| The history of "Ruthven" is an interesting one. In 1816, a Dr. John William Polidori was traveling with poet & acclaimed lover Lord Byron, and they met up for a little chat with Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin and Clair Clairmont. After reading aloud from a collection of horror stories (Phantasmagoriana), the clan got inspired and decided that they each should attempt to write a ghost story that evening. Mary began what would later be our beloved Frankenstein and Byron began a story but did not finish it. However, his ambitious Dr. Polidori took notes from Byron's story, reformed the tale, and named the main character Lord Ruthven.
Lord Ruthven, a vampire antagonist that came from a so-called true story the doctor had heard about, was a thinly-disguised version of his pal Byron. The story was called "The Vampyre" and was published in 1819, incorrectly attributed to Byron. Byron was naturally pissed.
The story of Lord Ruthven in "The Vampyre" however did manage to make a mark in the literary world, for he was considered the first vampire of English fiction.
Verification of dates and sundrous specificities came from http://gothic.vei.net | 
