during a visit to [[Brocket Hall]] in 1802 and for many years the pair enjoyed a happy marriage.<ref name=Hary-O/> In 1809, his brother [[George Lamb (politician and writer)|George]] married her namesake cousin Caroline St Jules.
-Caroline gave birth to a stillborn child in January 1806, and she and William later produced a son, George Augustus Frederick, born on 11 August 1807,<ref name="cacroftsMelb">{{cite web |url=http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/melbourne1781.htm
+Caroline gave birth to a [[Stillbirth|stillborn]] child in January 1806, and she and William later had a son, George Augustus Frederick, born on 11 August 1807, and a premature daughter, born in 1809, who died within 24 hours.<ref>{{cite journal |title= The madness of writing: Lady Caroline Lamb's Byronic identity |author= Paul Douglass |journal= Pacific Coast Philology |volume=34 |issue=1 |year=1999 |pages=53–71 |doi= 10.2307/1316621 |jstor= 1316621 |publisher= Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association|url=https://works.bepress.com/paul_douglass/25/download/}}</ref> Lady Caroline suffered long recovery periods after each birth.
- |title=Melbourne, Viscount (I, 1781 – 1853) |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=cracroftspeerage.co.uk |publisher=Heraldic Media Ltd |access-date=2 March 2014}}</ref> and a premature daughter, born in 1809 who died within 24 hours.<ref>{{cite journal |title= The madness of writing: Lady Caroline Lamb's Byronic identity |author= Paul Douglass |journal= Pacific Coast Philology |volume=34 |issue=1 |year=1999 |pages=53–71 |doi= 10.2307/1316621 |jstor= 1316621 |publisher= Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association|url=https://works.bepress.com/paul_douglass/25/download/}}</ref> Lady Caroline was physically ill-suited to childbirth and suffered long recovery periods after each one.
-Her son was born with severe mental problems. Although most aristocratic families typically sent such relatives to institutions, the Lambs cared for their son at home until his eventual death in 1836,<ref name="cacroftsMelb" /> eight years after Lady Caroline's death. The stress of their son's ill health, combined with William Lamb's consuming career ambitions, drove a wedge between the couple.<ref name="Douglassbio" /> A further difficulty was that William's brothers and sister, a very close-knit clan, all detested Caroline, whom they called "the little beast", and she and her mother-in-law had hated each other from the start, and their lifelong enmity was to be a great cause of unhappiness to Caroline.<ref name ="cecil"/>
+Her son was born with severe mental problems. Although most aristocratic families typically sent such relatives to [[Mental institutions|institutions]], the Lambs cared for their son at home until his eventual death in 1836, eight years after Lady Caroline's death. The stress of their son's ill health, combined with William Lamb's consuming career ambitions, drove a wedge between the couple.<ref name="Douglassbio" /> A further difficulty was that William's siblings all detested Caroline, whom they called "the little beast", and she and her mother-in-law had hated each other from the start. Their lifelong enmity was reportedly a great cause of unhappiness to Caroline.<ref name ="cecil"/>
-==Lord Byron==
+==Relationship with Lord Byron==
-From March to August 1812, Lady Caroline embarked on a well-publicised affair with [[Lord Byron]]. He was 24, and she was 26. She spurned his attention on their first meeting, which was at a society event at [[Holland House]]. According to the memoirs of her friend [[Sydney, Lady Morgan]], Lady Caroline claimed she coined the phrase "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" soon after she had met the poet. It became his lasting epitaph, but there is no contemporary evidence to prove that she coined the famous phrase at the time.<ref name="Douglassbio" /> She wrote him a [[fan letter]]. His response was to visit her because of her high social status and then to pursue her passionately.