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This page is a list of all the characters who do not appear on screen in Downton Abbey but are mentioned by the established characters.

Branson family members[]

[edit this section]

Mrs Branson[]

Violet: "What does your mother make of this?"
Branson: "If you must know, she thinks we're very foolish."
Violet: "So at least we have something in common."
— Violet's reaction to Sybil announcing she plans to marry Tom Branson[src]

Mrs Branson is the mother of Kieran and Tom Branson, mother-in-law of the late Lady Sybil Branson, and paternal grandmother of Sybil Branson. She resides in Dublin. Sybil lives with her after she leaves Downton until she marries Tom.

Notes

  • Since Tom mentioned he had at least one cousin, either Mrs Branson or her husband has at least one sibling.
  • It is unknown if Mrs Branson's husband is still alive or if she's a widow.

Appearances

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Tom Branson's Grandfather[]

Tom Branson mentions one of his grandfathers was a tenant farmer in Galway, specializing in Blackface sheep. He seems to have spent some time at the farm, having acquired some knowledge about land and farming. He mentions to Lady Sinderby that he shot pigeons there.

Notes

  • It is unknown if he is still alive, and whether he is Tom's paternal or maternal grandfather.

Appearances

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Nuala[]

Nuala is one of Tom Branson's cousins. Tom mentions to his sister-in-law Edith Crawley that Nuala had become pregnant out of wedlock, and her daughter was brought up as her sister in order to preserve her reputation.

Notes

  • Nuala's last name is unknown. If she is Tom's paternal cousin, then her maiden name would be Nuala Branson.

Appearances

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Crawley relatives[]

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James Crawley[]

Mr James Crawley (d. 15 April, 1912) was Robert Crawley's first cousin and the original heir to the Earldom and family fortune, but he perished in the sinking of the RMS Titanic[1] along with his only son, Patrick. The family has a memorial for him and his son in London and then in Downton. His aunt Violet Crawley was not fond of him, finding him too similar to his mother with whom she also had negative relationship.

James's body was recovered from the sea and he was buried in Canada[2].

Appearances
Mentions
Violet: "I'm very sorry about poor Patrick, of course. He was a nice boy."
Cora: "We were all so fond of him."
Violet: "But I never cared for James. He was too like his mother and a nastier woman never drew breath."
— Violet telling Cora about her grief.[src]

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James Crawley's Mother[]

(The Honourable) James Crawley's mother was the sister-in-law of Violet Crawley and Patrick Crawley, Earl of Grantham, the wife of Robert's uncle and the mother to James Crawley, the future heir to the Earldom of Grantham and the grandmother of Patrick Crawley.

Violet Crawley did not get along with her, claiming that "a nastier woman never drew breath"; Violet's dislike also spread to her son, as Violet later stated that she "never cared for James." because "he was too much like his mother".

Notes

  • In 1912 Violet refers to her in the past tense, suggesting that she died sometime earlier.
  • As Robert's father succeeded his father as Earl of Grantham, this woman had the title of "The Honourable" by marriage[3]

Appearances

Mention

Violet Crawley: "I'm very sorry about poor Patrick, of course. He was a nice boy."
Cora Crawley: "We were all so fond of him."
Violet Crawley: "But I never cared for James. He was too like his mother and a nastier woman never drew breath."
— Violet describes James Crawley's mother while telling Cora about her grief.[src]

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Mr Patrick Crawley[]

See Patrick Crawley.


Reginald Crawley[]

Dr Reginald Crawley, Matthew's father, was mentioned twice in Series 1. He died between 1909 and 1912 and was a doctor in Manchester until his death. As he predeceased his cousins James and Patrick Crawley, his son Matthew became heir to the Earldom of Grantham until his own untimely death. Reginald's great grandfather was a younger son of the 3rd Earl of Grantham.

He studied medicine with his brother-in-law under the tutelage of his father-in-law. Dr Clarkson admitted in 1912 that he was familiar with Reginald's work on the symptoms of infection in children. He also treated dropsy of the heart, a process witnessed by his wife, who later encouraged Dr Clarkson to use the same treatment for John Drake despite Violet's protests.

Isobel later described to Mary and Tom how "sick" with love she was when she got engaged to Reginald. When they described their own romances with Sybil and Matthew respectively, Isobel remarked "Aren't we the lucky ones?!"

Appearances
Mentions
Murray: "His mother is alive and he lives with her. His father, obviously, is not. He was a doctor."
Robert: "I know. It does seem odd that my third cousin should be a doctor."
Murray: "There are worse professions."
— Murray and Robert discussing the new heir Matthew[src]
Matthew Crawley: "Mother, Lord Grantham has made the unwelcome discovery that his heir is a middle class lawyer and the son of a middle class doctor."
Isobel Crawley: "Upper middle class."
— Matthew on why they will want to change him.[src]
Isobel Crawley: "You know my late husband was a doctor."
Dr. Clarkson: "I do. I'm familiar with Dr. Crawley's work on the symptoms of infection in children."
— Isobel visits the hospital for the first time.[src]

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Mr Gordon[]

Mr Gordon is the husband of Robert's great-aunt Anne. The twosome married in 1860 and had at least one son together[4].

Appearances

Mentions

Major Gordon: "Did they tell you we're related?"
Edith: "Yes, but I'm afraid I'm not much good at family history. Although Papa's found an aunt in 1860 who married a Gordon. Perhaps that's a clue."
Major Gordon: "No, that isn't it."
— Edith trying to guess at how Major Gordon is related to her.[src]
Notes
  • Despite this character being listed as "Gordon" that is not actually his name; his forename is unknown and his surname is "Gordon." The mysterious person calling himself Patrick Gordon claims to be related to the Crawleys and Edith makes a possible connection between him and this "Gordon" saying that a great aunt discovered by Robert "married a Gordon"; as Patrick Gordon is using the surname as the way that they are related.

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Anne Gordon[]

Robert Crawley's Great-aunt Anne[5] married a Gordon in 1860 and had at least one son with him[6]. Robert briefly considered that this woman was how he and Patrick Gordon could be related. Given her relation to Robert, it is unknown as to whether she is an aunt of Violet or of Robert's father, Patrick. If the latter, then she is an aunt of Maud Bagshaw and sister of the fifth Earl and would have been Lady Anne Crawley before marriage.

Mentions

Robert: "Major Gordon, how do you do? Edith tells me you don't think we're related through my great-aunt Anne?"
Major Gordon: "We're a bit closer than that"
— Downton Abbey: Season 2 Scripts: Page 320

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Marmaduke Painswick[]

Mr Marmaduke Painswick is the late husband of Lady Rosamund Painswick. He was a wealthy banker who acquired a house on Eaton Square where his widow still resides. His fortune made Rosamund a very wealthy woman after they married. The social prominence of his family began with his paternal grandfather, a manufacturer, while his maternal grandfather was a baronet. The non-aristocratic roots of the Painswick family is a never ending source of mockery from his mother-in-law, Violet; however, Violet approved more of Marmaduke than she did of Sir Richard Carlisle.

Appearances

Mentions

Rosamund: "Marmaduke wasn't a rough diamond was he, Mama?"
Violet: "No. He was just cut and polished comparatively recently."
— Rosamund and Violet discussing Marmaduke after Lavinia says that Violet "makes Mr Painswick sound like a rough diamond"[src]
Rosamund: "Sir Richard is powerful and rich, and well on the way to a peerage. Of course, he may not be all that one would wish, but Mary can soon smooth off the rough edges."
Violet: "Well, you should know."
Rosamund: "What do you mean by that? Marmaduke was a gentleman!"
Violet: "Marmaduke was the grandson of a manufacturer."
Rosamund: "His mother was the daughter of a baronet."
Violet: "Maybe, but they were no great threat to the Plantagenets."
— Violet and Rosamund argue over Marmaduke[src]

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Cousin Freddie[]

Cousin Freddie (fl.1913) was a cousin of Sybil, Edith and Mary, who in 1913, was studying to be a lawyer at Lincoln's Inn alongside Vivianne MacDonald. Sybil used him as an example to Mary when saying that he was like Matthew.

Appearance

  • Episode 1.02 (Mentioned only)
Mentions
Sybil: "Cousin Freddie's studying at the bar - and so is Vivian MacDonald"
Mary: "At Lincoln's Inn! Not sitting at a dirty little desk in Ripon."
Lady Sybil and Lady Mary Crawley on Cousin Freddie in 1913.[src]

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First Earl of Grantham[]

The (The Right Honourable) 1st Earl of Grantham (fl c. 1772 - 1789) was the original holder of the Earldom of Grantham which was created in 1772.[7] He was mentioned by Violet Crawley to the Duke of Crowborough when discussing the Dower House. Both Robert Crawley and Matthew Crawley are direct male-line descendants of the 1st Earl of Grantham.

The First Earl may have died by 1789 as his son, who collected a Della Francesca was said to be on a "grand tour" through at least France at the time of the Bastile; his mother sent a letter, by special messenger, to tell him to come home[8].

Appearances
Mentions
Violet Crawley: "Are you a student of architecture?"
Duke of Crowborough: "Mm, absolutely."
Violet Crawley: "Then I do hope you'll come and inspect my little cottage. It was designed by Wren for the first Earl's sister."
— The Duke of Crowborough and the Dowager Countess of Grantham over dinner in 1912.[src]

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The First Earl of Grantham's Wife[]

According to Carson, this woman, the first (The Right Honourable) Countess of Grantham (b. 12 January; fl. 1789), was born on the twelfth of January and her birthdate became the date that all Servants' balls afterwards were held on.[9]

This woman later heard of the fall of the Bastile, while her son was in France, and sent a special messenger with a letter to get him home.[10]

Appearances
Mentions
But the Servants' Ball is always held on the twelfth of January, the birthday of the first Countess.
Charles Carson on the first Countess.

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First Earl of Grantham's sister[]

The 1st Earl of Grantham's sister was mentioned by Violet Crawley to the Duke of Crowborough when discussing the Dower House. The Earl commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to design it so that his sister could live close to Downton Abbey.[11]

It is unknown as to whether she was a widow or whether her brother had the house built just so she could live close to Downton once the house was built.

Appearances

Episode 1.01 (Mentioned only)

Mentions
See above.

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Second Earl of Grantham[]

The (The Right Honourable) 2nd Earl of Grantham (fl. 1789 - 1794) was an ancestor of Robert Crawley. Mary Crawley mentioned to Kemal Pamuk that he brought several paintings to Downton Abbey, including a fifteenth-century picture by Piero della Francesca.

Since the inheritance of the title was restricted to direct male heirs of the original title-holder, he must have been a son of the 1st Earl.

In 1789, he was travelling, on his "grand tour", through France at the time of the fall of the Bastille. His mother sent a letter, by "special messenger", to get him home. According to Cora, the second Earl went back to France after the Reign of Terror and obtained more portraits[12].

Appearances
Mentions
Kemal: "Is this picture really a Della Francesca?"
Mary: "I think so. The second earl brought back several paintings from..."
Kemal Pamuk and Lady Mary Crawley discuss a painting at Downton Abbey.[src]

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Third Earl of Grantham[]

The (The Right Honourable) 3rd Earl of Grantham is the ancestor of both Robert and Matthew, who almost went bankrupt. He had at least two sons; the elder was the great grandfather of Robert Crawley and his younger son is the great grandfather of Reginald Crawley, Matthew's father.

Appearances
Mentions
The 3rd Earl nearly went bankrupt...
—Murray on the 3rd Earl of Grantham.[src]
Martha Levinson: "Do explain again how exactly you are related to all of us, Mr. Crawley."
Matthew Crawley: "Rather distantly, I'm afraid. My great-great grandfather was a younger son of the 3rd Earl."
Martha Levinson: "My, I'm going to have to write that down so I can study it."
— Martha wondering why Matthew is the heir to her late husband's fortune.[src]

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Fourth Earl of Grantham[]

According to George Murray, (The Right Honourable) 4th Earl of Grantham "only saved Downton by dying". He married a woman who inherited Downton Place and passed it into her husband's family on their marriage.

According to Violet, the Fourth Earl "collected horses and women" and assembled the library at Downton as he "loved books".

Appearances
Mentions
And The Fourth Earl only saved Downton by dying...
—Murray on the Fourth Earl of Grantham.[src]
Horses and women.
—Violet on the Fourth Earl of Grantham and what he "collected".[src]

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Fourth Earl of Grantham's wife[]

Little is known about The (The Right Honourable) Countess of Grantham, but Robert states that "Downton Place came with my great grandmother," and as it passed into the hands of the Granthams, we known she was his great grandmother, and was the wife of the Fourth Earl of Grantham[13].

At the time of her son's death she was still alive[14] and died sometime after 1870.

Appearances
Mentions
Downton Place came with my great grandmother.
—Robert, on this woman's passing of Downton Place to the Grantham Family.[src]

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Fifth Earl of Grantham[]

The (The Right Honourable) Fifth Earl of Grantham (d.1870[15]) was the father of Patrick Crawley, Sixth Earl of Grantham and his younger brother, the father-in-law of Violet Crawley and The Hon Mrs Crawley and the paternal grandfather of Robert, Earl of Grantham, Lady Rosamund Painswick and James Crawley.

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Fifth Earl of Grantham's Wife[]

The (The Right Honourable) Countess of Grantham was the mother of Patrick Crawley, Sixth Earl of Grantham and his younger brother, the mother-in-law of Violet Crawley and The Hon Mrs Crawley and the paternal grandmother of Robert, Earl of Grantham, Lady Rosamund Painswick and James Crawley.

After her husband's death she lived in Crawley House. It was mentioned that Crawley House seemed very dark when Violet's mother-in-law lived there, but Violet remarks that her mother-in-law made everything rather dark. In 1921, Violet later stated that somewhere being "filthy and dirty, with awful food" and "no-one to talk to for a hundred square miles" was like a week with her mother-in-law.

Appearances
Mentions
It always seemed so dark when my mother-in-law lived here, but then again, she made everything dark!
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham on her mother-in-law [src]
Susan, Marchioness of Flintshire: "No, but it'll be filthy and dirty, and the food'll be awful and there'll be no-one to talk to for a hundred square miles."
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham: "That sounds like a week with my mother-in-law."
— Violet and Susan at Duneagle Castle.[src]

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Fifth Earl of Grantham's Brother[]

Robert Crawley's "great-uncle" was the brother of the fifth Earl of Grantham and the father of Maud Bagshaw[16][17] He died before 1912[18] and left the "Brampton Estate" to Maud. He would have been styled as The Honourable.

Mention
My father is gone, my husband is gone - I see no reason not to do what I want.
—Maud Bagshaw about her father and husband to Violet Crawley.[src]

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Fifth Earl of Grantham's Sister-In-Law[]

Maud Bagshaw had a mother, who was the great-aunt by marriage of Robert Crawley. Though her husband had died by 1912, it is unknown whether she was still alive as her daughter, Maud, made no mention of her.

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Patrick Crawley, Sixth Earl of Grantham[]

Patrick Crawley[19], the Sixth Earl of Grantham[20], (d. 1900[21]) was the late husband of Violet Crawley and father of Rosamund Painswick as well as Robert. Between October 1853 and February 1856, Patrick fought in the Crimean War with Anne de Vere Cole's father. According to his wife, Violet, the Earl was a great traveller and as a result she "spent many happy evenings without understanding a word."[22] He had a younger brother, who was the father of James Crawley. James's son might have been named after him. When Robert and Cora married, he pressured Cora to sign an agreement, that tied her dowry to the estate, in order to protect, with the expectations that the couple would have a son to inherit it all.

He was the godfather of Anne de Vere Cole, who would come to marry Neville Chamberlain.[23]

Edith mentioned that he left a trust fund for his grandchildren[24]. He had red hair and blue eyes.[25]

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Banning[]

Banning is a cousin of Violet Crawley and Roberta[26] and a cousin - who may have been a second cousin or a more distantly related cousin - of Robert Crawley, Lady Rosamund Painswick and Susan MacClare, Marchioness of Flintshire, who was mentioned by Robert in 1920.

