Ada Lovelace: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:33, 10 December 2012

Revision as of 00:51, 10 December 2012

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On 16 January 1816, Annabella, at Byron's behest, left for her parents' home at [[Kirkby Mallory]] taking one-month-old Ada with her.<ref name="Turney p. 35"/> Although English law gave fathers full custody of their children in cases of separation, Byron made no attempt to claim his parental rights <ref>Stein, ''Ada'', p. 16</ref> but did request that his sister keep him informed of Ada’s welfare.<ref>[[Benjamin Woolley|Woolley, Benjamin]] (1999): ‘’The Bride of Science: Romance, Reason and Byron’s Daughter’’; p. 80</ref> On 21 April, Byron signed the Deed of Separation, although very reluctantly, and left England for good a few days later.<ref>Turney 1972 pp. 36–38</ref> An acrimonious divorce followed, with allegations of immoral behaviour against Byron <ref>[[Benjamin Woolley|Woolley, Benjamin]] (1999): ‘’The Bride of Science: Romance, Reason and Byron’s Daughter’’; pp. 74–77</ref> that Annabella would continue to make throughout her life. This would make Ada famous in Victorian society. Byron did not have a relationship with his daughter; he died in 1824, when she was eight. Her mother was the only significant parental figure in her life.<ref name="Turney p. 138">Turney 1972 p. 138</ref> Ada would not even be able to view any portrait of her father until her twentieth birthday.<ref>Woolley, p. 10</ref> Her mother became Baroness Wentworth in her own right in 1856.

Annabella did not have a close relationship with the young Ada and would often leftleave her in the care of her grandmother Judith Milbanke, who doted on her. However, due to the social attitudes of the time – which favoured the husband in any separation, with the welfare of any child acting as mitigation – Annabella had to present herself as a loving mother to the rest of society. This included writing anxious letters to Judith about Ada’s welfare, with a cover note saying to retain the letters in case she had to use them to show maternal concern.<ref>Woolley, pp. 85–87</ref> In one letter to Judith, she referred to Ada as “it”: “I talk to it for your satisfaction, not my own, and shall be very glad when you have it under your own.” <ref>Woolley, p. 86</ref> In her teenaged years, Ada was watched by several close friends of her mother for any signs of moral deviation; Ada dubbed them “the Furies” and would later complain that they had exaggerated and invented stories about her.<ref>Woolley, p. 119</ref>

Ada was often ill, dating from her early childhood. At the age of eight, she experienced headaches that obscured her vision.<ref name="Stein, Ada p. 17"/> In June 1829, she was paralysed after a bout of the [[measles]]. She was subjected to continuous bed rest for nearly a year, which may have extended her period of disability. By 1831 she was able to walk with crutches.