Why is it called 'Byron' Bay?
Byron
Bay was named by Captain James Cook on 15 May 1770, after John Byron, a navigator
and the grandfather of the poet Lord Byron.
 | Vice-Admiral
John Byron "Foulweather Jack" (1723-1786) (Byron's Grandfather) From a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds [Lord Byron] |
BYRON, HON. JOHN (I72,~—I786), British vice-admiral, second son. of the 4th Lord Byron, and grandfather of the poet, was born on the 8th of November 1723. While still very young, he accompanied Anson in his voyage of discovery round the world. During many successive years he saw a great deal of hard service, and so constantly had he to contend, on his various expeditions, with adverse gales and dangerous storms, that he was nicknamed by the sailors, “Foul-weather Jack.” It is to this that Lord Byron alludes in his Epistle to Augusta:—
“A strange doom is thy father’s son’s, and past
Recalling as it lies beyond redress,
Reversed for him our grandsiie’s fate of yore,
He had no rest at sea, nor I on shore.”
Among his other expeditions
was that to Louisburg ~n.
1760, where he was sent
in command of a squadron
to destroy the fortifications.
And in 1764 in the “Dolphin”
he went for a prolonged
cruise in the South Seas.
In 1768 he published a
Narrative of some of his
early adventures with Anson,
which was to some extent
utilized by his grandson
in Don Juan. In 1769 he
was appointed governor
of Newfoundland.
In 1775 he attained
his flag rank, and in 1778
became a vice-admiral.
In the same year he was
despatched with a fleet
to watch the movements
of the Count d’Estaing,
and in July 1779 fought
an indecisive engagement
with him off Grenada. He
soon after returned to
England, retiring into
private life, and died
on the 10th of April 1786.
Byron
Bay Online Guide
Your Guide To Accommodation, Goods and Services, and Information
in
Byron Bay,
New South Wales, Australia
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