Notes

  • Banning is a cousin of Violet. Whether Banning is a first or second cousin - as some people call their second cousins just "cousins" - is unknown.
  • It is unknown if Banning is the forename or surname of Violet's cousin.
  • The subtitles on Netflix have Robert saying "Mrs. Banning. She was a cousin of Granny's."
Appearances
Mentions
This is Banning: He was a cousin of Granny's
—Robert as the Crawley Family head to Downton Place in 1920.[src]

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Roberta[]

Roberta was mentioned by Violet to her granddaughters as being their great aunt and having loaded the guns in the Siege of Lucknow in 1857.

Appearances
Mention
Violet: "But war deals out strange tasks. Remember your great-aunt Roberta."
Mary: "What about her?"
Violet: "She loaded the guns at Lucknow."
Violet talks about Great Aunt Roberta, in 1914.

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Violet's Aunt[]

Violet's Aunt (fl. 1860s[27]) is an aunt of Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham. When Violet married her husband, Patrick, her aunt, described as "frightful" by Violet, gave her a vase that she hated for half a century until, to the relief of Violet, the vase was destroyed by Matthew Crawley and Richard Carlisle when they were fighting.

Appearances

Mention

It was a wedding present from a frightful aunt, I have hated it for half a century.
—Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham on her aunt and horrible vase.[src]

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Violet Crawley's Father[]

Violet Crawley's Father (fl. 1860) was an impoverished baronet.

He was born sometime before the 1840s because by 1842 he was married,[28] and was alive in 1860 to witness Violet's marriage to her husband, Patrick. Due to being impoverished, he was not able to provide Violet with a large dowry to save the also impoverished Earldom of Grantham.

Mention
As my late father used to say 'If reason fails, try force'.
—Violet quotes her father in December 1925.[src]

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Violet Crawley's Mother[]

Violet Crawley's Mother (fl. 1860) was the wife of an impoverished baronet.

She had at least two children, both girls, Violet and her sister.

According to Violet, "stopping at nothing to [get your own way]" is a trait she shares with "Marlborough, Wellington and my late mother". Violet's mother may have been a woman very like her and Violet says she was "trained in a hard school and I fight accordingly"[29]. She was alive in 1860 to witness Violet's marriage to Patrick Crawley, Sixth Earl of Grantham[30]. She did not bring much money to the marriage between her and her husband and, due to being impoverished, her husband was not able to provide Violet with a large dowry to save the also impoverished Earldom of Grantham.

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Violet's Sister[]

Violet had at least one sister who was the mother of Susan MacClare, Marchioness of Flintshire and who was mentioned by Susan in 1921.

Mention
You are my mother's sister. You can jolly well be on my side.
—Susan mentions her mother to Violet at Duneagle Castle in September 1921.[src]
Speculation

It is possible that this woman is Roberta, but this has not been confirmed.

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Victoria Rachel Cora Aldridge[]

Daughter of Atticus Aldridge and Rose Aldridge (née MacClare) whose was presumably born in New York after her parents had moved there.

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David Elliott, Baron Bagshaw[]

(The Right Honourable) David Elliott, Baron Bagshaw (d. 20 December 1880 and 23 March 1881)[31] was the late husband of Maud Bagshaw who died somewhere between 20 December 1880 and 23 March 1881 and was related to the Crawley family - specifically Violet's husband's cousin-in-law - through their marriage. He was "dull" but "kind", according to his widow.

My father is gone, my husband is gone - I see no reason not to do what I want.
—Maud Bagshaw about her father and husband to Violet Crawley.[src]

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References[]

  1. RMS Titanic
  2. Downton Abbey Series 1 Official Script: Page 29. A discussion between Murray and Robert occurs.
    • Murray: "It was right to bury Mr Crawley in Canada. In fact I hear the Canadians are making quite a thing of the Titanic cemetery."
    • Robert: "It seems strange to have buried James without Patrick."
    • Murray: "They may still find some trace of him."
    • Robert: "After three months? I doubt it. No, I'm afraid Patrick was food for the fishes long ago."
  3. Debretts, the correct form of address for younger sons of an Earl.
  4. For Robert to have mistaken how Patrick Gordon claims they're related, Mr Gordon and Anne must have had at least one male child to carry on the Gordon surname.
  5. Downton Abbey: Season 2 Scripts: Page 320: Robert: Major Gordon, how do you do? Edith tells me you don't think we're related through my great-aunt Anne?
  6. For Robert to have mistaken how Patrick Gordon claims they're related, Mr Gordon and Anne must have had at least one male child to carry on the Gordon surname.
  7. Series 1 Press Pack, page 12
  8. Episode 5.02
  9. Downton Abbey Scripts (Official): Page 532. A conversation between Carson and Mrs Hughes takes place:
    • Mrs Hughes: I think I'll say goodnight. I've got a long day tomorrow.
    • Carson: I don't envy you.
    • Mrs Hughes: I can't bear to think about it. What can they want from me?
    • Carson: Just do your best, and you'll be home before you know it.
    • Mrs Hughes: And what news will I bring with me? That reminds me. What should we do about the Servants' Ball? It's only five days away. Can we delay it?
    • Carson: But the Servants' Ball is always held on the twelfth of January, the birthday of the first Countess.
    • Mrs Hughes: I don't care if it's the birthday of Chu Chin Chow. This year, should we hold it back?
    • Carson: The verdict will guide us to the appropriate response.
  10. Episode 5.02
  11. Violet confirms this in Series 1 Episode 1, when talking to the Duke of Crowborough: "Then I do hope you'll come and inspect my little cottage. It was designed by Wren for the first Earl's sister.".
  12. Episode 5.02
  13. This is the only way it would have passed into the hands of the Granthams and for her to be the correction relation to Robert.
  14. Widows live in the Dower House, unless a former countess is still living there. As the Fifth Earl's wife, Violet's mother-in-law, lived in Crawley House, her mother-in-law, the Fourth Earl's wife, must still have been alive.
  15. According to Violet in the Downton Abbey she "lived here [at Downton] for forty years". Since she married in 1860, as she herself confirms to Rose in the Season Three Christmas Special - it was the year of her first Gillies Ball as a bride - this would mean her husband died in 1900 and her father-in-law died in 1870 as Violet says "I didn't run Downton for thirty years to see it go, lock, stock and barrel to a stranger from god knows where!" to Cora (1X01)
  16. Vanity Fair - Downton Abbey Movie: 6 Brand-New Details By Julie Miller July 22, 2019
    “She is a cousin of the Dowager Countess’s late husband.”
  17. Robert says that "her [Maud] father was my great-uncle".
  18. The fifth Earl's brother must have died by 1912 as he would have been a closer heir than Matthew at the time of the Titanic sinking if he was still alive.
  19. Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey: The Unofficial Guide to Seasons One and Two: BookCaps Study Guide
  20. Violet Crawley (Series 6 Episode 6): "Your late Papa, the Sixth Earl of Grantham."
  21. According to Violet in the Downton Abbey she "lived here [at Downton] for forty years". Since she married in 1860 ("I had not long been married" as Violet confirms to Rose when discussing her first Gillies Ball in 1860) - this would mean her husband died in 1900 and her father-in-law died in 1870 as Violet says "I didn't run Downton for thirty years to see it go, lock, stock and barrel to a stranger from god knows where!" to Cora (1X01)
  22. Episode 3.08
  23. Episode 6.05.
  24. Episode 5.02
  25. Downton Abbey: A New Era: 55:37: Robert: "But Rosamund is the one who looks like him".
  26. Series 3: Episode 3: Robert mentions Banning as a "cousin of Granny's" when he and the family are exiting Downton Abbey to go to Downton Place
  27. Violet married in 1860, meaning her aunt flourished during the 1860s as she was able to give Violet the vase.
  28. Violet was born in 1842, so he had to be married to her mother by then.
  29. Episode 6.05
  30. Violet mentions to Isobel and Denker that her mother's maid gave her a teapot on her marriage; if her mother was dead, she would not need a maid.
  31. According to Maud, Jack died in the Boer Wars when Lucy was "six"; we can be sure this is correct as Maud gave birth to Lucy and presumably remembers her age correctly. The Second Boer Wars took place between 11 October 1899 and 31 May 1902 and Lucy turned six sometime during these dates, meaning she was born between 1893 and 1896. Maud also states that she and Jack had "ten years" together, meaning that they got together four years before Lucy was born, a period between 1889 and 1892, so Baron Bagshaw had to be dead before then. Maud mentions that David, too, died in the Boer Wars, but for all the years to line up, she has to be referring to the first Boer Wars between 20 December 1880 and 23 March 1881.


On the Titanic[]

[edit this section]

J.J. Astor[]

John Jacob Astor IV or, simply, J.J. Astor (13 July, 1864—15 April, 1912) was an American businessman, real estate builder, investor, inventor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American War[1] and a member of the prominent Astor family[2].

J.J. Astor was an acquaintance of Cora Crawley, although not, apparently, of her husband. Cora seemed to be fond of Astor and was worried that he did not get off the sinking RMS Titanic, in 1912. She didn't seem to be as fond of Astor's wife as she was of him, as she referred to her as "that new wife of his". Astor did not survive the sinking, and is believed to have died when one of the smokestacks collapsed onto the awash deck.

Appearances

Mention

Isn't this terrible? When you think how excited Lucy Rothes was at the prospect. It's too awful for any words. Did J.J. Astor get off? Of course, that new wife of his has bound to have been rescued.
—The Countess of Grantham, about the sinking of the RMS Titanic.[src]

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Madeline Astor[]

Madeleine Astor (née Talmage-Force) (19 June, 1893 — 27 March, 1940)[3] was the second wife and widow of millionaire J.J. Astor and a survivor of RMS Titanic. J.J. Astor was an acquaintance of Cora Crawley, although not, apparently, of her husband. Cora seemed not to be as fond of her as she was of J.J. Astor, as she referred to her as "that new wife of his".

Appearances

Mention

Isn't this terrible? When you think how excited Lucy Rothes was at the prospect. It's too awful for any words. Did J.J. Astor get off? Of course, that new wife of his has bound to have been rescued.
Cora Crawley, about the sinking of the RMS Titanic.[src]

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Charles Hays[]

Charles Melville Hays (May 16, 1856 – April 15, 1912) was the president of the Grand Trunk Railway[4]. Hays is credited with the formation of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP), a dream he had to create a second transcontinental railroad within the borders of Canada. He is also blamed for the insolvency of both the GTR and the GTP. He died before his dream was complete as he perished at sea in the sinking of the RMS Titanic.[5]

Appearances

Robert: "It was the main railway in British North America, for god's sake! It wasn't just me. Everyone said we couldn't lose! We knew hard times were coming for estates like Downton, and this investment would make it safe for the rest of time."
George Murray: "Charles Hays was the presiding genius, and since he died, the management has not...the fact is, the company is about to be declared bankrupt...And the line will be absorbed into the Canadian National Railway scheme."
Robert: "Are you really telling me that all the money is gone?"
— Episode 3.01

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Fifth Officer Lowe[]

Commander Harold Godfrey Lowe RD RNR (21 November 1882 – 12 May 1944) was the Fifth Officer of the RMS Titanic.[6]

Patrick Gordon: "I was on the Titanic. That much is true. But I was pulled out of the water by Fifth Officer Lowe, the only one of them to come back. At least, that's what they said later. When I properly came 'round, they misidentified me as Canadian, shipped me up to Montreal."
Edith: "I don't understand. Why didn't you just tell them who you were?"
Patrick Gordon: "Because I couldn't remember. I don't know if it was the blow to the head or the-- the shock, or cold, but I had no memory. As far as I knew, I was Canadian."
— Episode 2.06

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Lucy Rothes[]

(The Right Honourable) Lucy Noël Martha Leslie, Countess of Rothes or, simply, Lucy Rothes (25 December, 1878 — 12 September, 1956)[7] was the wife of the 19th Earl of Rothes[8], whom she married on 19 April 1900.

Lady Rothes joined the Crawleys for dinner in March 1912, at Downton Abbey. According to Cora, she expressed her excitement of boarding the RMS Titanic during its maiden voyage to New York in the following month. When news got at Downton, on 16 April, 1912, that the steamer had sunk in the North Atlanic, Cora was shocked because of this. The Countess of Rothes did, however, survive the sinking, having left the sinking ship aboard Lifeboat 8.

Appearances

Mention

Isn't this terrible? When you think how excited Lucy Rothes was at the prospect. It's too awful for any words. Did J.J. Astor get off? Of course, that new wife of his has bound to have been rescued.
Cora Crawley, about the sinking of the RMS Titanic.[src]

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MacClare relatives[]

[edit this section]

Lady Agatha[]

Lady Agatha, born at Duneagle, is the elder sister of Hugh MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire[9], the younger sister of Lady Louisa, the sister-in-law of Susan MacClare, Marchioness of Flintshire, the granddaughter of the Countess of Newtonmore, the aunt of James MacClare, Lord Newtonmore, Lady Annabelle and Rose and the aunt-in-law of Lady Annabelle's Husband.

In Autumn 1920, Violet Crawley informed Rose that she would go up to Duneagle Castle and spend the rest of her vacation with Agatha; this information horrified Rose, who threatened to run away. Violet managed to rein Rose in by saying that until she was older, she was under their command. Rose later claimed that Agatha was "a monster"[10]. In 1920, Agatha was residing at Duneagle Castle, but she was only there to care for Rose, and had left by September 1921.

Appearances

Mentions

I know. Lady Agatha isn't much of a party person, I admit.
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham.[src]
I'm being sent North tomorrow with a monster for a jailer!
—Rose on Agatha at the Cricket Match.[src]
Alone in Scotland with Aunt Agatha!?
—Rose's horror at being sent to Duneagle under the watchful eye of her aunt.[src]
It was nursery game: Louisa was a lobster, Agatha was a shark - which is easy to believe - and I suppose Shrimpie was a shrimp.
—Robert on Louisa, Agatha and Shrimpie.[src]

Notes

Agatha's surname may be MacClare, for we do not know if she has ever been married. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

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Lady Annabelle[]

Lady Annabelle (née MacClare) is the eldest daughter of Hugh MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire and Susan MacClare, Marchioness of Flintshire, the elder sister of Lady Rose MacClare, the sibling of James MacClare, Lord Newtonmore, granddaughter or great-niece of Roberta and great-niece of Violet Crawley. Sometime before September 1921, Annabelle was married, though her married name is unknown.

Appearances

Mention

First James left, and then Annabelle got married. We started to learn just how little we had in common.
Hugh MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire on Annabelle and James.[src]

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Lady Annabelle's Husband[]

Lady Annabelle's husband is the son-in-law of Hugh and Susan MacClare, and the brother-in-law of Rose and James MacClare.

Appearances

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James MacClare[]

(The Right Honourable) James MacClare, Earl of Newtonmore is the son and heir of Hugh MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire and Susan MacClare, Marchioness of Flintshire, the brother of Lady Annabelle, the elder brother of Lady Rose MacClare. By September 1921, he had "left" home.

Appearances

Mention

First James left, and then Annabelle got married. We started to learn just how little we had in common.
Hugh, Marquess of Flintshire about James and Annabelle.[src]

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Lady Louisa MacClare[]

Lady Louisa, born at Duneagle, is the eldest sister of Hugh MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire and Lady Agatha, the sister-in-law of Susan MacClare, Marchioness of Flintshire, the granddaughter of the Countess of Newtonmore, the aunt of James MacClare, Lord Newtonmore, Lady Annabelle and Lady Rose MacClare and the aunt-in-law of Annabelle's Husband.

Notes Louise's surname may be MacClare, for we do not know if she has ever been married. Her current whereabouts are unknown: she may be married and away from Duneagle, or she may be deceased.

