John Mytton was born in September 1796 and lost his father at two, inheriting Halston Hall in Shropshire, a family seat for 500 years, along with about 10,000 pounds a year from land spanning Shropshire and Wales. Surrounded by people who could not tell him no, he was expelled from Westminster School after a year for fighting a teacher, lasted three terms at Harrow, and arrived at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1816 with 2,000 bottles of port before leaving for a grand tour. He served in the 7th Hussars with the occupation army in France, then in 1819 bought a Shrewsbury seat in Parliament by handing out 10 pound notes, sat through about 30 minutes, and never returned. The hosts note he was already going deaf.
At Halston he kept 2,000 dogs, let his horse Baronet sleep by the fire, and hunted naked in snow. In 1826 at Leamington Spa he rode a horse up a hotel staircase and jumped it off a balcony over the diners. He refused his agent’s plan to live on 6,000 pounds a year, fled to Calais in 1831 with a companion named Susan, and set his own nightshirt on fire to cure hiccups. Arrested for debt in 1833, he died in King’s Bench Prison in 1834 at 37 of delirium tremens.
- His wardrobe included 150 pairs of hunting breeches, 700 pairs of boots, 1,000 hats and 3,000 shirts.
- He deliberately overturned a speeding gig to show a passenger what being upset felt like.
- His second wife, Caroline, fled the estate in 1830.
- A 2023 Time Team camera found his coffin in the family vault draped with a bear skin.
- He is the earliest recorded user of the phrase “light come, light go”, and the 72-mile Jack Mytton Way bears his name.
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