Alfred Lyall (traveller)

Alfred Lyall (6 February 1796 – 11 September 1865) was an English philosopher, editor, clergyman and traveller.

Alfred Lyall was the youngest son of John Lyall (1752–1805), of Findon, Sussex, and Jane Comyn (c.1756–1824). His eldest brother George Lyall, sometime member of parliament for the City of London, became Chairman of the East India Company. Of his other brothers to reach maturity, John Lyall was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Bombay Army, at that time under the command of the East India Company, Haseldine Lyall joined the Royal Navy, while William Rowe Lyall entered the church and became Dean of Canterbury.

Lyall was educated at Eton, matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, in November 1813, and graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1818. Following this he spent some time studying and travelling on the Continent, with extended stays in Frankfurt and Geneva. Lyall was especially drawn to Italy, where he acquired some knowledge of art. He was an incessant reader, a serious student of history and philosophical works, but also a lover of poetry.

By 1820 all of Lyall's surviving brothers and sisters were married and settled, while he was still a bachelor, living with his widowed mother at The Square, Findon, West Sussex. The property is known today as Grey Point. Findon records show that another property called Avery's, larger but less elegant, located a short distance away, also belonged to the Lyall family around this time.

Lyall literary leanings brought him an invitation to become editor of The Annual Register, an influential review, which he did from 1822 until 1827, returning to it again in 1837. The winter of 1825–1826 he passed visiting Madeira and Portugal. On his return he published in 1827 a comprehensive narrative entitled Rambles in Madeira and in Portugal. The book was accompanied by a folio volume of lithographic sketches by his friend and fellow traveller James Bulwer, an accomplished artist and keen naturalist.

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