Appearances

Mention

Matthew: "Why are the Flintshires based in Scotland, when the title's Welsh?"
Robert: "Oh, Shrimpie's grandmother was Countess of Newtonmore in her own right - it's now their courtesy title."
Matthew: "Dare one ask why he's called Shrimpie?"
Robert: "It was nursery game: Louisa was a lobster, Agatha was a shark - which is easy to believe - and I suppose Shrimpie was a shrimp."
— Robert and Matthew in September 1921[src]

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Countess of Newtonmore[]

The Countess of Newtonmore was the Scottish paternal grandmother of Hugh 'Shrimpire' MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire. She was countess in her own right and title is now the courtesy title of the Marquess of Flintshire currently being used by Shrimpie's son, James. She was the heiress of Duneagle Castle, being the "chiefly heiress of that strand of the MacClares and they took her name"[11].

Appearances

Mention

Matthew: "Why are the Flintshires based in Scotland, when the title's Welsh?"
Robert: "Oh, Shrimpie's grandmother was Countess of Newtonmore in her own right - it's now their courtesy title. [12]"
— Robert and Matthew in September 1921[src]

Behind the Scenes

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Performers at the Victoria Theatre[]

[edit this section]

Albert C.[]

"Albert C." was the stagename of a performer at Victoria Theatre in the 1890s, alongside The Cheerful Charlies.

Appearances

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Bros. Ellie[]

"Bros. Ellie" was the stagename of a pair of performers at Victoria Theatre in the 1890s, alongside The Cheerful Charlies.

Appearances

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Claudet Emerson[]

"Claudet Emerson" was the stagename of a performer at Victoria Theatre in the 1890s, alongside The Cheerful Charlies.

Appearances

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Florie Flower[]

"Florie Flower" was the stagename of a performer at Victoria Theatre in the 1890s, alongside The Cheerful Charlies.

Appearances

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Small George[]

"Small George" was the stagename of a performer at Victoria Theatre in the 1890s, alongside The Cheerful Charlies.

Appearances

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Danny Gold[]

"Danny Gold" was the stagename of a performer at the Victoria Theatre in the 1890s, alongside The Cheerful Charlies.

Appearances

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Miss Ada & Mr. Simpson[]

"Miss Ada & Mr. Simpson" was the stagename of a pair of performers at Victoria Theatre in the 1890s, alongside The Cheerful Charlies.

Appearances

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Acquaintances of the Crawley Family[]

[edit this section]

Tom Belasis[]

Tom Belasis is another acquaintance of Sybil who was killed in the war in 1916. He made her laugh out loud.

Appearances
Mention
Isobel: "Sybil, my dear, what's the matter?"
Sybil: "Tom Belasis has been killed."
Isobel: "What a terrible thing."
Sybil: "I remember him at Imogen's ball. He made me laugh out loud just as her uncle was giving a speech. Sometimes it feels as if all the men I ever danced with are dead."
Episode 2.01

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Viscount Branksome[]

Viscount Branksome was the husband of the late Viscountess Branksome and the father of Evelyn Napier. Lord and Lady Branksome were acquaintances of Robert Crawley and his wife Cora. Robert describes Lord Branksome as a "dull dog" that only ever talks about racing. Cora tells Mary Crawley that Evelyn's mother is a dear friend of hers although she was unaware that she had died.

Appearances

Mention

Robert: "Branksome's a dull dog, but I don't suppose that matters."
Cora: "Did you know his wife had died?"
Robert: "He only ever talks about racing."
Robert and Cora Crawley talk about Viscount Branksome.[src]

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Mr Bryn[]

Mr Bryn is the contact for the printer used by the Sketch, the publication Edith inherited from Michael Gregson. Edith is forced to deal diectly with the printer after sacking her editor, Mr Skinner.

Appearances
Edith: "Put it into Mr Bryn's hands."
Currier: "Yes mame."
Episode 6.03

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Anne Chamberlain[]

Anne Chamberlain, née de Vere Cole (1883 – 12 February 1967) was the wife of British Minister Neville Chamberlain. She was born to Major William Utting Cole, of West Woodhay House. Her mother, Jane de Vere, was Irish, and traced her descent to the 15th Earl of Oxford; she would inherit Issercleran, Craughwell, County Galway in 1914.[14]

Patrick Crawley, the 6th Earl became her Godfather after serving with her father in the Crimean War.

Appearances
Robert: "Why would he say the word, and why would he ever come to Downton?"
Violet: "Neville Chamberlain's wife was born Anne de Vere Cole. Guess who was her Godfather?"
Robert: "You guess for me."
Violet: "Your late papa, the 6th Earl of Grantham. He and her father served in the Crimea when they were young. I have known her since she was born."
Episode 6.05

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Mrs Chetwood[]

Mrs Chetwood (née Strallan) is the sister of Sir Anthony Strallan who wrote a letter to Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, with the recipe for his favourite desert, apple charlotte, since he was invited to dine at Downton Abbey as a possible suitor for Cora's daughter, Mary Crawley.

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Anne Chamberlain's Father[]

Major William Utting Cole was the father of Anne de Vere Cole, who would go on to marry Neville Chamberlain. Patrick Crawley, the 6th Earl would serve with major Cole in the Crimea.

Appearances

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Mr Currant[]

Mr Currant along with Mr Frobisher are involved in handling the Crawley's financial affairs. George Murray is the trustee.

Appearances
George Murray: "I have spoken to Frobisher and Currant and since I am a trustee, should the estate ever need one, we felt I ought to be the one to tell you."
Robert: "You make it sound very serious."
George Murray: "I am expressing myself badly if you think it is not serious."
Episode 3.01

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Marion Darnley[]

Lady Marion Darnley is the wife of John Darnley and mother of Tim Darnley whose estate was sold and property auctioned in 1925.

Mention
Cora: "How was John when you spoke to him?"
Robert: "In a state. They're throwing in the towell. He says once the debts are paid there won't be too much left. Tim is emigrating to Kenya."
Cora: "Poor Marion, to be separated from her only son. She'll hate that."
Episode 6.01

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Tim Darnley[]

Tim Darnley is the son of John and Marion Darnley whose estate was sold and property auctioned in 1925. He emigrated to Kenya sometime later.

Mention

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John Foyle, Viscount Gillingham[]

Viscount Gillingham was mentioned in a conversation by Lord and Lady Grantham during their House party in 1922. His son is Anthony Foyle, who has since become Lord Gillingham after his father's death.

Mention

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Mr Frobisher[]

Mr Frobisher along with Mr Currant are involved in handling the Crawley's financial affairs. George Murray is the trustee.

Appearances
George Murray: "I have spoken to Frobisher and Currant and since I am a trustee, should the estate ever need one, we felt I ought to be the one to tell you."
Robert: "You make it sound very serious."
George Murray: "I am expressing myself badly if you think it is not serious."
Episode 3.01

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Dr T. Goldman[]

Goldman-1382306849-1-
T. Goldman is a gynecologist in London whom Edith visits in 1922 when she suspects she might be pregnant following the night she had spent with her lover Michael Gregson before his departure for Germany.
EdithLetter
Goldman later writes back to Edith, informing her that her symptoms do indicate early signs of pregnancy, and he looks forward to being of further assisstance to her in the future.

Appearances

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Peter Gordon[]

Peter Gordon once worked in the Foreign Office, where he befriended Patrick Crawley, whose father was the heir to Downton Abbey and the title Earl of Grantham. Peter later immigrated to Montreal in 1913, a year after Patrick drowned on the Titanic.

During World War I, when a wounded officer claimed to be the presumed dead Patrick Crawley, it was thought that he might actually be Peter Gordon, which would explain how the officer knew certain details of the family. Shortly after however, the officer disappeared, and it was never proven if he was Patrick Crawley, Peter Gordon, or someone else entirely.

Appearances

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Adela Graham[]

Adela Graham is cousin to Lord Hexam and the woman Bertie Pelham says is expected by the family that he will eventually marry.

Appearances
Edith: "And he's never wanted to marry?"
Bertie Pelham: "I wouldn't quite say that. It's always been sort of understood that he and his cousin, Adela Graham, will marry eventually."
Edith: "Understood by whom?"
Bertie Pelham: "By the two sets of parents."
Episode 6.05

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Ada Grey, Baroness Merton[]

Ada Grey, Baroness Merton is the deceased wife of Richard Grey. Richard states to Isobel that it was not a happy marriage as they were not well suited. He also explains that both his sons, Larry and Tim, "take after their mother, in every possible way."

Appearances
Richard Grey: "Mama redid all of these rooms in the 80s. She had good taste I think. Is one allowed to brag about one's mother?"
Violet: "So the late Lady Merton didn't change it?"
Richard Grey: "Ada, no. She didn't use it much. She thought it was rather drafty being so near the front door."
Episode 5.02

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Mrs Henderson[]

Mrs Henderson gave a wireless radio to the hospital for the benefit of the patients.

Appearances
I was at the hospital today and Mrs. Henderson has done the most generous thing and given a wireless to the ward so that they can listen to music and the news, sometimes even a play. I can't tell you how it brightens things up.
—Isobel Crawley episode 5.02

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Lady Jervas[]

Lady Jervas is an acquaintance of Anthony Strallan known at least to Edith, whom they visit after a concert for "a bite".

Appearances
Mention
Excellent. Well, it's quite a hike, so I'll pick you up around 6:00? Lady Jervas has asked us for a bite to eat afterwards, if that's all right with your mother?
—Anthony Strallan, Episode 1.06

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Casandra Jones[]

Casandra Jones is an advice columnist that Edith Crawley and Laura Edmunds are considering engaging for a column in the Sketch. Casandra Jones turns out to be a nom de plume for Septimus Spratt.

Appearances
Edith: "I'm not really here. I'm racing at Brooklands tomorrow, and thought I would pop in and see what's new."
Laura Edmonds: "Not much, oh although, we have had an offer today. I was going to ask you what you thought. Her name is Miss Casandra Jones. She thinks we should have an advice column."
Episode 6.07

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Lady Ann McNair[]

Lady Ann McNair throws a house party in season one, inviting Mary. Violet says it is a terrible idea because Lady Ann doesn't know anyone under a hunderd.

Appearances
Mention
Violet: "How about some house parties?"
Cora: "She’s been asked to one next month by Lady Ann McNair."
Violet: "That’s a terrible idea. She doesn’t know anyone under a hundred."
Episode 1.04

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Lady Merton[]

Lady Merton (d. before 1890 or later) is the deceased mother of Richard Grey. Richard states to Isobel and Violet that his mother redid the rooms of the house in the 1880s and asks if he is "allowed to brag" about her. Despite his mother redoing the rooms, his wife never used them as "she thought it was rather drafty being so near the front door."

Appearances
Richard Grey: "Mama redid all of these rooms in the 80s. She had good taste I think. Is one allowed to brag about one's mother?"
Violet: "So the late Lady Merton didn't change it?"
Richard Grey: "Ada, no. She didn't use it much. She thought it was rather drafty being so near the front door."
Episode 5.02

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The Dowager Duchess of Norfolk[]

The Dowager Duchess of Norfolk (possibly Augusta Mary Minna Catherine Lyons[15]), was a "dear friend" of Violet Crawley and, according to her, a fervent observer of the Catholic faith; Violet claimed that she was "more Catholic than the Pope."

Appearances

Mention

Mary: "Well you and Granny are ganging up against Tom!"
Violet: "Not me! The Dowager Duchess of Norfolk is a dear friend... and she's more Catholic than the Pope!"
Mary Crawley and Violet Crawley, during dinner at Downton Abbey with Reverend Travis, over Tom Branson's wish to baptize his daughter Catholic.[src]

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Bertie Pelham's Father[]

Bertie Pelham's Father (d. 1923) is dead, making Bertie next in line following the death of his cousin, the Marquess of Hexham in 1925.

Appearances
Cora: "You talked of your mother, but what other family do you have?"
Bertie Pelham: "That's it. My father's dead, obviously. There are no siblings."
Episode 6.08

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Peter Pelham, 6th Marquess of Hexham[]

Peter Pelham, the 6th Marquess of Hexham, (b. 1886 - d. between July 21st and August 29th, 1925) was the owner of Brancaster Castle, rented by Lord Sinderby in 1924 for the grouse hunt. His second-cousin once-removed and heir, Bertie Pelham, says that he loved to paint and that he was fond of being in the cities.

He had at least one aunt,[16] possibly two[17] and one female cousin.[18]

Sometime between July 21 and August 29, 1925, Lord Hexham died of malaria in Tangiers, Morocco, at age 39. His death made Bertie Pelham the new Marquess of Hexham. His grandfather, presumably the fourth Marquess of Hexham[19] was the brother to Bertie's great-grandfather.

Mirada Pelham considered him "immoral". Although never outright stated, a number of indications were given that Peter was homosexual: Bertie described him as as "delicate"; he was said to not be very keen on marrying Adele Graham; and he was said to enjoy watching young sailors in Tangiers.

Appearances
Stowell: "They'd rather be taking orders from their own butler."
Lord Sinderby: "But I'd rather be giving them to mine. Lord Hexham didn't think it would be a problem."
2014 Christmas Special

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Lady Portsmouth[]

Lady Portsmouth was the mother of Annabelle Portsmouth and agreed to cover for Mary when she intended to sleep with Anthony Foyle.

Appearances

Episode 5.02 (Mentioned only)

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Annabelle Portsmouth[]

Annabelle Portsmouth was the daughter of Lord and Lady Portsmouth; Mary used her as an excuse - claiming that they were going on a sketching trip - to avoid revealing her plans to sleep with Anthony Foyle.

Appearances

Episode 5.02 (Mentioned only)

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Billy Russell[]

Billy Russell was mentioned by Mary Crawley to Sir Richard Carlisle. He was the son of the Russells, who lived at Haxby Park. His death during the First World War caused his parents much distress, and they decided to quit their ancestral estate, Haxby Park, which was bought by Sir Richard Carlisle while he was engaged to Lady Mary Crawley.

Appearances

Mention

Mary: "It's so empty. I didn't know they'd gone."
Richard Carlisle: " [The Russells] 've given up."
Mary: "You can't blame them. When Billy was killed, it knocked the stuffing out of them completely."
Mary and Sir Richard Carlisle talk about the Russells and Haxby Park.[src]

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Lord Savident[]

Lord Savident is known to Thomas and by inference to the Crawley's. Thomas writes to Lord Savident's valet regarding the curious death of Kemal Pamuk and the association with Lady Mary.

Appearances
Mention
O'Brien: "Who did you write it to?"
Thomas: "Only a friend of mine, valet to Lord Savident."
O'Brien: "You know what they say about Old Savident. “Not so much an open mind as an open mouth.” No wonder it’s all ‘round London."
Episode 1.05

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Mr & Mrs Schroeder (or Schröder)[]

Mr and Mrs Schroeder live in Geneva, Switzerland, and adopted the illegitimate daughter of Edith Crawley and Michael Gregson after birth. However no formal agreement of adoption was made between them.

Edith later returned to Switzerland and reclaimed her daughter. The Shroeders later adopted another baby.

Appearances

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Lady Shackleton's sister[]

Lady Shackleton's sister, more commonly known as Mrs Talbot, is the mother of Henry Talbot; he shows up unexpectedly with Lady Shackleton to purportedly support Violet in her attempt to retain control of the Downton Cottage Hospital.

She is, as of 1925, still alive[20].

Appearances
Robert: "Who is this man?"
Cora: "I don't know. Her sister's son."
Episode 6.04

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Billy Skelton[]

Billy Skelton was mentioned by Robert Crawley as not allowing hunting on his land. The Skeltons were also said to be mad by Mary Crawley and presumably are associated with Skelton Park mentioned in episode 1.01, which already had electricity in the kitchens, and the Skelton Estate mentioned in episode 1.05. Skelton Park and the Estate was still around in 1925, but whether Billy was still in charge is unknown.

Appearances

Mary: "Families like ours are always hunting families."
Robert: "Not always. Billy Skelton won't have them on his land."
Mary: "But all the Skeltons are mad."
— Episode 1.02

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Lady Steward[]

Lady Steward is an elderly acquaintance of the Crawley's whom Sybil claimed to be visiting, when in reality she is taking Gwen for an interview to be a secretary.