<ref name="timesonline">{{cite news|url=http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article830128.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2|title=Ireland: Poetic justice at home of Byron's exiled lover|last=Sunday Times: Property|date=17 November 2002|quote= Mad, bad and dangerous to know" has become Lord Byron's lasting epitaph|work=The Times|access-date=21 February 2010|location=Dublin, Ireland}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/04/13/reviews/970413.13castlet.html|title=Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know|last1=Castle|first1=Terry|last2=Grosskurth|first2=Phyllis|date=13 April 1997|quote=A biography that sees Lord Byron as a victim of circumstances|work=The New York Times|access-date=21 February 2010|location=NYC, USA}}</ref>
+From March to August 1812, Lady Caroline embarked on a well-publicised affair with [[Lord Byron]]. He was 24, and she was 26. She spurned his attention on their first meeting, which was at a society event at [[Holland House]]. According to the memoirs of her friend [[Sydney, Lady Morgan]], Lady Caroline claimed she coined the phrase "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" soon after she had met the poet. It became his lasting epitaph, but there is no contemporary evidence to prove that she coined the famous phrase at the time.<ref name="Douglassbio" /> She wrote him a [[fan letter]]. His response was to visit her because of her high social status and then to pursue her passionately.<ref name="timesonline">{{cite news|url=http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article830128.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2|title=Ireland: Poetic justice at home of Byron's exiled lover|last=Sunday Times: Property|date=17 November 2002|quote= 'Mad, bad and dangerous to know' has become Lord Byron's lasting epitaph|work=The Times|access-date=21 February 2010|location=Dublin}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/04/13/reviews/970413.13castlet.html|title=Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know|last1=Castle|first1=Terry|last2=Grosskurth|first2=Phyllis|date=13 April 1997|quote=A biography that sees Lord Byron as a victim of circumstances|work=The New York Times|access-date=21 February 2010|location=New York}}</ref>
+[[File:Byron 1813 by Phillips.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Lord Byron]]'' in 1814, by [[Thomas Phillips]]]]
+Lady Caroline and Lord Byron publicly decried each other as they privately pledged their love over the following months.<ref name="timesonline" /><ref name="scribblingwomen">{{cite book|last=Millstein|first=Denise Tischler|title=Byron and 'Scribbling Women': Lady Caroline Lamb, The Brontë Sisters, and George Eliot (A Dissertation)|publisher=Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Department of English|location=Shreveport|date=May 2007}}</ref> Byron referred to Lamb as "Caro", which she adopted as her public nickname.<ref name="Duncan. 1995">Wu, Duncan. "Appropriating Byron: Lady Caroline Lamb’s A New Canto". Wordsworth Circle. 26.3 (1995): 140–46.</ref> After Byron ended the affair, her husband took Lady Caroline to Ireland. The distance did not cool Lady Caroline's interest in the poet, and she and Byron corresponded constantly during her exile.<ref name="timesonline" /> When Lady Caroline returned to London in 1813, however, Byron made it clear that he had no intention of restarting their relationship. That spurred increasingly-public attempts to reunite with her former lover.<ref name="nytimes" /> Matters came to a head at a ball in honour of the [[Duke of Wellington]] when Byron publicly insulted Lady Caroline, who responded by breaking a wine glass and trying to slash her wrists.<ref>Paul Douglas (2004) Lady Caroline Lamb (Macmillan) pp. 152–153</ref> She did not seriously injure herself, and it is most unlikely that she had any suicidal intentions, but her reputation was damaged and her mental stability was questioned. Byron himself referred to it as a theatrical performance: "Lady Caroline performed the dagger scene" (a reference to ''[[Macbeth]]'').
