An athlete of great physical strength and endurance, Burton was phenomenally industrious, but he lacked good business sense and made no money from investments in any of the countries he explored. Indeed, he had financial problems all his life. His personality made him one of the most controversial public figures of his age.
Richard Francis Burton was born on 19 March 1821 at Barnham House, Hertfordshire, England, the firstborn of Martha Baker Burton and Joseph Netterville Burton. He was baptized at Elstree. His maternal grandfather, Richard Baker of Barnham House, had wealth, some of it intended for his grandson but never, to Burton's lifelong disappointment, to materialize. His father was of English and Irish descent, with some possible French ancestry or "gypsiness" that later fascinated Burton's wife, Isabel Arundell. Burton's father rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the British army, and this indicates that his family, too, enjoyed some prosperity. Burton was closest to his sister, Maria Catherine Eliza, whose daughter Georgiana would later write a biography of Burton to refute the one written by his wife.
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