Appearrances
Mention
I thought I’d pop in on old Mrs Steward. Will you tell Mama if I forget?
—Sybil to her father, Episode 1.05.

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Maud, Lady Strallan[]

Maud Strallan, Lady Strallan (d. 1910[21] ) was the late wife of Sir Anthony Strallan who died in 1910 and the couple had no children in their marriage. When Sir Anthony was about to marry Edith, Dowager Countess Violet remarks to Reverend Travis that he looked as if he was awaiting a beating from the head master. When Travis asks if he should talk to him, Violet says that it would do no good, as Strallan had gone through this before and was presumably aware of all the facts. They comment that perhaps the first Lady Strallan was a hard act to follow, or to repeat.

Appearances

Mention

Maud? Oh, she was awfully funny. Some people couldn't see it, but she was.
Sir Anthony Strallan to Lady Edith.

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Madame Swann[]

Madame Swann is the dress maker for the Crawley's. In season one she is tasked with making a frock for Lady Sybil.

Appearances
Mention
Sybil: "Poor old Madame Swann. I don’t know why we bother with fittings. She always makes the same frock."
Edith: "What do you want her to make?"
Sybil: "Something new and exciting."
Episode 1.04

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Duchess of Truro[]

The Duchess of Truro was an acquaintance of Violet Crawley's, who had requested Sir Philip Tapsell's services sometime before 1920. Tapsell safely delivered her three sons, thus securing the Dukedom's heirs and earning him much praise.

Appearances

Mention

Violet Crawley: "The dear Duchess of Truro is full of your praises, Sir Philip. Then, of course, you know that."
Sir Philip Tapsell: "She had quite a time when she was first married, but I said to her, "Never fear, Duchess, I'll get a baby out of you one way or another.""
Violet Crawley: "And so you did."
Sir Philip Tapsell: "Three boys. And as a result, a secure dynasty, I'm glad to say."
— An exchange between the Violet Crawley, and Sir Philip Tapsell, over dinner in 1920.[src]

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Lady Winborne[]

Lady Winborne is a friend of the Crawley's, who in the 2013 Christmas Special feels obligated to attend a concert and dinner she is giving.

Appearances

Robert: "Do we have to go to this?"
Cora: "Of course we do. Lady Winborne is kind enough to give a concert and dinner, and we should be grateful."
— 2013 Christmas Special

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Lady Wren[]

Lady Wren is an acquaintance of both Anthony Strallan and the Crawleys. Anthony Strallan asked after Edith at one of her parties.

Appearances
Mention
Sir Anthony Strallan was at Lady Wren's party. He asked after you.
Violet to Edith, Episode 1.07

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Crawley family staff[]

Mr Brockit[]

Mr Brockit was Downton Abbey's Head Gardener from at least 1913. Lady Grantham asked Mr, Molesley whether he could reveal his secrets about his rose bloom at the "Downton Village: 1913 Flower Show".

Appearances

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Mrs Butte[]

Mrs Butte is the housekeeper at Grantham House in London. She was taken ill with Scarlet Fever in summer 1923, prior to the arrival of the Crawley family for the London season and for Rose's coming out. This required Mrs Hughes to go to London to run the house. Later in 1924, Mrs Hughes mentions that Mrs Butte has resigned.

Appearances

Mrs. Hughes: "You will never guess what has happened now. Mrs Butte has been taken ill, and she won't be back for weeks."
Daisy: "What does that mean?"
Mrs. Hughes: "They want me in London to take over, and that's not all, they've asked for you to go with me."
— 2013 Christmas Special

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The Crawleys Dentist[]

The Crawleys' dentist was the dental surgeon that served the Crawleys whenever needed. He was, according to Lady Mary Crawley, their dentist ever since she was a child, and he received their patronage in a matter of tradition, not preference, as she regarded him as "horrid".

Appearances

Mention

Mary: "I wish I shared your enthusiasm. Our dentist is horrid."
Kemal Pamuk: "Well, why go to him, then?"
Mary: "Well, he treated all of us when we were children. You know how the English are about these things."
— An exchange between Lady Mary and Kemal Pamuk, over dinner at Downton Abbey.[src]

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Gertie[]

Gertie (Gertrude presumably), is a maid taking over sometime after the departure of Ivy Stuart, and is normally responsible for tending the fires. Daisy is met by Cora one morning tending to the fires, and informs her that Gertie is taken ill, hence the reason Daisy is doing it.

Appearances
Cora: "Daisy, you don't do the bedroom fires these days do you?"
Daisy: "Not as a rule m'Lady, no. But Gertie is unwell and we don't have a proper scullery maid any more."
Cora: "I'm afraid I am not usually up early enough to know that."
Episode 6.03

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Fräulein Kelder[]

Fräulein Kelder was mentioned by Edith Crawley to Major Gordon. She was Edith and Mary Crawley's governess when they were children. When Major Gordon was trying to convince Edith that he is actually her cousin Patrick Crawley, she shows him a place on the estate where she, Mary and Patrick used to hide. Major Gordon asks if there was a governess that none of them liked and Edith giggles and says, "Fräulein Kelder."

Mary, unaware of this exchange, later says that hiding from the nasty governess would be the kind of memory anybody would expect from a childhood spend in a place like Downton Abbey.

Appearances

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Mr Pattinson[]

Mr Pattinson is the Crawley librarian mentioned by Robert Crawley to Michael Gregson.

Appearances

Michael: "Edith tells me there's a Gutenberg Bible."
Robert: "Yes, it's a shame our librarian Mr Pattinson is not here. He's the only one who knows where anything is."
— Episode 4.03

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Mrs Potter[]

Mrs Potter is the cook for Violet Crawley at the Dower House in 1924.

Appearances
Spratt: "Mrs Crawley said how much she loved the evening, m'Lady. "
Violet: "It was colourful. Thank Mrs Potter for the delicious dinner, but please tell her I need a rest from such rich delights."
2014 Christmas Special

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Simmons[]

Simmons was Violet Crawley's lady's maid. Acting odd, Violet suspects Simmons will leave her which she finds was right as Simmons quits to get married. Violet considers this very selfish. Violet asks Cora Crawley help in hiring a replacement for Simmons. Sarah O'Brien overheads Violet and Cora discussing responses to an advertisement Cora put in The Lady which O'Brien mistakenly believes is about her.

Appearances

Mention

Violet: "I have a horrible feeling Simmons is about to hand in her notice. She's looking very fidgety lately, and I saw her hurrying to meet the postman."
Cora: "Oh, you poor thing. Is there anything worse than losing one's maid?"
Violet: "Why would she want to leave me? I've been as gentle as a lamb. Most of the time."
— Violet speculating on her lady's maid's odd behaviour[src]

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Smithers[]

Smithers is a ladies maid of Violet Crawley.

When Violet sent money to Sybil Branson and Tom Branson to come to England for Matthew Crawley and Mary Crawley's wedding, Smithers wrote the letter for her along with it. Violet credits her when Sybil remarked the letter she received was not her grandmother's handwriting.

Violet says: "like all ladies maids she lives for intrigue."

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Mr Stark[]

Mr Stark was The Crawley's Chauffeur. He become under Downton's employment after former chauffeur Tom Branson left with Lady Sybil. He is still working at Downton in 1924.

Appearances

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Mr Watson[]

Mr Watson was Robert Crawley's valet. He left Robert's employ and was temporarily replaced as valet by Thomas Barrow until Mr Watson's permanent replacement, John Bates, arrived in April 1912. John also moved into Watson's former room. Elsie Hughes mentioned that Mr. Watson left the room in quite a state.

Appearances

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Mrs Yardley[]

Mrs Yardley was a cook at Downton when Robert was a small boy and would let him hide in the kitchen when he was in trouble.

Appearances

Cora: "Don't eat anything that is meant for tomorrow."
Robert: "Now this takes me back. Did I ever tell you about our cook when I was a boy? Mrs Yardley."
— Episode 6.01

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Levinson Relatives[]

[edit this section]

Cora's Aunt[]

Cora's Aunt is the aunt of Cora Crawley and was still alive in 1914, as Cora mentions sending Mary Crawley to visit her in Episode 1.06. It is unknown if she is blood related to Cora. She may be the sister of Martha Levinson or Isidore Levinson or she may simply be the wife of one of their siblings. Cora has a better relationship with her aunt than she does her own mother, perhaps hinting that her aunt is related to her through her father.

She may have been deceased by 1920[22].

Appearances

Mention

Cora: "I might send Mary to visit my aunt. She could get to know New York"
Violet: "Oh, I don't think things are quite that desperate."
— Episode 1.06

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Isidore Levinson[]

Isidore Levinson is the late wealthy, Jewish[23] husband of Martha Levinson - and the father of Cora Crawley and Harold Levinson - who had made his fortune as a dry goods merchant in Cincinnati. Isidore tied up his money well, making sure that his children were both well cared for and received equal shares; on her marriage in 1890, Cora received her share, and the family she married into would receive no more[24].

Isidore also made sure that Martha was taken care of and made sure that no-one could touch the capital generated from his fortune, so that it would not be lost; all of this was done before his death.[25]

Cora tells Lord Sinderby that she did not believe it was difficult having a different religion from her father, and that she's not ashamed he was Jewish since she and her family never changed their name.

Appearances

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Relatives of Crawley family staff[]

[edit this section]

Thomas Barrow's Father[]

Thomas Barrow's Father was mentioned by Thomas as being seriously ill in 1924, though this was likely a lie to cover up his going to London for conversion therapy. He was previously mentioned as being a clockmaker.

Appearances
Mentions
Baxter: "Your dad was always kind to me."
Barrow: "Was he? Because he was never very kind to me."
Episode 5.03

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Gwen Dawson's Father[]

Gwen Dawson's Father and husband of Gwen's mother was mentioned by Gwen as thinking she would be a fool to leave such a place to become a secretary.

Appearances
Anna: "Have you told anyone? What did your parents say?"
Gwen: "Well, I can't tell them till I've got a job. Dad will think I'm a fool to leave a good place and Mum will say I'm getting above myself, but...but I don't believe that."
Episode 1.03

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Gwen Dawson's Mother[]

Gwen Dawson's Mother and wife of Gwen's father was mentioned by Gwen as thinking she was getting above herself to become a secretary.

Appearances
Anna: "Have you told anyone? What did your parents say?"
Gwen: "Well, I can't tell them till I've got a job. Dad will think I'm a fool to leave a good place and Mum will say I'm getting above myself, but...but I don't believe that."
Episode 1.03

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Becky Hughes[]

Becky Hughes is the disabled younger sister of Elsie Hughes.

Becky lives in Lytham St Annes. Mrs Hughes has described Becky as being "not right in the head." She requires a caretaker, thus Mrs Hughes has spent most of her earnings providing for Becky's care, leaving her with no savings.

Appearances

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William Mason's Uncle[]

William Mason's Uncle was said by William that he "went just like that", comparing him to Kemal Pamuk.

Appearances
William: "I had an uncle who went like that. Finished his cocoa, closed his book and fell back dead on the pillow."
Thomas: "I don't think Mr Pamuk bothered with cocoa much, or books. He had other interests."
Episode 1.03

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Freddie Moorsum[]

Freddie Moorsum (b.1905) is the son of Jane Moorsum. He was 12 years old in 1917 when his father died in the Battle of the Somme. His mother then came to Downton Abbey looking for work in order to support him, and was in service until 1919. She was easily hired and her mother took care of Freddie if he should need it while she is working.

A keen mathematics student, Freddie got a scholarship to Ripon Grammar School with help from Robert Crawley. His mother and Robert shared a mutual attraction and kisses, but Robert felt guilty and chose not to pursue her further. Knowing it was for the best, Jane handed in her notice and left.

It is unknown how Freddie reacted to Robert's assistance in getting his scholarship, if he ever knew at all.

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Beryl Patmore's Niece[]

Beryl Patmore's Niece is the daughter of Mrs Patmore's sister and likely sister to Archie Philpotts who will be running Mrs Patmore's bed and breakfast.

Appearances
Mrs Hughes: "And who will run it day to day?"
Mrs Patmore: "My niece, my sister's girl. She's agreed, so I am all set."
Episode 6.06

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Beryl Patmore's sister[]

Beryl Patmore's sister was mentioned by Beryl Patmore to Daisy Mason following the deaths of James and Patrick Crawley. She died sometime before 1912.

Appearances

Mentions
Daisy: "Seems like a lot of food when you think they're all in mourning."
Mrs Patmore: "Nothing makes you hungrier or more tired than grief. When my sister died, God rest her soul, I ate my way through four platefuls of sandwiches at one sitting and slept 'round the clock."
Daisy and Mrs Patmore after the deaths of James and Patrick Crawley.[src]

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Archibald “Archie” Philpotts[]

Archibald “Archie” Philpotts (b. between 18th February 1897 and 17th February 1898[26] - d. 5 February, 1917) was Beryl Patmore's nephew and Kate Philpotts' son.

He served as Private Philpotts during the Great War, but was declared "missing presumed dead" sometime before the end of the war. Beryl did not get her hopes up, and certainly thought him dead, but she asked Robert Crawley if he could ask about him at the War Office. The Earl found out that the boy had been shot for cowardice at the front.

Mrs Patmore later learned from her sister that their town was constructing their own memorial but Archie's name would not be included - because he deserted and was shot for cowardice, he was found unworthy by the committee.

Appearances

Mention

Beryl Patmore: "I lost my nephew, my sister's boy. H — he was shot… for cowardice. That's what they said. But I knew him, and he'd never have done such a thing if he hadn't've been half out of his mind with fear."
Henry Lang: "Don't blame him. It was him, but it could've been me. It could have been any of us."
Beryl Patmore and Henry Lang talk about the War.[src]

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Kate Philpotts[]

Kate Philpotts (née Patmore) was Beryl Patmore's sister.

Kate's son Archie was shot for cowardice in 1917, during the Great War. The War Office sent a telegram saying he was "missing presumed dead" to the family, but Robert Crawley found out what had happened to him and told the truth to Beryl. He urged her not to tell all the details to her sister, as he saw it best not to judge Private Philpotts during war time.

Appearances

Mention

Robert: "I do have some news of your nephew. I telephoned the war office and they've just come back to me, but I'm afraid it's not good news."
Mrs Patmore: "I — I knew he was dead all along. I — I said so to my sister. I said, "Kate", I said, "He's gone and you'll have to face — ""
— The Earl of Grantham reveals her nephew's fate to Mrs Patmore.[src]

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Anna Bates' mother[]

Anna's mother is cited by Anna as the source of several pieces of pithy wisdom. It is revealed in 1924 that Anna's father died while she was still quite young and her mother remarried.

“Fight fire with fire,” that’s what my mum says.
—Anna Smith Episode 1.05
Well, just remember what my mother used to say: never make an enemy by accident.
—Anna Bates in Episode 3.01

Appearances

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Anna Bates' father[]

Anna's father (d. 1892) was killed in an accident at work when she was still quite young. Her mother remarried, but was molested by her step father.

Appearances
Anna: "I should have told you, and I feel badly about it now. You know my father was a labourer."
Bates: "And he was killed in an accident at work."
Anna: "Yes, when I was about six, and me and my sister and mother were left destitute."
2014 Christmas Special

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Anna Bates' step father[]

Anna's step father married her mother after her father had been killed in an accident at work. He would molest Anna, and one night after he had been drinking, came after her. Anna then cut him with a kitchen knife.

Appearances
Bates: "Are you saying you killed him?"
Anna: "No, of course not. I threatened him. And when he wouldn't stop, I struck him with the blade. But I only cut him."
Bates: "You mean nothing happened?"
2014 Christmas Special

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Anna Bates' sister[]

Anna's sister was her younger sister who was left destitute with Anna and her mother following the death of her father in a work accident.

Appearances

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Spratt's Niece[]

Spratt's Niece got married in Liverpool at the same time Mary and Tony Gillingham were there for their little tryst. Mr. Spratt observes them leaving the Liverpool Grand Hotel. As Mr. Spratt gave her away at her wedding, tradition suggests her father is dead and Mr. Spratt is his father's oldest surviving brother.

Appearances
Isobel: "By the way, how is Spratt?"
Violet: "Well I think, why do you ask?"
Isobel: "He wasn't there to open the door, I wondered if he might be ill."
Violet: "Oh no, no. He's not ill, he is in Liverpool. His niece got married yesterday and Spratt had to take her down the aisle."
Episode 5.03

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Wally Stern[]

Wally Stern is a nephew of Violet's butler, Mr Spratt. He escapes from York prison in 1925.

Appearances
Sgt Willis: "Mr Spratt, do you know a mister Wally Stern?"
Spratt: "Yes, he's my sister's son"
Episode 6.03

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Politicians, Monarchs and Government Officials[]

[edit this section]

Amenhotep II[]

Amenhotep II (sometimes read as Amenophis II and meaning Amun is Satisfied) was the seventh Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. Amenhotep inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few military campaigns in Syria; however, he fought much less than his father, and his reign saw the effective cessation of hostilities between Egypt and Mitanni, the major kingdoms vying for power in Syria. His reign is usually dated from 1427 to 1401 BC.[27]

His consort was Tiaa, providing the name of the puppy Robert receives from his mother.

Appearances
Robert: "Now what are we going to call you? Oh, I know, Tiaa"
Edith: "I thought we always had names from ancient Egypt?"
Robert: "Tiaa was the wife of Amenhotep II and the mother of Thutmose IV"
Episode 6.07

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Joseph Gerald Antsy[]

The Hon. Joseph Gerald Antsy, MP, was a member of the Conservative and Unionist Party. In May, 1914, he was elected Member of Parliament for the Ripon constituency with a total of 6,363 votes. The announcement of the results of this by-election were turbulent, as there was a large crowd of liberal protesters for the women's right to vote, and a group of violent working-class men stormed through the City Hall courtyard, wanting to "wipe the smile off their Tory bloody faces". In the commotion that followed, Sybil Crawley was knocked to the floor and bumped her head on a low table, causing minor injury. The unconscious lady was rescued by Tom Branson, her chauffeur who had escorted her there, and Matthew Crawley, who had just left his law firm in Ripon.

Appearances

Mention

The Honourable Joseph Gerald Antsy for the Conservative and Unionist Party: 6,363 votes...
—The results of the 1914 by-election are announced at the Ripon City Hall.[src]

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Herbert Henry Asquith[]

Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928) served as the Liberal Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916. Until 5 January 1988, he had been the longest continuously serving Prime Minister in the 20th century.[28]

Appearances

Branson: "Why don't I sit down."
John Ward[29]: "Of course the question upper most in all of your minds is, why the split between Mr. Asquith and Mr. Lloyd George? Because a divided party spells electoral defeat."
— Episode 4.07

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Attila the Hun[]

Attila (434-452), frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. Attila was a leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from the Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. During his reign, he was one of the most feared enemies of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. He crossed the Danube twice and plundered the Balkans, but was unable to take Constantinople. [30]

Appearances
Rosamund: "You wanted a strong editor."
Edith: "But I didn't want to find myself in a bull ring with Attila the Hun."
— Episode 6.02

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The Queen of Spain[]

Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969, tenure 31 May 1906 – 14 April 1931 ) was Queen of Spain as the wife of King Alfonso XIII. She was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and the first cousin of King George V of the United Kingdom, Queen Maud of Norway, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, Queen Marie of Romania, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany and Queen Sophia of Greece. King Felipe VI of Spain is her great-grandson[31].

Sir Michael Reresby says she is among the distinguished guests he has entertained at his estate. While he does not mention her by name, the reign of the previous Queen ended in 1885.

Appearances

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Napoleon[]

Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the latter stages of the French Revolution and its associated wars in Europe.

As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815, the first monarch of France bearing the title emperor since the reign of Charles the Fat (881–887).[32]

Appearances

Isobel: "I've always admired the way Mrs Levinson is never overawed by the whole set up at Downton."
Violet: "Was Napoleon overawed by the Bourbons?"
— Episode 3.01

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George Bushell[]

George Bushell was the Superintendent Registrar at Ripon Register Office in the late 1910s.

Appearances

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King Canute[]

Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995 – 12 November 1035), more commonly known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway, and parts of Sweden, together often referred to as the Anglo-Scandinavian or North Sea Empire. After the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history. Historian Norman Cantor has made the statement that he was "the most effective king in Anglo-Saxon history", despite his not being Anglo-Saxon.

Henry of Huntingdon, the 12th-century chronicler, tells how Cnut set his throne by the sea shore and commanded the tide to halt and not wet his feet and robes. Yet "continuing to rise as usual [the tide] dashed over his feet and legs without respect to his royal person. Then the king leapt backwards, saying: 'Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws.' He then hung his gold crown on a crucifix, and never wore it again "to the honour of God the almighty King". This incident is usually misrepresented by popular commentators and politicians as an example of Cnut's arrogance.[33]

Appearances

Violet: "I see I am beaten, but oh how I sympathize with King Canute."
Mary: "Now what is this idea?"
— Episode 4.02

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King Charles I[]

Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649.

Charles was the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England, where he spent much of the rest of his life. He became heir apparent to the English, Irish and Scottish thrones on the death of his elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1612. An unsuccessful and unpopular attempt to marry him to a Spanish Habsburg princess culminated in an eight-month visit to Spain in 1623 that demonstrated the futility of the marriage negotiations. Two years later he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France instead.

From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War. After his defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament. Charles refused to accept his captors' demands for a constitutional monarchy, and temporarily escaped captivity in November 1647. Re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for high treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and a republic called the Commonwealth of England was declared. In 1660, the English Interregnum ended when the monarchy was restored to Charles's son, Charles II.[34]

King Charles I

A large 1635 portrait of Charles I by Anthony van Dyck[35] adorns the head of the dining room.

Appearances
Branson: "It was terrible of course, but the English killed King Charles the first to create a balance between the thrown and parliament."
Robert: "I didn't kill him personally."
Branson: "I didn't shoot the imperial family."
Episode 5.02

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Winston Churchill[]

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British politician at the forefront of politics for fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. Before the First World War, he served as President of the Board of Trade, Home Secretary, and First Lord of the Admiralty as part of the Asquith Liberal government. During the war, he continued as First Lord of the Admiralty until the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign caused his departure from government. He then briefly resumed active army service on the Western Front as commander of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. He returned to government as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Air.[36]

Appearances

Cora: "How can that be? You were told you weren't wanted for active service. You can't jump in the army like a jack-in-the-box."
Robert: "I don't see why not. Churchill went back to the front after the Gallipoli business. If he can do it, why shouldn't I? "
— Episode 2.01

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Oliver Cromwell[]

Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader and later Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.[37]

Appearances

Mr Carson: "I have never been more sure of anything."
Mrs Hughes: "Well Mr Carson, if you want me, then you can have me. To quote Oliver Cromwell, warts and all."
— Episode 6.01

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Martin James Dillon[]

Martin James Dillon was a candidate of the May, 1914 by-election to serve as Member of Parliament for the Ripon constituency. He ran for the Socialist Party and earned a total of 2,741 votes, but lost the election to Tory candidate Joseph Gerald Antsy.

Appearances

Mention

Martin James Dillon, for the Socialist Party: 2,741 votes...
—The results of the 1914 by-election are announced at the Ripon City Hall.[src]

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Senator Fall[]

Albert Bacon Fall (November 26, 1861 – November 30, 1944) was a United States Senator from New Mexico and the Secretary of the Interior under President Warren G. Harding, infamous for his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal.[38]

Appearances

Cora: "Have we ever met this Senator Fall?"
Robert: "Not that I remember."
— Episode 4.06

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The Archduke[]

Franz Ferdinand (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. This caused the Central Powers (including Germany and Austria-Hungary) and the Allies of World War I (countries allied with Serbia or Serbia's allies) to declare war on each other, starting World War I. [39]

Appearances

Robert: "Any local news?"
Mrs. Hughes: "The main topic here is the murder of the Austrian Archduke."
Mr. Carson: "Here and everywhere else."
— Episode 1.07

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Lord Henley[]

Robert Henley, 1st Earl of Northington (c. 1708 - 14 January 1772), was the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a member of the Whig Party in the parliament and was known for his wit and writing.[40]

In Shanley v Harvey (1763) 2 Eden 126, a claim was instituted by Shanley as administrator of the estate of his deceased niece.

Shanley had brought Harvey as a child slave, to England, 12 years earlier and had given him to his niece. She had him baptised and had changed his name. She became very ill and about an hour before her death, she gave Harvey about £800 in cash (a substantial sum in those days), asked him to pay the butcher's bill and to make good use of the money. After her death, Shanley brought an action against Harvey to recover the money.

Lord Henley, the Lord Chancellor, dismissed the action, with costs against Shanley. In his judgment he held that as soon as a person set foot on English soil, he or she became free and that a "negro" might maintain an action against his or her master for ill usage, together with an application for habeas corpus if detained. However, such comments were not necessary for the decision in the case, and in law were only obiter dictum and not binding on subsequent courts.[41]

Appearances

Mrs. Hughes: "Mr. Ross. You have uncovered something about the past that Mr. Carson does not approve of. Well done."
Mr. Carson: "Not so fast, Mrs. Hughes. We led the world in the fight against slavery. Remember Lord Henley's judgement of 1763. If a man sets foot on English soil, then he is free."
— Episode 4.06

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Herod[]

Herod Antipater (born before 20 BC – died after 39 AD), known by the nickname Antipas, was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter"). He is best known today for accounts in the New Testament of his role in events that led to the executions of John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth.[42]

He was the father of Salome.


Appearances
Isobel: "What was all that about?"
Violet: "In Denker's mind, she is Salome. You know, dancing rings around Spratt's Herod."
2015 Christmas Special

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Adolf Hitler[]

Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the Nazi Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP); National Socialist German Workers Party).

Hitler was a decorated veteran of World War I. He joined the German Workers' Party (precursor of the NSDAP) in 1919, and became leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923, he attempted a coup in Munich to seize power. The failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which time he wrote his memoir, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). After his release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, antisemitism, and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. Hitler frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as being part of a Jewish conspiracy.[43]

Appearances
Robert: "Gregson's dead I am afraid"
Cora: "How terrible that is to hear. And was it this herr Hitler?"
Robert: "Apparently. At least his gang of thugs."
— Episode 4.06

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Thomas Jefferson[]

Thomas Jefferson (April 13 [O.S. April 2] 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the third President of the United States (1801–1809).[44]

Appearances

Violet: "Good heavens, what am I sitting on?"
Matthew: "A swivel chair."
Violet: "Another modern brainwave?"
Matthew: "Not very modern, they were invented by Thomas Jefferson."
Violet: "Why does every day involve a fight with an American?"
— Episode 1.04

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King John[]

John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216), also known as John Lackland, was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death in 1216. Following the battle of Bouvines, John lost the duchy of Normandy to King Philip II of France, which resulted in the collapse of most of the Angevin Empire and contributed to the subsequent growth in power of the Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of the Magna Carta, a document sometimes considered to be an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.[45]

Appearances
Rosamund: "By wielding your unelected power?"
Violet: "The point of so-called great families is to protect our freedoms. That is why the barons made King John sign the Magna Carta."
Episode 6.04

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Kerensky[]

Alexander Kerensky (4 May [O.S. 22 April] 1881 – 11 June 1970) was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.

Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until it was overthrown by the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin in the October Revolution. He spent the remainder of his life in exile, dying in New York City in 1970 at the age of 89.[46]

Appearances

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Lenin[]

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1870 – 21 January 1924) was a Russian communist revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He served as the leader of the Russian SFSR from 1917, and then concurrently as Premier of the Soviet Union from 1922, until his death. [47]

Appearances

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David Lloyd George[]

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM PC (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was a British Liberal politician and statesman. He was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and led a Wartime Coalition Government between 1916 and 1922 and was the Leader of the Liberal Party from 1926 to 1931.[48]

Appearances

Robert: "And Mr. Lloyd George's new insurance measures will help."
Violet: "Please don't speak that man's name; we are about to eat."
— Episode 1.02

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George III[]

George III (George William Frederick (4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death. He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg ("Hanover") in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, but unlike his two Hanoverian predecessors he was born in Britain, spoke English as his first language, and never visited Hanover.[49]

In 1772, he granted the title of "Earl of Grantham" to the Crawley Family.

Appearances

Robert: "I'm Sorry. When's the funeral?"
Tom: "Tomorrow, will you go?"
Robert: "I will. His forebarers have been tenants since the reign of George the third."
— Episode 4.05

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Ramsay MacDonald[]

James Ramsay MacDonald (12 October 1866 – 9 November 1937) was a British statesman who was the first ever Labour Party Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, leading a Labour Government in 1924, a Labour Government from 1929 to 1931, and a National Government from 1931 to 1935.[50]

Appearances

Mary: "What is your main objection to Mr. MacDonald? That the Prime Minister is the son of a crofter[51]?"
Robert: "I couldn't care less if he was the son of Fu Manchu. What worries me is that our government is comitted to the destruction of people like us, and everything we stand for."
— Episode 5.01

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Machiavelli[]

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was an Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and writer based in Florence during the Renaissance. He was for many years an official in the Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs. He was a founder of modern political science, and more specifically political ethics. He also wrote comedies, carnival songs, and poetry. His personal correspondence is renowned in the Italian language. He was Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Republic of Florence from 1498 to 1512, when the Medici were out of power. He wrote his masterpiece, The Prince, after the Medici had recovered power and he no longer held a position of responsibility in Florence.

"Machiavellianism" is a widely used negative term to characterize unscrupulous politicians of the sort Machiavelli described in The Prince. The book itself gained enormous notoriety and wide readership because the author seemed to be endorsing behavior often deemed as evil and immoral.[52]

Appearances

Cora: "Is she really so Machiavellian?"
Robert: "Yes"
— Episode 3.07

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Marie Antoinette[]

Marie Antoinette (2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) baptised Maria Antonia Josepha (or Josephina) Johanna, born an Archduchess of Austria, was Dauphine of France from 1770 to 1774 and Queen of France and Navarre from 1774 to 1792. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa.[53]

Appearances

Isobel: "And must you always sound like the sister of Marie Antoinette?"
Violet: "The Queen of Naples was a stalwart figure. I take it as a compliment"
— 2013 Christmas Special

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Marlborough[]

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim KG PC (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S), was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs. Rising from a lowly page at the court of the House of Stuart, he served James, Duke of York, through the 1670s and early 1680s, earning military and political advancement through his courage and diplomatic skill.[54]

Appearances
Isobel: "You'll stop at nothing to get your own way. Isn't that the truth?"
Violet: "Indeed. It is a quality I share with Marlborough, Wellington, and my late mother. I was trained in a hard school, and I fight accordingly."
Episode 6.05

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Countess Markievicz[]

Constance Georgine Markievicz, Countess Markievicz (4 February 1868 – 15 July 1927) was an Irish Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil politician, revolutionary nationalist, suffragette and socialist. In December 1918, she was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons, though she did not take her seat and, along with the other Sinn Féin TDs, formed the first Dáil Éireann. She was also one of the first women in the world to hold a cabinet position (Minister for Labour of the Irish Republic, 1919–1922). [55]

Appearances

Matthew: "So, what was the deal you managed to extract from the home secretary?"
Robert: "They don’t want to make a martyr of him. And with Sybil, they think they could have another Maud Gonne on their hands, or Lady Gregory, or worse if they’re not careful."
Violet: "Lady Gregory, Countess Markievicz...why are the Irish rebels so well born?"
— Episode 3.04

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Queen Mary[]

Queen Mary could potentially refer to either of two near contemporaneous and notorious Queen Marys:

Mary I of England (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), the only child of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon who survived to adulthood. Mary is remembered for her restoration of Roman Catholicism after the short-lived Protestant reign of her half-brother. During her five-year reign, she had over 280 religious dissenters burned at the stake in the Marian persecutions, earning her the sobriquet Bloody Mary.[56]

Mary I of Scotland (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary Queen of Scots, the only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland. She was six days old when her father died and she acceded to the throne. She at one time had claimed the throne held by Elizabeth I and was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics, including participants in a rebellion known as the Rising of the North. Perceiving her as a threat, Elizabeth had her confined in various castles and manor houses in the interior of England. After eighteen and a half years in custody, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth, and was subsequently executed.[57]

Note: It is unlikely Tom Branson is referring to the current (1925) Queen, as Mary of Teck is Queen Consort to George V, while Tom is clearly referring to a ruling Queen.

