Averse to Byron Sale ; the Londoner's Diary

Summary

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ARTEFACTS from the life of Lord Byron were withdrawn from an auction this week after a last-minute intervention from the poet's descendants, who are disputing their ownership. The sale of 120 lots of Byronabilia at Bearne's auction house in Exeter had aroused much excitement as it included two locks of the poet's hair. But 40 of the most significant lots were removed from under the gavel at the last minute.

The items had been put up for sale by the family of Gladstone Moore, land agent for Lady Wentworth, one of Byron's descendants, who lived at Crabbet Park, Surrey. Bearne's auction house has had the items since the late 1980s, when it valued them for probate but was only recently instructed to sell them. Now a row has erupted between the Moores and the Wentworth family, who are thought to have blocked the sale. Head of the Wentworth clan Lord Lytton refuses to comment when I call.

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Averse to Byron Sale ; the Londoner's Diary

The move has...

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