+Lady Caroline's obsession with Byron would define much of her later life, as well as influencing both her and Byron's works. They would write poems in the style of each other about each other and even embed overt messages to one another in their verse.<ref name="scribblingwomen" /> After a thwarted visit to Byron's home, Lady Caroline wrote "Remember Me!" into the flyleaf of one of Byron's books. He responded with the hate poem: "Remember thee! Remember thee!; Till [[Lethe]] quench life's burning stream; Remorse and shame shall cling to thee, And haunt thee like a feverish dream! Remember thee! Ay, doubt it not. Thy husband too shall think of thee! By neither shalt thou be forgot, Thou false to him, thou fiend to me!"<ref name="Duncan. 1995"/>
-Lady Caroline and Lord Byron publicly decried each other as they privately pledged their love over the following months.<ref name="timesonline" /><ref name="scribblingwomen">{{cite book|last=Millstein|first=Denise Tischler|title=BYRON AND "SCRIBBLING WOMEN": LADY CAROLINE LAMB, THE BRONTË SISTERS, AND GEORGE ELIOT (A Dissertation)|publisher=Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Department of English|location=Shreveport, LA, USA|date=May 2007}}</ref> Byron referred to Lamb as "Caro", which she adopted as her public nickname.<ref name="Duncan. 1995">Wu, Duncan. "Appropriating Byron: Lady Caroline Lamb’s A New Canto". Wordsworth Circle. 26.3 (1995): 140–46.</ref> After Byron broke things off, her husband took the disgraced and desolated Lady Caroline to Ireland. The distance did not cool Lady Caroline's interest in the poet, and she and Byron corresponded constantly during her exile.<ref name="timesonline" /> When Lady Caroline returned to London in 1813, however, Byron made it clear that he had no intention of restarting their relationship. That spurred increasingly-public attempts to reunite with her former lover.<ref name="nytimes" /> Matters came to a head at a ball in honour of the [[Duke of Wellington]] when Byron publicly insulted Lady Caroline, who responded by breaking a wine glass and trying to slash her wrists.<ref>Paul Douglas (2004) Lady Caroline Lamb (Macmillan) pp.152-153</ref> She did not seriously injure herself, and it is most unlikely that she had any suicidal intentions, but polite society was scandalised, and her mental stability was called into question. Byron himself referred to it as a theatrical performance: "Lady Caroline performed the dagger scene" (a reference to ''[[Macbeth]]'').
-Lady Caroline's obsession with Byron would define much of her later life, as well as influencing both her and Byron's works. They would write poems in the style of each other about each other and even embed overt messages to one another in their verse.<ref name="scribblingwomen" /> After a thwarted visit to Byron's home, Lady Caroline wrote "Remember Me!" into the flyleaf of one of Byron's books. He responded with the hate poem: "''Remember thee! Remember thee!; Till [[Lethe]] quench life's burning stream; Remorse and shame shall cling to thee, And haunt thee like a feverish dream! Remember thee! Ay, doubt it not. Thy husband too shall think of thee! By neither shalt thou be forgot, Thou false to him, thou fiend to me!''"<ref name="Duncan. 1995"/>
 Her cousin Harriet (now [[Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville|Lady Granville]]) with whom Lady Caroline's relationship had deteriorated after childhood, visited her in December 1816 and was so incredulous at her unrepentant behaviour that she ended her description of the visit in a letter to her sister, "I mean my visits to be annual".<ref name=Granville>Leveson-Gower, F. (Ed.), ''Letters of Harriet Countess Granville 1810–1845'', London:  Longmans, Green, and Co. (1894).</ref>
 ==Literary career==
+Lady Caroline Lamb was noted to have been involved in a few different literary circles that met in the Holland House, Lady Charleville's, Lord Ward's, Lord Lansdowne's and others of similar repute.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The queens of society. :By Grace and Philip Wharton [pseuds.] Illustrated by Charles Altamont Doyle and the brothers Dalziel.|last=Thomson|first=A. T.|date=1861|publisher=New York|hdl = 2027/miun.aan5995.0001.001}}</ref>[[File:Lady Caroline Lamb by Eliza H. Trotter.jpg|thumb|left|''Lady Caroline Lamb'' by [[Eliza H. Trotter]], 1810s]]Lady Caroline's most famous work is ''[[Glenarvon]]'', a [[Gothic novel]] that was released in 1816 just weeks after Byron's departure from England. Although published anonymously, Lady Caroline's authorship was an open secret. It featured a thinly disguised pen-picture of herself and her former lover, who was painted as a war hero who turns traitor against [[Irish nationalism#Early nationalism|Irish nationalism]]. The book was notable for featuring the first version of the [[Byronic hero]] outside of Byron's own work as well as a detailed scrutiny of the [[Romantic period]] and, more specifically, the [[Ton (le bon ton)|Ton]].