Appearances
Tom Branson: "I'll have to make sure the load is lightened after he comes home."
Mary: "To be more precise Tom, from now on you and I need to take full reponsibility for running the estate. We'll involve him in the big decisions of course, but he mustn't have any more worry. That's why he got the ulcer in the first place."
Tom Branson: "So long live our own Queen Mary."
Episode 6.05

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John Stuart Mill[]

John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 8 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist and civil servant. He was an influential contributor to social theory, political theory and political economy. He has been called "the most influential English-speaking philosopher of the nineteenth century". Mill's conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of utilitarianism, an ethical theory developed by Jeremy Bentham. Hoping to remedy the problems found in an inductive approach to science, such as confirmation bias, he clearly set forth the premises of falsifiability as the key component in the scientific method. Mill was also a Member of Parliament and an important figure in liberal political philosophy.[58]

Appearances

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Trevor Andrew Morgan[]

Trevor Andrew Morgan was a candidate of the May, 1914 by-election to serve as Member of Parliament for the Ripon constituency. He ran for the Liberal Party and earned a total of 5,894 votes, but lost the election to Tory candidate Joseph Gerald Antsy.

Appearances

Mention

Trevor Andrew Morgan, the Liberal Party... 5,894 votes!
—The results of the 1914 by-election are announced at the Ripon City Hall.[[Episode 1.06|[src]]]

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Tsar Nicholas I[]

Nicholas I (Nikolai I Pavlovich; 6 July [O.S. 25 June] 1796 – 2 March [O.S. 18 February] 1855) was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855. He was also the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. He is best known as a political conservative whose reign was marked by geographical expansion, repression of dissent, economic stagnation, poor administrative policies, a corrupt bureaucracy, and frequent wars that culminated in Russia's disastrous defeat in the Crimean War of 1853-56.[59]

Appearances
Here. Give it here. Tsar Nicholas I called Turkey the sick man of Europe. What were the causes of Turkey's illness and what measures are the Russians prescribing for its recovery.
—Thomas Barrow Episode 6.07

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The Tsar[]

Nicholas II (Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov) (18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Duke of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias.[60] King George V of England was his first cousin.

Appearances

Branson: "Kerensky's been made Prime Minister, but he won't go far enough for me. Lenin denounces the bourgeoisie along with the tsar. He wants a people's revolution. That's what I'm waiting for. Won't be long now."
Carson: "And what happened to the tsar?"
Branson: "Imprisoned in the Alexander Palace with all his family."
— Episode 2.03

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The Queen of Naples[]

Maria Carolina of Austria (13 August 1752 – 8 September 1814), sister to Marie Antoinette, was Queen of Naples and Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand IV & III. As de facto ruler of her husband's kingdoms, Maria Carolina oversaw the promulgation of many reforms, including the revocation of the ban on Freemasonry, the enlargement of the navy under her favourite, John Acton, 6th Baronet, and the expulsion of Spanish influence. She was a proponent of enlightened absolutism until the advent of the French Revolution, when, in order to prevent its ideas gaining currency, she made Naples a police state.[61]

Appearances

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Archibald Primrose[]

Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, KG, PC (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. In 1878, Rosebery married Hannah de Rothschild, the only child of the Jewish banker Baron Mayer de Rothschild, and the greatest British heiress of her day.

Rosebery first came to national attention in 1879-1880 by sponsoring the successful Midlothian campaign of William Ewart Gladstone. He briefly was in charge of Scottish affairs. This finest performance in office came as chairman of the London County Council in 1889. He entered the cabinet in 1885 and served twice as foreign minister, paying special attention to French and German affairs. He succeeded Gladstone as prime minister and leader of the Liberal party in 1894.[62]

Appearances

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Robespierre[]

Maximilien François Marie Isidore Robespierre (6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and politician, and one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution.

The guillotine (called the "National Razor") became the symbol of the revolutionary cause, strengthened by a string of executions: King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, the Girondins, Philippe Égalité (Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans), and Madame Roland, and others such as pioneering chemist Antoine Lavoisier, lost their lives under its blade. Through the Revolutionary Tribunal, the Terror's leaders exercised broad dictatorial powers and used them to instigate mass executions and political purges. The repression accelerated in June and July 1794, a period called la Grande Terreur (the Great Terror), and ended in the coup of 9 Thermidor Year II (27 July 1794), leading to the Thermidorian Reaction, in which several instigators of the Reign of Terror were executed, including Saint-Just and Robespierre.[63][64]

Appearances

Mary: "So what new scheme are you working on to beat down the upper classes?"
Charles Blake: "You think me much more of a Robespierre than I really am."
— 2013 Christmas Special

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Jonathan Swire[]

Jonathan Swire, a Liberal Minister, is the brother of the late Reggie Swire, a solicitor.

Once, when his brother owed Sir Richard Carlisle a large amount of money and was unable to repay him, his niece Lavinia went to Carlisle to plead on her father's behalf. He made a deal with her: he would forgive her father's debt if she would deliver to him some papers of state in Jonathan's possession. She agreed, stole the papers from her uncle and delivered them to Sir Richard. The publication of information in the papers triggered the Marconi scandal.

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Thutmose IV[]

Thutmose IV (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis IV and meaning Thoth bore him) was the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt, who ruled in approximately the 14th century BC. His prenomen or royal name, Menkheperure, means "Established in forms is Re."[65]

He is the son of Amenhotep II and Tiaa, possibly usurping the place of an elder brother.

Appearances

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Tiaa[]

Tiaa or Tia'a was an Ancient Egyptian queen during the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt. She was the wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep II and the mother of Thutmose IV. She is never called king's daughter, and thus her parentage is unknown. It has been speculated that she was Amenhotep's sister or half sister, but it is not certain.[66]

The new dog Robert receives from his mother in 1925 is named after her.

Appearances

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Howard Tyrel[]

Howard Tyrel was the Registrar of Births and Deaths at Ripon Register Office in the late 1910s.

Appearances

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Wellington[]

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852), was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain. His defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 put him in the top rank of Britain's military heroes. After ending his active military career, Wellesley returned to politics. He was twice British prime minister as part of the Tory party: from 1828 to 1830, and for a little less than a month in 1834.[67]

Appearances
Isobel: "You'll stop at nothing to get your own way. Isn't that the truth?"
Violet: "Indeed. It is a quality I share with Marlborough, Wellington, and my late mother. I was trained in a hard school, and I fight accordingly."
Episode 6.05

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The Crown Prince[]

Friedrich Wilhelm Victor Augustus Ernest (6 May 1882 – 20 July 1951) of the House of Hohenzollern was the last Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Prussia and the German Empire. [68]

Appearances

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The Kaiser[]

Wilhelm II or William II (Frederick William Victor Albert of Prussia; 27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was the eldest grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe, two notable contemporary relations being his first cousin King George V of the United Kingdom, founder of the House of Windsor, and his second cousin Tsar Nicholas II of the House of Romanov, the last ruler of the Russian Empire before the Russian Revolution of 1917 which deposed the monarchy. [69]

Appearances

Carson: "A German republic? No, I don't think so, Mr Branson. The Kaiser will go, I grant you, and maybe the Crown Prince, too, but there'll be a regency, mark my words. Monarchy is the lifeblood of Europe."
Branson: "Sorry Mr. Carson, but I think you will find that the kings and emperors have had their day; if President Wilson has anything to say about it."
— Episode 2.06

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Woodrow Wilson[]

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the United States, in office from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913.[70]

Appearances

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Authors, Composers, Actors and Entertainers[]

[edit this section]

Dante[]

Durante degli Alighieri simply referred to as Dante (c. 1265–1321), was a major Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His Divine Comedy, originally called La Comedia and later called Divina by Boccaccio, is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.[71]

Appearances

Matthew: "This is like the outer circle of Dante's Inferno"
Rosamund: "The outer circle?"
— Episode 3.08

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Theda Bara[]

Theda Bara (July 29, 1885 – April 7, 1955), born as Theodosia Goodman, was an American silent film and stage actress from Cincinnati.

Bara was one of the most popular actresses of the silent era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname The Vamp (short for vampire). Bara made more than 40 films between 1914 and 1926, but most are now lost due to a fire that destroyed the majority of her films in 1937. After her marriage to Charles Brabin in 1921, she made two more feature films and retired from acting in 1926 having never appeared in a sound film. She died of stomach cancer at the age of 69.[72]

Appearances

Carson: "Oh, you should see some of the gadgets in the kitchens. And the bathrooms, oh, goodness me. They're like something out of a film with Theda Bara."
Hughes: "I'm surprised you know who Theda Bara is."
Carson: "Oh, I get about, Mrs Hughes. I get about. "
— Episode 2.07

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John Barrymore[]

John Sidney Blyth (February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942), known as John Barrymore and Jack Barrymore, was an American actor of stage, screen and radio. He first gained attention as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in his portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III. His success continued with motion pictures in various genres in both the silent and sound eras. Barrymore's personal life has been the subject of much writing before and since his death in 1942. The most prominent member of a theatrical dynasty, he was the brother of Lionel and Ethel Barrymore.[73]

Appearances
Mary: "I know, and I wish you much happiness Tony. I really do."
Mabel Lane Fox: "I don't want to hurry anyone, but can we bring this to an end? I've had quite enough sentiment from John Barrymore, and I'm starving."
Tony: "Goodbye Mary, and good luck to you."
Episode 5.07

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Bartok[]

Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Liszt are regarded as Hungary's greatest composers. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of comparative musicology, which later became ethnomusicology.[74]

Appearances

Violet: "What a relief, I thought we might have been in for some of that awful German lieder. You can always rely on Puccini."
Isobel: "I prefer Bartok."
Violet: "You would."
Episode 4.03

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Clara Bow[]

Clara Gordon Bow (July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom in silent film during the 1920s. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the film It brought her global fame and the nickname "The It Girl". Bow came to personify the Roaring Twenties and is described as its leading sex symbol.[75]

Appearances
Daisy: "How do I look?"
Andy: "Like Clara Bow"
2015 Christmas Special

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Emily Brontë[]

Emily Jane Brontë (30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. She was born in the village of Thornton, West Riding of Yorkshire, in Northern England, to Maria Branwell and an Irish father Patrick Brontë. She was the fifth of six children, of which the two oldest, Maria and Elizabeth, died in childhood. Her other two sisters, Charlotte and Anne, became writers in their own right.[76]

Appearances
Rose: "We're taking my Russians to Haworth to see where the Brontës lived."
Cora: "What will they make of the Brontës?"
Isobel: "Oh good things surely. Hopeless lovers wandering over a desolate moor. If it wasn't Emily Brontë, it could be Tolstoy or Gogol."
Episode 5.03

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Lord Byron[]

George Gordon Byron 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was an English poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among Byron's best-known works are the lengthy narrative poems Don Juan and Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and the short lyric "She Walks in Beauty." He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential.

He traveled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died at age 36 from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi in Greece.[77]

Appearances

Violet: "It's too good, the one thing we don't want is a poet in the family."
Isobel: "Would it be so bad?"
Violet: "The only poet peer I am familiar with is Lord Byron, and I presume we all know how that ended?"
— Episode 4.05

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Ivy Close[]

Ivy Close (15 June 1890 – 4 December 1968) was a British actress. She acted in 44 films between 1912 and 1929. Her first husband was photographer and filmmaker Elwin Neame (1885-1923). Together they established Ivy Close Films in 1914, one of the first movie production companies founded by a film star.[78]

Appearances

Alfred: "How about Ivy Close in The Ware Case? She made Lillian Gish look like a school marm."
Ivy: "Ivy Close, it's funny thinking of a film star having your own name."
— Episode 3.07

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Phyllis Dare[]

Phyllis Dare (15 August 1890 – 27 April 1975) born Phyllis Constance Haddie Dones in Chelsea, London, was an English singer and actress, famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre in the first half of the 20th century.[79]

Appearances

James: "I say, Phyllis Dare is going to the Theatre Royal in York. Miss Dare will appear in The Lady of the Rose, the hit musical of the London season."
Ivy: "Who is Phyllis Dare?"
James: "Only one of the Dare sisters"
— Episode 4.02

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della Francesca[]

Piero della Francesca (c. 1415 – 12 October 1492) was a painter of the Early Renaissance. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Artists, to contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its serene humanism, its use of geometric forms and perspective. His most famous work is the cycle of frescoes The Legend of the True Cross in the church of San Francesco in the Tuscan town of Arezzo.[80]

Appearances
Mention
Kemal Pamuk: "Is this picture really a Della Francesca?"
Mary: "I think so. The second earl brought back several paintings from--"
Episode 1.03

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Diaghilev[]

Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev (31 March 1872 – 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise. Diaghilev was known as a hard, demanding, even frightening taskmaster[81].

Appearances
Andy: "Is that straight?"
Baxter: "Down and a bit to the left."
Bates: "We're not striving for a setting by Diaghilev, the point is we have made an effort."
Episode 6.04

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Charles Dickens[]

Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.[82]

Appearances

Mrs. Hughes: "Mr. Carson, he is in the workhouse. And if you were wondering, it is as bad as if it were in a novel by Dickens."
Mr. Carson: "Haven't they closed the workhouses"
Mrs. Hughes: "No they haven't. Not all of them."
— Episode 4.01

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Douglas Fairbanks[]

Douglas Fairbanks (May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films such as The Thief of Bagdad, Robin Hood, and The Mark of Zorro but spent the early part of his career making comedies.

An astute businessman, Fairbanks was a founding member of United Artists. Fairbanks was also a founding member of The Motion Picture Academy and hosted the first Oscars Ceremony in 1929. With his marriage to Mary Pickford in 1920s, the couple became Hollywood royalty and Fairbanks was referred to as "The King of Hollywood", a nickname later passed on to actor Clark Gable. His career rapidly declined however with the advent of the "talkies". His final film was The Private Life of Don Juan (1934).[83]

Appearances
Mary: "You're not being fair. I am not some overheated housemaid drooling over a photograph of Douglas Fairbanks."
Charles Blake: "Plantagenets are as susceptible as housemaids when it comes to sex."
Episode 5.02

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Lillian Gish[]

Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893 – February 27, 1993) was an American stage, screen and television actress, director and writer whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987. Gish was called The First Lady of American Cinema. [84]

Appearances

Alfred: "Lillian Gish is in it."
Ivy: "I like her."
— Episode 3.07

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Elinor Glyn[]

Elinor Glyn née Sutherland (b. 17 October 1864 – d. 23 September 1943), was a British novelist and scriptwriter who specialised in romantic fiction which was considered scandalous for its time. She popularized the concept of it. Although her works are relatively tame by modern standards, she had tremendous influence on early 20th century popular culture and perhaps on the careers of notable Hollywood stars such as Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson and Clara Bow in particular.[85]

Appearances

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Lady Gregory[]

Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932), born Isabella Augusta Persse, was an Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, and wrote numerous short works for both companies. Lady Gregory produced a number of books of retellings of stories taken from Irish mythology. Born into a class that identified closely with British rule, her conversion to cultural nationalism, as evidenced by her writings, was emblematic of many of the political struggles to occur in Ireland during her lifetime.[86]

Appearances

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Rider Haggard[]

Sir Henry Rider Haggard (22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) known as H. Rider Haggard — was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform throughout the British Empire. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and influential.[87]

Appearances

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Nathaniel Hawthorne[]

Nathaniel Hawthorne born Nathaniel Hathorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer.

Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce.[88]

Appearances

Violet: "What is The Scarlet Letter?"
Edith: "A novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne."
— Episode 3.07

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Edmond Hoyle[]

Edmond Hoyle (1672 - August 29, 1769) was an English writer known for his books on rules and play for card games. The phrase "according to Hoyle" came about in reference to his perceived-authority on the subject of card games.

Appearances

Harold: "Did this fellow Gregson give you a difficult time of it?"
Sampson: "To be perfectly honest I wasn't sure he was playing strictly according to Hoyle but, we'll leave it since the poor chap's missing."
— 2013 Christmas Special

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Dr. Johnson[]

Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 [O.S. 7 September] – 13 December 1784), often referred to as Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. Johnson was a devout Anglican and committed Tory, and has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". He is also the subject of "the most famous single work of biographical art in the whole of literature": James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson.[89]

Appearances

Mrs. Hughes: "Perhaps people are tired of...style and show."
Mr. Carson: "Well, in my opinion, to misquote Dr Johnson, “if you’re tired of style, you are tired of life.”"
— Episode 3.02

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Al Jolson[]

Al Jolson born Asa Yoelson (May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was an American singer, film actor, and comedian. At the peak of his career, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer".

His performing style was brash and extroverted, and he popularized a large number of songs that benefited from his "shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach".[90]

Appearances

Rose: "I love Al Jolson. Don't you? I have all his records."
John Bullock: "Including April Showers?"
Rose: "Of course. I love it madly."
— Episode 4.03

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Karl Marx[]

Karl Heinrich Marx (5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. Marx's work in economics laid the basis for the current understanding of labour and its relation to capital, and has influenced much of subsequent economic thought. He published numerous books during his lifetime, the most notable being The Communist Manifesto (1848) and Das Kapital (1867–1894).[91]

Appearances

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Tom Mix[]

Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. Between 1909 and 1935, Mix appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent movies. He was Hollywood's first Western megastar and is noted as having helped define the genre for all cowboy actors who followed.[92]

Appearances

Thomas: "Don’t tell me what I mean, Miss O’Brien. I’m warning you."
O'Brien: "Listen to yourself. You sound like Tom Mix in a Wild West picture show. Stop warning me and go and lay out His Lordship’s pyjamas."
— Episode 3.02

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Pola Negri[]

Pola Negri (born Barbara Apolonia Chałupec, 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress who achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles.

She was the first European film star to be invited to Hollywood, and became one of the most popular actresses in American silent film. Her varied career included work as an actress in theatre and vaudeville; as a singer and recording artist; as an author; and as a ballerina.[93]

Appearances
Mary: "Ready or not, I am coming in."
Isobel: "Pola Negri comes to Yorkshire."
Episode 5.06

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Mabel Normand[]

Mabel Normand was an American silent film comedienne and actress. She was a popular star of Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios and is noted as one of the film industry's first female screenwriters, producers and directors. Onscreen she co-starred in commercially successful films with Charles Chaplin and Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle more than a dozen times each, occasionally writing and directing movies featuring Chaplin as her leading man. At the height of her career in the late 1910s and early 1920s, Normand had her own movie studio and production company.[94]

Appearances

Daisy: "What you reading?"
Ethel: "Photoplay about Mable Normand. She was nothing when she started, you know. Her father was a carpenter and they'd no money, and now she's a shining film star. "
— Episode 2.01

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Puccini[]

Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas are among the important operas played as standards.

Puccini has been called "the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi". While his early work was rooted in traditional late-19th-century romantic Italian opera, he successfully developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents.[95]

Appearances

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Rosetti[]

Christina Rosetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) Her father was the poet Gabriele Rossetti; her brother was major Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Christina Rossetti is best known for her ballads, her religious lyrics, and her themes of death, salvation, and redemption. Rossetti's best-known work, Goblin Market and Other Poems, was published in 1862. The collection established Rossetti as a significant voice in Victorian poetry. The lines quoted in Episode 4.03 are from her poem, Remember (1862): Better by far you should forget and smileThan that you should remember and be sad.[96]

Appearances

Violet: "Better by far that you should forget his smile, than to remember and be sad."
Isobel: "But Rosetti was writing about her own death, not her child's."
— Episode 4.03

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Ruskin[]

John Ruskin (8 February 1819 – 20 January 1900) was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political economy. His writing styles and literary forms were equally varied. Ruskin penned essays and treatises, poetry and lectures, travel guides and manuals, letters and even a fairy tale. The elaborate style that characterised his earliest writing on art was later superseded by a preference for plainer language designed to communicate his ideas more effectively. In all of his writing, he emphasised the connections between nature, art and society. He also made detailed sketches and paintings of rocks, plants, birds, landscapes, and architectural structures and ornamentation.[97]

Appearances

Robert: "If it had been left to that bloody fool, Branson. You should see what he reads. It's all Marx and Ruskin and John Stuart Mill. I ask you. "
Mary: "Papa prefers the servants to read the bible and letters from home."
— Episode 1.06

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Shakespeare[]

William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616) was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, the authorship of some of which is uncertain. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.[98]

Appearances

Daisy: "I don't know what to say."
Mrs. Patmore: "It doesn't matter. He's dying. Just say nice, warm, comforting things. Make him feel loved. You don't have to be Shakespeare."
— Episode 2.05

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Marie Stopes[]

Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (15 October 1880 – 2 October 1958) was a British author, palaeobotanist, academic, eugenicist, campaigner for women's rights, and pioneer in the field of birth control. Her contributions to plant palaeontology and coal classification were significant, and she was the first female academic on the faculty of the University of Manchester. With her second husband Humphrey Verdon Roe she founded the first birth control clinic in Britain. Stopes edited the newsletter Birth Control News which gave explicit practical advice. Her sex manual Married Love was controversial and influential: it brought the subject of birth control into wide public discourse. She was never in favour of abortion, arguing that preventing conception was all that was needed.[99]

Appearances
Bates: "I looked in all the cupboards, and I found some other things."
Anna: "Oh yes."
Bates: "Yes. I found a book by Marie Stopes."
Episode 5.06

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Lytton Strachey[]

Giles Lytton Strachey (1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was a British writer and critic.

A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group[100] and author of Eminent Victorians, he is best known for establishing a new form of biography in which psychological insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit. His biography Queen Victoria (1921) was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.[101]

Appearances
Rosamund: "How exotic. I expect to find the whole of the Bloomsbury set curled up in the corner with a book."
Edith: "Michael knew quite a few of them actually. I met Virginia Woolf in this room, and Lytton Strachey, although he didn't stay very long."
Episode 6.01

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Ellen Terry[]

Dame Ellen Terry GBE, born Alice Ellen Terry (27 February 1847 – 21 July 1928) was an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London and toured throughout the British provinces as a teen.

In 1878 she joined Henry Irving's company as his leading lady, and for more than the next two decades she was considered the leading Shakespearean and comic actress in Britain. Two of her most famous roles were Portia in The Merchant of Venice and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. She and Irving also toured with great success in America and Britain.

In 1903 Terry took over management of London's Imperial Theatre, focusing on the plays of George Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen. The venture was a financial failure, and Terry turned to touring and lecturing. She continued to find acting success until 1920, while also appearing in films until 1922. Her career lasted nearly seven decades.[102]

Appearances
Violet: "What news of your suitor?"
Isobel: "I haven't heard from him lately."
Violet: "Have you decided what answer you are going to give him yet?"
Isobel: "Well I think I should tell him before I tell you. Wouldn't you agree?"
Violet: "Ellen Terry has nothing on you when it comes to stringing out a moment."
Episode 5.05

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Trollope[]

Anthony Trollope (24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote perceptive novels on political, social, and gender issues, and on other topical matters.[103]

Appearances
Robert: "Did you enjoy the hunt today, Mr Napier? Mary said you had a tremendous run."
Evelyn Napier: "It was like something out of a trollop novel."
Episode 1.03

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Rudolph Valentino[]

Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguolla professionally known as Rudolph Valentino (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle, and The Son of the Sheik. An early pop icon, a sex symbol of the 1920s, he was known as the "Latin Lover" or simply as "Valentino". He had applied for American citizenship shortly before his death, which occurred at age 31, causing mass hysteria among his female fans and further propelling him into icon status.[104]

Appearances

Mrs. Patmore: "What are you going to see?"
James: "The Sheik"
Mrs. Patmore: "Ooh, I like that Rudolph Valentino."
— Episode 4.06

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Jules Verne[]

Jules Verne (8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright best known for his adventure novels and his profound influence on the literary genre of science fiction.[105]

Appearances

O'Brien: "You'll have to find some work."
Thomas: "It's not that easy. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry's looking for work these days and they don't all have a hand like a Jules Verne experiment."
— Episode 2.08

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H. G. Wells[]

Herbert George "H. G." Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing textbooks and rules for war games. Wells is sometimes called "The Father of Science Fiction", as are Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. His most notable science fiction works include The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The Island of Doctor Moreau.[106]

Appearances

Matthew: "It seems very wise to get a telephone now. If there is a war, it may be very hard to have one installed in a private house."
Robert: "Well, let me show you where we're going to put it."
Violet: "First electricity, now telephones. Sometimes I feel as if I were living in an H.G. Wells novel. But the young are all so calm about change, aren't they? Look at Matthew. I do admire him."
— Episode 1.07

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Oscar Wilde[]

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900) was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his epigrams, his only novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray), his plays, and the circumstances of his imprisonment and early death.[107]

Appearances

O'Brien: "Well I am surprised you are a fan of Mr. Oscar Wilde"
Bates: "You have known about Mr. Barrow all along. So what has changed now?"
— Episode 3.08

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Sarah Wilson[]

Sarah Wilson (1865 – 22 October 1929), born Lady Sarah Isabella Augusta Spencer-Churchill, became the first woman war correspondent in 1899, when she was recruited by Alfred Harmsworth to cover the Siege of Mafeking for the Daily Mail during the Boer War. She was the youngest daughter of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough.[108]

Appearances

Violet: "What do you mean you wrote to a newspaper? No lady writes to a newspaper."
Edith: "What about Lady Sarah Wilson? She’s the daughter of a duke and she worked as a war journalist."
Violet: "Well, she’s a Churchill. The Churchills are different."
— Episode 3.04

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Other Historical Figures[]

[edit this section]

Archbishop of Canterbury[]

Randall Thomas Davidson 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth GCVO PC (7 April 1848 – 25 May 1930) was an Anglican bishop of Scottish origin who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1903 to 1928.[109]

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. From the time of Augustine in the 6th until the 16th century, the Archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the See of Rome and they usually received the pallium. During the English Reformation the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church.[110]

Randall Davidson was succeeded in 1928 by William Cosmo Gordon Lang.

Appearances

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Archimedes[]

Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) was an Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity.

Generally considered the greatest mathematician of antiquity and one of the greatest of all time, Archimedes anticipated modern calculus and analysis by applying concepts of infinitesimals and the method of exhaustion to derive and rigorously prove a range of geometrical theorems, including the area of a circle, the surface area and volume of a sphere, and the area under a parabola.[111]

Appearances

Mrs. Hughes: "She won't always be a cook."
Mr. Carson: "Possibly not, but she won't be Archimedes either."
— Episode 5.01

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Duke of Argyll[]

The Duke of Argyll is a title, created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, noble families in Scotland[112].

Sir Michael Reresby states that the Duke of Argyll is among the distinguished guests he has entertained at his estate. He could be referring to either the 2nd Duke, John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell (1845–1914)[113], who married Princess Louisa, daughter of Queen Victoria, or the 3rd Duke, Niall Diarmid Campbell (1872–1949)[114].

Appearances

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Baden-Powell[]

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941), also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, founder of the Scout Movement and first Chief Scout of The Boy Scouts Association.[115]

Appearances

Isobel: "Are you all set for the wedding?"
Mary: "Of course he is. Carson's motto is "Be prepared.""
Violet: "I'm afraid Baden-Powell has stolen it. "
— Episode 3.01

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Sir Charles Barry[]

Sir Charles Barry FRS RA (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was an English architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens. He is known for his major contribution to the use of Italianate architecture in Britain, especially the use of the Palazzo as basis for the design of country houses, city mansions and public buildings. He also developed the Italian Renaissance garden style for the many gardens he designed around country houses.[116]

His most famous work is no doubt the clock tower for Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster. Other notable works include the country estates of Highclere Castle and Cliveden.

Appearances
Guest: "What about the architect?"
Edith: "Sir Charles Barry, yes. He built the Houses of Parliament, or at least he finished them. He built lots of lovely big buildings."
Episode 6.06

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Adrienne Bolland[]

Adrienne Bolland, born Boland, (25 November 1895 – 18 March 1975) was a French test pilot and the first woman to fly over the Andes between Chile and Argentina. She was later described as "France's most accomplished female aviator", setting a woman's record for loops done in an hour. The French government eventually recognized her with the Legion of Honor and other awards. Since her death, she has been commemorated with a postage stamp.[117]

Appearances
Violet: "Is it appropriate for a woman to be alone in a flat?"
Edith: "Granny, Adrienne Bolland flew alone over the Andes mountains four years ago. And anyway, I am not a young woman, I am staring middle age in the face."
Episode 6.03

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Horace de Vere Cole[]

William Horace de Vere Cole (5 May 1881 – 25 February 1936) was an eccentric prankster and poet born in Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom. His most famous trick was the Dreadnought Hoax on 7 February 1910 when he fooled the captain of the Royal Navy warship HMS Dreadnought into taking Cole and a group of his friends, including Virginia Woolf, for an Abyssinian delegation.

His sister Anne married Neville Chamberlain.

Appearances

Episode 6.05 (Mentioned only)

Tom Branson: "I'd love to know how she did it."
Neville Chamberlain: "My wife has a brother, Horace de Vere Cole. You may have heard of him."
Tom Branson: "The prankster? Didn't he board a British warship pretending to be the leader of a Turkish delegation?"
Episode 6.05

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Duchess of Connaught[]

Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia (Louise Margaret Alexandra Victoria Agnes; later Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn; 25 July 1860 – 14 March 1917) was a German princess, and later a member of the British Royal Family, the wife of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn[118]. She also served as the Viceregal Consort of Canada, when her husband served as the Governor General of Canada from 1911 to 1916. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and Queens Margrethe II of Denmark and Anne-Marie of Greece are among her great-grandchildren[119].

The wife of Sir Michael Reresby was a Lady-in-waiting to the Duchess.

