GENOA, 12 MAY 1824 – THE BRITISH PROTESTANT CHAPEL TESTIMONIAL SIGNED BY BYRON’S BANKERS, BYRON’S DOCTOR, THE BRITISH CONSUL, THE U.S. CONSUL, AND THE MERCANTILE ELITE OF GENOA

A superb and exceptionally rare survival from the British expatriate community in Genoa during the Byron era. This finely penned testimonial, dated 12 May 1824, is addressed to The Reverend John Mackie, M.D., thanking him for his voluntary service at the British Protestant Chapel—a subscriber‑funded worship space functioning as a de facto shadow embassy for British Protestants living under the Catholic Kingdom of Sardinia.

The document is signed collectively by the entire governing class of the Anglo‑American–Swiss expatriate colony, including Lord Byron’s bankers, Byron’s physician, the British Consul, the U.S. Consul, and leading merchant‑bankers who controlled British capital flows through the Mediterranean.

This is not ecclesiastical ephemera. It is a network map of the Byron circle, preserved in a single sheet.

FULL TRANSCRIPTION:

Genoa 12 May 1824. Sir! We the undersigned subscribers to the British Protestant Chapel in Genoa cannot contemplate your approaching departure from among us, without expressing our sincere regret that we are so soon to be deprived of the Society of one who as well in private life as in the occasional performance of the duties of his Sacred Calling, has established so strong a claim upon our gratitude and esteem. Permit us therefore to offer to you our grateful acknowledgements for the readiness with which you gratuitously undertook the duties of this Chapel when we had no resident Minister to officiate in it, and at the same time to assure you we shall ever remember with sentiments of peculiar regard the ability and eloquence with which you enforced upon our consideration, the moral, and religious precepts of our Holy Religion. With every friendly wish for your future Welfare and Happiness We remain Sir, Your most Ob’t Hble Serv’ts

NETWORK DENSITY, TIMING & RARITY (BYRON‑FORWARD PREMIUM SECTION)

The “Density” of the Network

It is exceptionally rare to find a single sheet of paper that captures Byron’s Genoa inner circle so completely. The presence of:

• Chas. F. Barry (1790–1848) – chartered the Hercules for Byron’s departure to Greece

• R. M. Thomas (fl. 1818–1830) – Byron & Shelley’s banker

• Dr. James Alexander (c.1780–1845) – Byron’s physician

• James Stirling (1791–1865) – British Consul; Byron visited him at the consulate

all signing the same document gives this sheet immense associative weight. This is a complete Byron-era expatriate network map, preserved in one manuscript.

The Timing — Signed One Month After Byron’s Death

The date is: 12 May 1824. This testimonial was signed precisely one month after Lord Byron died at Missolonghi (19 April 1824). At the moment these men gathered to sign this sheet, they were:

• handling Byron’s financial affairs

• managing diplomatic communications

• dealing with the fallout of his death

• coordinating news and correspondence across the Mediterranean

This makes the document a contemporary artefact of the immediate post‑Byron crisis.

This rarity and condition make it highly desirable to collectors of Romantic‑era history.

DR JOHN MACKIE — DIRECT CONNECTIONS TO LORD BYRON

The recipient of this testimonial, Dr John Mackie, M.D., was not an obscure expatriate minister. He and his family had documented, first‑hand connections to Lord Byron during the poet’s Swiss and Italian exile.

Sophy Mackie’s Journal (1815–1816)

Dr Mackie’s daughter, Sophia “Sophy” Mackie, kept a detailed travel journal during the family’s continental tour. Her diary explicitly tracks:

• Lord Byron

• Dr John William Polidori (Byron’s personal physician)

• the movements of Byron’s literary circle around Lake Geneva

She describes the Mackies moving along the edges of Byron’s elite social orbit, observing the same expatriate world that shaped Frankenstein, The Prisoner of Chillon, and Byron’s Swiss writings.

The Meeting at Coppet

Dr Mackie and his son personally visited and dined at Coppet, the famous salon of:

• Madame de Staël

• Jean de Rocca

Byron himself regularly visited Coppet during his Swiss exile. This places Dr Mackie inside the same intellectual and social environment as Byron during the mid‑1810s.

Parallel Movements into Italy

Both Byron and the Mackie family later travelled into Italy — including Genoa, Tuscany, and the northern Italian expatriate corridor — during the late 1810s and early 1820s. This made the Mackies well‑positioned observers and occasional participants in the expatriate community Byron inhabited.

Why This Matters

The testimonial is not merely signed by Byron’s bankers, doctor, and consul — it is addressed to a man whose family personally intersected with Byron’s world.

This adds a second layer of Byron association:

• Byron’s Genoa network (the signatories)

• Byron’s Swiss–Italian network (the Mackie family)

This dual connection is exceptionally rare in manuscript material.

A superb and historically rich manuscript, offering a complete snapshot of the British expatriate elite in Genoa during the Byron era — and addressed to a man whose family personally intersected with Byron’s Swiss and Italian circles.

Documents linking Byron’s bankers, doctor, consul, and social orbit in a single item are exceptionally scarce.

Condition as photos. Guaranteed Original. All items can be returned for a full refund if found to be not as described.

Confirmed Signatures: