Sybbie and Caroline with Mary and Cora in 1927
The Crawley grandchildren are the five grandchildren of Robert and Cora Crawley, the current Earl and Countess of Grantham. The oldest Crawley grandchild is Sybil Branson, known as 'Sybbie' by her family and most of the servants, who is around seven at the time of the Downton Abbey movie. The next grandchild is George Crawley, who is six (or almost six) at the time of the movie, then Marigold, who is four or five at the time of the film. Next is Caroline Talbot Mary’s second child, who is only one in the film. In 1927, Edith Pelham, the middle daughter of Robert and Cora, revealed that she was pregnant with her second child Peter Pelham, who would be born in early 1928.
Sybbie[]
Sybbie and George with Mary and Tom in 1922
Sybbie is the daughter and only child of Tom Branson and the late Lady Sybil Branson (formerly Crawley), who was the youngest of the Crawley sisters. Her mother made the scandalous decision to marry Tom, the family's chauffeur, for love instead of money, power or title. The happy couple lived in Dublin, but came back to Downton Abbey a few months before Sybbie's birth. Sybbie was born at some point between April and September 1920. Hours after her birth, her mother Sybil tragically died from eclampsia.
Her heartbroken father had planned to move away to Liverpool with his infant daughter, but eventually decided to live at Downton until Sybbie was older. Sybbie was seen as a toddler in the Season Three Christmas Special and during Season Four. Her father spent a lot of time playing with her in the nursery, and they are shown to have a close bond. In Seasons Five and Six, we see a four-five year old Sybbie played by Fifi Hart, and she is seven in the film.
George and Sybbie hugging
Sybbie is often with her cousin George, and the two seem to be great friends. The two have a special bond with Thomas Barrow, one of the servants, and they both come to say goodbye when he leaves Downton, Sybbie giving him a hug and promising not to be good when he was gone. Sybbie is also often seen playing with her maternal grandfather Robert, who she calls 'Donk.'
George[]
Newborn George with his mother and father, shortly before Matthew's death
George Crawley is the son and fourth cousin once removed of the late Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary Crawley (surname later Talbot through a second marriage). His mother was the oldest of the Crawley sisters, and she took an immediate disliking to his father due to his middle-class lifestyle, job as a lawyer, and an unfortunate joke accidentally overheard by Mary about "pushing one of the daughters" at him (Matthew). Since the previous heir to Downton had drowned onboard the RMS Titanic, Matthew, a very distant relation to Robert Crawley, was now heir to the estate and title. Despite many obstacles, Mary and Matthew fell in love and eventually married in 1920 after a long on-and-off courtship. George was born in September 1921, and as he was a boy, he became heir to Downton when his father, Matthew, died in a tragic car crash on his way home from the hospital, racing to tell everyone the good news.
Mary grieved him greatly, wearing only black for six months, and she saw little of baby George, as he reminded her of what had happened to Matthew. Eventually, though, she started to get over it, wearing colours again and forming a close bond with her son. Four years later, Mary remarried to a racing-car driver named Henry Talbot, who gave up racing and opened a motor shop because Mary hated him driving so much. As she put it, "I can't be a crash widow again." Henry and his stepson seem to get along very well, him filling the role of a father that had mostly been absent in George's life since Matthew's death. By this time George was four years old; he was a baby in Series Four and a young boy in Series Five and Six. He is six years old, or thereabouts, in the Downton film.
George, as mentioned, has a great friendship with his cousin Sybbie. They are often seen playing together. After Sybbie and her father Tom briefly leave for America, George is seen more with Marigold, his other cousin. He and Sybbie get on well with Thomas Barrow, George especially. He is often seen getting piggyback rides from Thomas.
George has a younger half-sister called Caroline, the daughter of Henry and Mary Talbot. She is five years younger than him. It is unknown how George reacted to his mother having another child, but considering his friendship with his cousins, he was probably happy to have another playmate.
Marigold[]
Marigold is the secret illegitimate daughter of the late Michael Gregson and Lady Edith Pelham, the middle Crawley sister, whose surname was Crawley at the time of Marigold's birth. Michael and Edith planned to marry, but Michael had a wife, Lizzy, who suffered from a mental illness and had for many years. He had loved her a lot, but the woman he knew was gone, and he had now fallen in love again, with Edith. Lunacy was not grounds for divorce in England, so Michael went to Germany to become a German citizen, as the laws were different there. In Germany, he could divorce Lizzy on the grounds that she was mentally ill, and marry Edith. However, on his first night in Germany, Michael got into a fight with Hitler's group of thugs, and was killed in the 'Beer Hall Putsch'.
Marigold in 1925
Edith, back in England, discovered that she was going to have Michael's child, which worried her, as Michael was missing and having an illegitimate child would make her a social outcast. She went to Switzerland for a 'long holiday' and had her daughter there (in late 1922 or early 1923), where Marigold was adopted by a childless Swiss couple, Mr and Mrs Shroeder. However, Edith discovered that she missed her daughter so much that she couldn't bear it, especially with Michael gone too, and went back to Switzerland to reclaim her. Marigold was then adopted by Timothy Drewe and his wife Margie, who were tenant farmers on Lord Grantham's estate. Timothy knew Marigold's parentage but Margie did not, and she quickly became irritated at Edith's constant presence in her house. She felt that she was treating Marigold like a doll, to be cuddled and petted one minute and cast aside the next. Eventually she stopped letting Edith in.
When a heartbroken Edith discovered that Michael really was dead, she reclaimed her daughter once again, revealing herself as Marigold's mother to a distraught Margie Drewe, and took her daughter to London. Her mother Cora and aunt Rosamund got in touch and persuaded her to take Marigold back to Downton, to be passed off as Edith's 'ward.' Edith later remarried to Herbert Pelham, the Marquess of Hexham, who became Marigold's stepfather, and the father of Edith's unborn child. He knew that Edith had had a child out of wedlock but still loved her and married her.
Marigold in 1924
Marigold and Sybbie
Edith is probably the most maternal of the Crawley sisters. She loves her daughter very much, and is often seen playing with her. Marigold also plays with her older cousins Sybbie and George, and after her mother's wedding to Herbert, or 'Bertie,' as he was known, she played with Mirada Pelham, her step-grandmother. Marigold talks less in the show than George and Sybbie. They speak frequently and fluently, but Marigold only occasionally speaks, and it is usually just one word like "Bye," or "Hello!" Marigold's surname is unknown; it could be Shroeder, Drewe, Gregson, Crawley, or Pelham. She is four or five years old in the film.
Caroline[]
Caroline is the daughter of Henry Talbot and Lady Mary Crawley, who married in 1925 after just over a years' acquaintance (a contrast to Mary's previous experience, a longstanding eight-year relationship with Matthew Crawley before they married). Caroline was born at some point the next year, probably around August-September, making her just a year old in the Downton Abbey film, set in 1927. It is worth noting that Caroline is currently the only Crawley grandchild with both parents alive. Caroline clearly has a bond with her mother, as seen in the film when she sits on Mary's lap in several scenes, clutching a doll and playing with Mary's necklace. Later, Mary worries for her son and daughters' future, as the world that Downton was built for "is fading with every day that passes."
Peter[]
Peter is the son of Bertie Pelham and Lady Edith Crawley, Edith found out she was pregnant shortly before the royal visit at Downton and was initially afraid Bertie would not be around during the baby’s birth as King George had asked him to accompany him during an upcoming tour. However Queen Mary convinced him to release Bertie from this duty. Peter is born sometime in 1928 and stayed home with a nanny when his parents left on a trip to the french riviera.