<ref>Dickson, Leigh Wetherall and Douglass, Paul (Eds.)"The Works of Lady Caroline Lamb." Pickering & Chatto (2009) Volume 1: Glenarvon: lii + 451; Volume 2: Graham Hamilton and Poems xxx + 229; Volume 3: Ada Reis, A Tale xx + 222.</ref> Lady Caroline included scathing [[Caricature|caricatures]] of several of those prominent society members.<ref name="scribblingwomen" /> One of them, [[Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey|the Countess of Jersey]], cancelled Lady Caroline's vouchers to [[Almack's]] in retribution for her characterisations. This was the opening salvo in a backlash that found Lady Caroline outcast from fashionable society:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dukesofbuckingham.org.uk/places/london/almacks.htm|title=Almack's Assembly Rooms|author1=Weinreb |author2=Gronow|date=21 February 2010|publisher=The Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos|access-date=21 February 2010|location=London, UK|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813161949/http://www.dukesofbuckingham.org.uk/places/london/almacks.htm|archive-date=13 August 2009}}</ref> although her sister-in-law, [[Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper]], got Lady Caroline readmitted to Almack's in 1819, her reputation never fully recovered.<ref name="Douglassbio" />
-[[File:Lady Caroline Lamb by Eliza H. Trotter.jpg|thumb|left|''Lady Caroline Lamb'' by [[Eliza H. Trotter]], 1810s]]
-Lady Caroline Lamb was noted to have been involved in a few different literary circles that met in the Holland House, Lady Charleville's, Lord Ward's, Lord Lansdowne's and others of similar repute.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The queens of society. :By Grace and Philip Wharton [pseuds.] Illustrated by Charles Altamont Doyle and the brothers Dalziel.|last=Thomson|first=A. T.|date=1861|publisher=New York|hdl = 2027/miun.aan5995.0001.001}}</ref>
+Byron responded to the novel; "I read ''Glenarvon'' too by Caro Lamb….God damn!" The book was a financial success that sold out several editions but was dismissed by critics as [[pulp magazine|pulp fiction]]. However, [[Goethe]] deemed it worthy of serious literary consideration.<ref>Hennig, John "Goethe's Klaggesang. Irisch." ''Monatshefte'', Vol. 41, No. 2" University of Wisconsin Press (1949) pp. 71–76</ref>
-Lady Caroline's most famous work is ''[[Glenarvon]]'', a [[Gothic novel]] that was released in 1816 just weeks after Byron's departure from England. Although published anonymously, Lady Caroline's authorship was an open secret. It featured a thinly+disguised pen-picture of herself and her former lover, who was painted as a war hero who turns traitor against [[Irish nationalism#Early nationalism: Grattan to O'Connell|Irish nationalism]]. The book was notable for featuring the first version of the [[Byronic hero]] outside of Byron's own work as well as a detailed scrutiny of the [[Romanticism|Romantic Period]] and, more specifically, the [[Ton (le bon ton)|Ton]].<ref>Dickson, Leigh Wetherall and Douglass, Paul (Eds.)"The Works of Lady Caroline Lamb." Pickering & Chatto (2009) Volume 1: Glenarvon: lii + 451; Volume 2: Graham Hamilton and Poems xxx + 229; Volume 3: Ada Reis, A Tale xx + 222.</ref> Lady Caroline included scathing caricatures of several of those prominent society members.<ref name="scribblingwomen" /> One of them, [[Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey|the Countess of Jersey]], cancelled Lady Caroline's vouchers to [[Almack's]] in retribution for her characterisations. This was the opening salvo in a backlash that found Lady Caroline blackballed from fashionable society:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dukesofbuckingham.org.uk/places/london/almacks.htm|title=Almack's Assembly Rooms|author1=Weinreb |author2=Gronow|date=21 February 2010|publisher=The Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos|access-date=21 February 2010|location=London, UK|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813161949/http://www.dukesofbuckingham.org.uk/places/london/almacks.htm|archive-date=13 August 2009}}</ref> although her sister-in-law, [[Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper]], got Lady Caroline readmitted to Almack's in 1819, her reputation never fully recovered.<ref name="Douglassbio" />
