Vice Admiral John Faulwether Byron

2017

John Byron “Foul-Weather Jack” 1723-86. Born on November 8th, 1723, he was the second son of William, fourth Lord Byron, and Frances, daughter of Lord Berkeley. He was the grandfather of the poet Lord Byron. In September 1740, Byron sailed as a midshipman aboard HMS Wager on its famous voyage to the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, the ship was wrecked off the Chilean coast on May 14th, 1741, and Byron found himself living with a group of native Indians. Byron later wrote a journal of this great adventure entitled ‘The Narrative of the Honourable John Byron,’ which proved to be a popular publication. He married Sophia Trevanion of Caerhays, Cornwall, on August 8th, 1748, and had nine children, of whom three died in infancy. Sophia Trevanion, amiable, educated, and a celebrated beauty, was the younger daughter of John Trevanion, who represented Cornish boroughs in Parliament for seventeen years.