Byron King-Noel, Viscount Ockham Byron King-Noel, Viscount Ockham Byron King-Noel, 12th Baron Wentworth, styled Viscount Ockham (12 May 1836 – 1 September 1862) was a British peer and the eldest of the three legitimate grandchildren of George Gordon, Lord Byron. Lord Ockham was the eldest son of William King-Noel, 1st Earl of Lovelace and his wife, Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer. His maternal grandparents were the poet Lord Byron and Annabella Byron, 11th Baroness Wentworth. He gained the rank of officer in the service of the Royal Navy, although he deserted, worked his passage back to Britain and became a shipyard worker
Lord Byron became very active, publishing an annual journal. Thirty-six Byron Societies function throughout the world, and an International Conference takes place annually. Byron exercised a marked influence on Continental literature and art, and his reputation as a poet is higher in many European countries than in Britain or America, although not as high as in his time, when he was widely thought to be the greatest poet in the world. Byron's writings also inspired many composers. Over forty operas have been based on his works, in addition to three operas about Byron himself (including Virgil Thomson's "Lord Byron"). His poetry was