+In 1819, Lady Caroline mimicked Byron's style in the [[narrative poem]] "A New Canto". Years before, Lady Caroline had impersonated Byron in a letter to his publishers to have them send her a portrait of Byron. It worked, and the tone and substance of her request fooled them into sending the painting.<ref name="scribblingwomen" /> She used that skill to respond to Byron's "[[Don Juan (Byron)|Don Juan I and II]]". Lady Caroline was most concerned with the allusions Byron had made about her; for example, the line "Some play the devil—and then write a novel" from "Don Juan II".<ref name="Hary-O" /><ref name="Duncan. 1995" /> In "A New Canto", Lady Caroline wrote—as Byron—"I'm sick of fame; I'm gorged with it; so full I almost could regret the happier hour; When northern oracles proclaimed me dull." Byron never publicly responded to the poem. A reviewer of the time opined, in part; "The writer of this lively nonsense has evidently intended it as an imitation of Lord Byron.  It is a rhapsody from beginning to end."<ref name="Hary-O" /><ref>''Monthly Review New Series'' v. 94 (1821), 329. London</ref>
-Byron responded to the novel; "I read Glenarvon too by Caro Lamb….God damn!" The book was a financial success that sold out several editions but was dismissed by critics as [[pulp magazine|pulp fiction]]. However, [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]] deemed it worthy of serious literary consideration.<ref>Hennig, John "Goethe's Klaggesang. Irisch." ''Monatshefte'', Vol. 41, No. 2" University of Wisconsin Press (1949) pp. 71–76</ref>
+Lady Caroline published three additional novels during her lifetime: ''[[Graham Hamilton (novel)|Graham Hamilton]]'' (1822),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Douglass |first1=Paul |title=Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4039-6605-6 |page=238 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSgth8oaDPUC |language=en}}</ref> ''[[Ada Reis]]'' (1823), and ''Penruddock'' (1823).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Douglass |first1=Paul |title=Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography |date=2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4039-6605-6 |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSgth8oaDPUC |language=en}}</ref>
-In 1819, Lady Caroline put her ability to mimic Byron to use in the narrative poem "A New Canto". Years before, Lady Caroline had impersonated Byron in a letter to his publishers to have them send her a portrait of Byron. It worked, and the tone and substance of her request fooled them into sending the painting.<ref name="scribblingwomen" /> She used that skill to respond to Byron's "[[Don Juan (Byron)|Don Juan I and II]]". Lady Caroline was most concerned with the allusions Byron had made about her; for example, the line "Some play the devil—and then write a novel" from "Don Juan II".<ref name="Hary-O" /><ref name="Duncan. 1995"/> In "A New Canto", Lady Caroline wrote – as Byron – "''I'm sick of fame; I'm gorged with it; so full I almost could regret the happier hour; When northern oracles proclaimed me dull.''" Byron never publicly responded to the poem. A reviewer of the time opined, in part; "The writer of this lively nonsense has evidently intended it as an imitation of Lord Byron.  It is a rhapsody from beginning to end."<ref name="Hary-O" /><ref>''Monthly Review New Series'' v. 94 (1821), 329. London, UK</ref>
-Lady Caroline published three additional novels during her lifetime: ''Graham Hamilton'' (1822),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Douglass |first1=Paul |title=Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography |date=1 January 2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4039-6605-6 |page=238 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSgth8oaDPUC |language=en}}</ref> ''Ada Reis'' (1823), and ''Penruddock'' (1823).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Douglass |first1=Paul |title=Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography |date=1 January 2004 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-4039-6605-6 |page=145 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSgth8oaDPUC |language=en}}</ref>
 ==Later life and death==
+[[File:In Spite of Epilepsy - The Rt. Hon. Lady Caroline Lamb.jpg|left|thumb|Illustration of Lady Caroline from ''In Spite of Epilepsy'' (1910) by Matthew Woods]]
 Byron's confidante and close friend was his wife's maternal aunt, William Lamb's own mother, the colourful [[Elizabeth Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne]].<ref name="cecil">{{cite book|last=Cecil|first=David|title=The Young Melbourne & Lord M|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London, UK|date=18 October 2001|pages=566|isbn=1-84212-497-8}}</ref> Lady Melbourne had been instrumental in bringing about the politically-advantageous marriage of her son to Lady Caroline, despite disliking both her and her mother.
