h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I know very few facts about Byron sadly, but of these the two mildly interesting ones are: Firstly, that he kept a bear when at Cambridge, of whom he was very fond and; secondly, that you can still see a large book in a shop in St. James' Street which details his fluctuating weight throughout his life. He used to use the scales in the shop regularly, being rather a vain chap. I'm afraid I can't for the life of me remember which shop it is, but it is down by the Palace on the Pall Mall side. I'm pretty sure about that.

he really had a bear? that's cool... they let him keep it there???

Yes - they said he wasn't allowed to keep a dog and so he got a bear instead. It is true, honestly, I read it somewhere. I suppose if you're the sort of chap who drinks out of skulls and goes to war in Greece on a whim then owning a bear is just par for the course, really.

true...and I suppose with all the absynthe and laudnum he probably thought it was able to do the same things as a dig.

i mean dog

Not only did he keep a bear, as a running joke, he tried to get it a fellowship. Actually, he had loads of animals...

"Byron had always loved animals and acquired a variety of pets. It's been written that Byron owned during his lifetime, in addition to his dogs . . . a bear, a fox, three or four monkeys, a parrot, five cats, an eagle, a crow, a falcon, five peacocks, two guinea hens, an Egyptian crane, a badger, three geese, a heron, a goat with a broken leg, and his many horses. All, except the horses, resided indoors at Byron's homes in England, Switzerland, Italy and Greece. The last dog he owned, Lyon, traveled back to England with Byron's coffin in 1824. "

That's not even counting the Newfoundland dog Boatswain, of course.

As for the shop, it's "Berry Bros. & Rudd," a very old liquor shop.