 However, once Lady Caroline had begun her affair with Byron, her mother-in-law began a long and blatant campaign to rid her son of his wife. As [[Lord David Cecil]] remarks, she had long since concluded that Caroline deserved all her misfortunes. William Lamb refused to submit and regretted that his mother had conspired against his wife with Byron. Calling Byron treacherous, William Lamb was supportive of his wife to her death.<ref>Cecil, David, ''The Young Melbourne & Lord M'', p. 178.</ref>
-Ultimately, it was Lady Caroline who prevailed on her husband to agree to a formal separation in 1825. Both parties had had numerous extramarital affairs by then, and Lamb had long been known to eschew duplicity.<ref name="Douglassbio" /> She took up permanent residence at [[Brocket Hall]]. Her struggle with mental instability became more pronounced in her last years and was complicated by her abuse of alcohol and [[laudanum]]. By 1827, she was under the care of a full-time physician as her body, which had always been frail, began to shut down and she retained fluids (a condition then known as [[dropsy]], and now known as [[oedema]]). William Lamb was now [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] and made a perilous crossing to be by her side when Lady Caroline died on 25 January 1828.<ref name="Douglassbio" /><ref name="cecil" />
+Ultimately, it was Lady Caroline who prevailed on her husband to agree to a formal [[Marital separation|separation]] in 1825. Both parties had had numerous extramarital affairs by then, and Lamb had long been known to eschew duplicity.<ref name="Douglassbio" /> She took up permanent residence at [[Brocket Hall]]. Her struggle with [[mental illness]] became more pronounced in her last years and was complicated by her [[Alcohol abuse|abuse of alcohol]] and [[laudanum]]. By 1827, she was under the care of a full-time physician as her body, which had always been frail, began to shut down and she retained fluids (a condition then known as [[dropsy]], and now known as [[oedema]]). William Lamb was now [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] and made a perilous crossing to be by her side when Lady Caroline died on 25 January 1828.<ref name="Douglassbio" /><ref name="cecil" />
 Lady Caroline was buried in the graveyard of [[St Etheldreda's Church, Hatfield|St Etheldreda's Church]] in [[Hatfield, Hertfordshire|Hatfield]]; her husband was later buried within the church.
 ==In popular culture==
+[[File:William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Lord Melbourne (Partridge)|Portrait of Lord Melbourne]]'' by [[John Partridge (artist)|John Partridge]]. After her death her husband served twice as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]].]]
 The 1905 novel ''[[The Marriage of William Ashe]]'' by [[Mary Augusta Ward]] was based on Lady Caroline and her husband.
 The 1964 historical novel ''This for Caroline'' by [[Doris Leslie]] is based on her life.
-In the 1971 novel ''[[Flash for Freedom!]]'' by [[George MacDonald Fraser]], the lead character [[Harry Flashman]] names an African woman, taken as a slave, "Caroline Lamb."
 In 1972, the film ''[[Lady Caroline Lamb (film)|Lady Caroline Lamb]]'' was released with [[Sarah Miles]] in the lead role and [[Richard Chamberlain]] as Byron.
-In 2003, the [[BBC]] broadcast ''Byron''{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} with [[Jonny Lee Miller]] in the title role and [[Camilla Power]] as Lady Caroline Lamb.
+In 2003, the [[BBC]] broadcast ''Byron'' with [[Jonny Lee Miller]] in the title role and [[Camilla Power]] as Lady Caroline Lamb.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-independent-pick-of-the-day/148798440/ |title=Pick of the Day |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |publication-place=London |page=71 |date=2003-09-27 |access-date=2024-06-05 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
-The New York City band [[Glenarvon (Musician)|Glenarvon]] took their name from Lamb's novel of the same name.
 ==References==
 {{Reflist}}
-== Further reading ==
+==Further reading==
 *Douglass, Paul (2004). ''Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography''. Palgrave Macmillan.
 *Douglass, Paul (2006). ''The Whole Disgraceful Truth: Selected Letters of Lady Caroline Lamb''. Palgrave-Macmillan.
 *Douglass, Paul; Dickson, Leigh Wetherall (2009). ''The Collected Works of Lady Caroline Lamb''. Pickering & Chatto.
+*Normington, Susan (2001). ''Lady Caroline Lamb: This Infernal Woman''. House of Stratus.
-== External links ==
+==External links==
 {{commons category-inline}}
 {{Library resources box}}
@@ Line 119: / Line 115: @@
 [[Category:18th-century Anglo-Irish people]]
 [[Category:19th-century Anglo-Irish people]]
-[[Category:18th-century British writers]]
+[[Category:18th-century Irish women writers]]
-[[Category:18th-century Irish women]]
 [[Category:19th-century English novelists]]
 [[Category:19th-century English women writers]]
@@ Line 133: / Line 128: @@
 [[Category:Writers of Gothic fiction]]
 [[Category:Lamb family]]
+[[Category:William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne]]

v t e Lord Byron
Topics	Barony of Byron Byronic hero Early life Newstead Abbey Timeline of Lord Byron
People	Anne Isabella, Lady Byron (wife) Ada Lovelace (daughter) Allegra Byron (daughter) John "Mad Jack" Byron (father) Claire Clairmont Nicolo Giraud Contessa Guiccioli Jane Harley John Cam Hobhouse Douglas Kinnaird Lady Caroline Lamb Augusta Leigh (maternal half-sister) Medora Leigh Thomas Moore Isaac Nathan Walter Scott John William Polidori Percy Bysshe Shelley Mary Shelley Edward John Trelawny Michael C. Burgess
Longer poetry	Hours of Idleness (1807) English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809) Childe Harold's Pilgrimage (1812–1818) The Giaour (1813) The Bride of Abydos (1813) The Corsair (1814) Lara, A Tale (1814) The Siege of Corinth (1816) Parisina (1816) The Prisoner of Chillon (1816) The Dream (1816) Prometheus (1816) "Darkness" (1816) The Lament of Tasso (1817) Beppo (1818) Don Juan (1819–1824; incomplete upon Byron's 1824 death) Mazeppa (1819) The Prophecy of Dante (1819) The Vision of Judgment (1821) The Age of Bronze (1823) The Island (1823)
Plays	Manfred (1817) Marino Faliero (1820) Sardanapalus (1821) The Two Foscari (1821) Cain (1821) Heaven and Earth (1821) Werner (1822) The Deformed Transformed (1822)
Shorter poetry	"Lachin y Gair" (1807) "Epitaph to a Dog" (1808) "Maid of Athens, ere we part" (1810) Hebrew Melodies (1815) "She Walks in Beauty" "The Destruction of Sennacherib" "Fare Thee Well" (1816) Irish Avatar (1821) "So, we'll go no more a roving" (1830)
Prose	Fragment of a Novel (1819) Letters Memoirs
Portrayals	Byron (1908 play) The Bride of Frankenstein (1935 film) The Bad Lord Byron (1949 film) Camino Real (1953 play) Lord Byron (1972 opera) Lady Caroline Lamb (1972 film) Childe Byron (1977 play) Bloody Poetry (1984 play) Gothic (1986 film) Rowing with the Wind (1988 film) Haunted Summer (1988 film) Arcadia (1993 play) Mary Shelley (2017 film) "The Haunting of Villa Diodati" (2020 TV episode)
Related	Villa Diodati
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