Appearances

Episode 6.03 (Mentioned only)

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Emily Davison[]

Emily Wilding Davison (11 October 1872 – 8 June 1913) was a militant activist who fought for women's suffrage in Britain. She was jailed on nine occasions and force-fed 49 times. She is best known for stepping in front of King George V's horse Anmer at the Epsom Derby on 4 June 1913, sustaining injuries that resulted in her death four days later. Emily Davison's funeral on 14 June 1913 organised by the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). Thousands of suffragettes accompanied the coffin and tens of thousands of people lined the streets of London.[120]

Appearances

Unnamed speaker: "Last June saw Emily Davison crushed to death beneath the hooves of the king’s horse! Will the summer of 1914 prove as fatal for the hopes of women? It cannot! This historic by-election can be the first step of the journey to women’s equality!"
Unnamed woman: "If you’re so keen on women’s rights, let a woman speak!"
Unnamed man: "But why stop there? Let’s get the dogs up and listen to them bark!"
— Episode 1.06

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Reginald Dyer[]

Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer CB (9 October 1864 – 23 July 1927) was a British officer who, as a temporary brigadier general, was responsible for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar (in the British Indian province of Punjab). Dyer was removed from duty, but he became a celebrated hero in Britain, particularly among people with connections to the British Raj. Some historians argue the episode was a decisive step towards the end of British rule in India.[121]

Appearances
Mention
Isobel: "We heard about that terrible Amritsar business."
Hugh MacClare: "Amritsar was a very unfortunate incident, ordered by a foolish man."
Lord Sinderby: "I can't agree. General Dyer was just doing his duty."
Episode 5.08

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Escoffier[]

Georges Auguste Escoffier (28 October 1846 – 12 February 1935) was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. He is a legendary figure among chefs and gourmets, and was one of the most important leaders in the development of modern French cuisine.[122]

Appearances

Arsene Avignon: "In 1917 at our sister hotel in New York, the chef, M. [?], made a soup made popular by M. [?] and the great M. Escoffier. What did he do?"
Student: "He served it cold."
— Episode 4.05

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Guy Fawkes[]

Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish in the Low Countries, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.[123]

Appearances

William: "There they go, Guy Fawkes and his assistant."
Gwen: "Which is which?"
— Episode 1.07

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The Fife Princesses[]

The Fife Princesses were the two daughters of Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife[124], daughter of King George V and her husband Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife[125]. The daughters were Princess Alexandra (Princess Arthur of Connaught, 2nd Duchess of Fife)[126] and Princess Maud (Princess Maud Alexandra Victoria Georgina Bertha later Countess of Southesk)[127]. Their only brother, Alastair was stillborn.

Appearances
Thomas: "But in your advertisement, you spoke of a position of trust, Sir Michael, in a prominant household."
Michael Reresby: "This is a very prominant household. Can you doubt it? We've entertained not just the Connaughts, but the Fife princesses, both of them. The Duke of Argyll. The Queen of Spain."
Episode 6.03

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Maud Gonne[]

Maud Gonne MacBride (21 December 1866 – 27 April 1953) was an English-born Irish revolutionary, feminist and actress, best remembered for her turbulent relationship with poet William Butler Yeats. Of Anglo-Irish stock and birth, she was won over to Irish nationalism by the plight of evicted people in the Land Wars. She was also active in Home Rule activities.[128]

Appearances

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Thomas Hobson[]

Thomas Hobson (1544–1631) was a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England. To rotate the use of his horses, he offered customers the choice of either taking the horse in the stall nearest the door or taking none at all. The phrase Hobson's Choice is said to have originated from him[129].

Appearances
Barrow: "I Felt for you and thought you showed great restraint."
Stowell: "For a servant in that situation, restraint is Hobson's choice."
2014 Christmas Special

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Jack Johnson[]

John Arthur "Jack" Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the Galveston Giant. was an American boxer. At the height of the Jim Crow era, Johnson became the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). In a documentary about his life, Ken Burns notes that "for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth. [130]

Appearances

Mary: "I shall have arms like Jack Johnson if I’m not careful."
Matthew: "I’m strong enough to wheel myself."
Mary: "I’ll be the judge of that. "
— Episode 2.06

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Rosa Luxemburg[]

Rosa Luxemburg (5 March 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and revolutionary socialist of Polish-Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen. She was successively a member of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL), the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD), and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD).

In response to the uprising, Social Democratic leader Friedrich Ebert ordered the Freikorps to destroy the left-wing revolution. Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were captured in Berlin on 15 January 1919 by the Freikorps' Garde-Kavallerie-Schützendivision. Its commander, Captain Waldemar Pabst, along with Lieutenant Horst von Pflugk-Harttung, questioned them violently and then gave the order to execute them. Luxemburg was knocked down with a rifle butt by soldier Otto Runge, then shot in the head, either by Lieutenant Kurt Vogel or Lieutenant Hermann Souchon; her body was flung into Berlin's Landwehr Canal.[131]

Appearances
Robert: "So everytime we entertain we must invite this tin pot Rosa Luxemburg?"
Rose: "Who's she?"
Cora: "A German Communist that was shot and thrown into the canal. We wouldn't wish that on Miss Bunting."
Episode 5.02

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Mr. Molyneux[]

Mr. Molyneux is a designer from Paris with whom Cora has a fitting in London. It most likely refers to Edward Molyneux (5 September 1891 in Hampstead, London – 23 March 1974 in Monte Carlo), a leading British fashion designer whose salon in Paris was in operation from 1919 until 1950.[132]

Appearances
Mention
Mary: "What are you going to do in London?"
Cora: "I have a fitting with Mr. Molyneux, he is over from Paris"
Episode 5.03

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Florence Nightingale[]

Florence Nightingale, OM, RRC (12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was a celebrated English social reformer and statistician, and the founder of modern nursing.

She came to prominence while serving as a manager of nurses trained by her during the Crimean War, where she organised the tending to wounded soldiers. She gave nursing a highly favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.[133]

Appearances
Matthew: "I hadn't cast you as Florence Nightingale."
Mary: "We can't leave all the moral high ground to Sybil. She might get lonely there."
Episode 2.03

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Sylvia Pankhurst[]

Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst (5 May 1882 – 27 September 1960) was an English campaigner for the suffragist movement in the United Kingdom. She was for a time a prominent left communist who then devoted herself to the cause of anti-fascism.

During the First World War, Sylvia was horrified to see her mother, Emmeline, and her sister, Christabel, become enthusiastic supporters of the war drive and campaigning in favour of military conscription. She herself was opposed to the war. Her organization attempted to organize the defence of the interests of women in the poorer parts of London. It set up "cost-price" restaurants to feed the hungry without the taint of charity. It also established a toy factory in order to give work to women who had become unemployed because of the war.[134]

Appearances

Branson: "I'm sorry. I'll not deny it. I never thought they'd do it. But sometimes a future needs terrible sacrifices. You thought that once. "
Sybil: "If you mean my politics, you know we've agreed to put that to one side until the war is won."
Branson: "Your lot did. But Sylvia Pankhurst was all for fighting on."
Sybil: "Don't badger me, please!"
— Episode 2.05

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Charles Ponzi[]

Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi (March 3, 1882 – January 18, 1949), commonly known as Charles Ponzi, was an Italian businessman and con artist in the U.S. and Canada. His aliases include Charles Ponci, Carlo and Charles P. Bianchi. Born in Italy, he became known in the early 1920s as a swindler in North America for his money making scheme. Charles Ponzi promised clients a 50% profit within 45 days, or 100% profit within 90 days, by buying discounted postal reply coupons in other countries and redeeming them at face value in the United States as a form of arbitrage. In reality, Ponzi was paying early investors using the investments of later investors. This type of scheme is now known as a "Ponzi scheme". His scheme ran for over a year before it collapsed, costing his "investors" $20 million.[135]

Appearances

There's a chap in America. What's his name? Charles ... Ponzi, who offers a huge return after 90 days.
—Robert[src]

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The Pope[]

Pope Benedict XV (21 November 1854 – 22 January 1922), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, was the head of the Catholic Church from 3 September 1914 to his death in 1922. His pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I and its political, social and humanitarian consequences in Europe.[136]

Appearances

Mary: "Well you and granny are ganging up on Tom!"
Violet: "Not me! The Dowager Duchess of Norfork is a dear friend, and she is more Catholic than the Pope!"
— Episode 3.06

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Lord and Lady Powerscourt[]

Mervyn Richard Wingfield (16 July 1880 – 21 March 1947) and Sybil Pleydell-Bouverie were Irish peers where he was the 8th Viscount Powerscourt.

He was born to Mervyn Wingfield, 7th Viscount Powerscourt, whom he succeeded as Viscount Powerscourt in 1904. He was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Wicklow on 15 February 1910 and created a Knight of the Order of St Patrick on 18 April 1916. He died on 21 March 1947.

In 1903, he married Sybil Pleydell-Bouverie: they had three children, including Mervyn Patrick Wingfield, 9th Viscount Powerscourt. Lady Powerscourt served as the Girl Guides Deputy Chief Commissioner for Ireland.

They are great-grandparents of Sarah, Duchess of York through her mother Susan Barrantes, who is Powerscourt's granddaughter.[137]

Appearances

Duchess of Yeovil: "I love Wicklow, of course you must know the Powerscourts?"
Tom Branson: "I know of Lord Powerscourt, yes."
Duchess of Yeovil: "Lady Powerscourt is my niece, have you met her?"
— Episode 4.03

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This Princip Fellow[]

Gavrilo Princip (25 July [O.S. 13 July] 1894 – 28 April 1918) was a Bosnian Serb who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Princip and his accomplices were arrested and implicated a number of members of the Serbian military, leading Austria-Hungary to issue a démarche to Serbia known as the July Ultimatum. This was used as pretext for Austria-Hungary's invasion on Serbia, which then led to World War I.[138]

Appearances

Gwen: "Anything in the paper, Thomas?"
Thomas: "They've arrested this Princip fellow and his gang. All Serbian and members of the Black Hand."
— Episode 1.07

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Mr Rolls[]

The Honourable Charles Stewart Rolls (27 August 1877 – 12 July 1910) was an English motoring and aviation pioneer. Together with Henry Royce he co-founded the Rolls-Royce car manufacturing firm. He was the first Briton to be killed in an aeronautical accident with a powered aircraft, when the tail of his Wright Flyer broke off during a flying display in the Southbourne district of Bournemouth. He was aged 32.[139]

Appearances
Mary, now is not the time to be snobbish. We'll set up a dealership for new cars when we can, and in time we will go into production. There is nothing wrong with being married to Mr Rolls or Mr Royce.
—Tom Branson 2015 Christmas Special

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Hannah de Rothschild[]

Hannah Primrose, Countess of Rosebery (27 July 1851 – 19 November 1890) was the daughter of Mayer de Rothschild and his wife Juliana, née Cohen. Upon the death of her father in 1874 she became the richest woman in Britain.

During the final quarter of the 19th century her husband, the 5th Earl of Rosebery, was one of the most celebrated figures in Britain, an influential millionaire and politician, whose charm, wit, charisma and public popularity gave him such standing that he "almost eclipsed royalty." Yet his Jewish wife, during her lifetime regarded as dull, overweight and lacking in beauty, remains an enigmatic figure largely ignored by historians and often regarded as notable only for financing her husband's three ambitions: to marry an heiress, win the Epsom Derby, and become Prime Minister (the second and third of these possibly apocryphal ambitions were achieved after her death). In truth, she was her husband's driving force and motivation.[140]

Appearances
Mention
Mary: "I dare say this is a first for you granny. To sample the joys of the registry office."
Violet: "Then you'd be quite wrong. No in 1878 I attended the wedding of Lord Rosebery and Hannah Rothschild. It was held in the Board of Guardians[141]. It was very much the same."
Episode 5.08

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Mr Royce[]

Sir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet, (27 March 1863 – 22 April 1933) was an English engineer and car designer who, with Charles Rolls, founded the Rolls-Royce company.

Appearances
Mary, now is not the time to be snobbish. We'll set up a dealership for new cars when we can, and in time we will go into production. There is nothing wrong with being married to Mr Rolls or Mr Royce.
—Tom Branson 2015 Christmas Special

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Salome[]

Salome (c. AD 14 – between 62 and 71) was the daughter of Herod II and Herodias. Salome is often identified with the dancing woman from the New Testament (Mark 6:17-29 and Matthew 14:3-11, where, however, her name is not given). Christian faith depicts her as an icon of dangerous female seductiveness, notably in regard to the dance mentioned in the New Testament, which is thought to have had an erotic element to it, and in some later transformations it has further been iconized as the Dance of the Seven Veils. Other elements of the Christian faith concentrate on her lighthearted and cold foolishness that, according to the gospels, led to John the Baptist's death. (Mark 6:25-27; Matthew 14:8-11).[142]

She is the daughter of Herod II.

Appearances
Isobel: "What was all that about?"
Violet: "In Denker's mind, she is Salome. You know, dancing rings around Spratt's Herod."
2015 Christmas Special

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Wat Tyler[]

Wat Tyler (died 15 June 1381) was a leader of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England. He marched a group of protesters from Canterbury to the capital to oppose the institution of a poll tax. While the brief rebellion enjoyed early success, Tyler was killed by officers of King Richard II during negotiations at Smithfield in London.[143]

Appearances

Ethan: "Would you mind"
James: "I'm a footman, I don't have the right to mind"
Carson: "Thank you, Wat Tyler."
— 2013 Christmas Special

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Characters from Fiction, Literature and Scripture[]

[edit this section]

Andromeda, Cepheus and Perseus[]

Andromeda, Cepheus and Perseus On the way back to Seriphos Island, Perseus stopped in the kingdom of Ethiopia. This mythical Ethiopia was ruled by King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia, having boasted her daughter Andromeda equal in beauty to the Nereids, drew down the vengeance of Poseidon, who sent an inundation on the land and a sea serpent, Cetus, which destroyed man and beast. The oracle of Ammon announced that no relief would be found until the king exposed his daughter Andromeda to the monster, and so she was fastened naked to a rock on the shore. Perseus slew the monster and, setting her free, claimed her in marriage.[144]

Appearances

Mary: "Her father was King Cepheus, whose country was being ravaged by storms, and in the end, he decided the only way to appease the gods was to sacrifice his eldest daughter to a hideous sea monster. So, they chained her naked to a rock..."
Matthew: "But the sea monster didn't get her, did he?"
Mary: "No. Just when it seemed he was the only solution to her father's problems, she was rescued."
Matthew: "By Perseus."
— Episode 1.02

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Angel Clare[]

Angel Clare is the son of a preacher and suitor to Tess Durbeyfield in the Thomas Hardy novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Tess believes she is unworthy of his proposal due to a prior rape and resulting child that only lived a couple days.

Appearances

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Ariadne[]

Ariadne is a Greek mythology figure associated with labyrinths, due in part of the notable story of Theseus. Ariadne is the daughter of Minos, King of Crete and Queen Pasiphaë, daughter of the sun titan Helios. King Minos tasked her with caretaking the labyrinth where six boys and six girls from Athens were sent each year to be devoured by the Minotaur. She gave Theseus a thread to be able to escape the labyrinth after he killed the Minotaur.[145]

I only know I shall need Ariadne's thread to find my way out.
Violet Crawley[src]

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Augeus[]

Augeus In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias), whose name means "bright", was king of Elis and father of Epicaste. Some say that Augeas was one of the Argonauts. He is best known for his stables, which housed the single greatest number of cattle in the country and had never been cleaned—until the time of the great hero Heracles. The fifth Labour of Heracles[146] (Hercules in Latin) was to clean the Augean stables.[147]

Appearances

Mary: "A-ha, you started on the Augean task. How are you getting on?"
Matthew: "Badly. I’m beginning to get a sense of how it all works."
Mary: "In a way, it’s probably best you tackle it by yourself."
— Episode 3.04

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Becky Sharpe[]

Becky Sharp is the anti-heroine of William Makepeace Thackeray's[148] satirical novel Vanity Fair[149]. A cynical social climber who uses her charms to fascinate and seduce upper-class men, Sharp is contrasted with the clinging, dependent heroine Amelia Sedley. She befriends Amelia at an expensive girls school where she is given a place because her father teaches there, and uses her as a stepping stone to gain social position. Sharp functions as a picara — a picaresque heroine — or by being a social outsider who is able to expose the manners of the upper gentry to ridicule. Her name ("sharp" having connotations of a "sharper" or con-man) and function suggest that Thackeray intended her to be unsympathetic, and yet she became one of his most popular creations.[150]

Appearances
Molesley: "Ah Daisy, have you decided? Should we discuss the vices of Miss Becky Sharpe?"
Daisy: "I'm tired. I'm going up Mrs. Patmore"
Episode 5.07

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Belshazzar[]

Belshazzar "Bel, protect the king", sometimes called Balthazar, was a 6th-century BC prince of Babylon, the son of Nabonidus and the last king of Babylon, according to the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible. In Daniel 5 and 8, Belshazzar is the King of Babylon before the advent of the Medes and Persians. Although there is evidence that Belshazzar existed, his famous narrative and its details are only recorded in the Book of Daniel, which tells the story of Belshazzar seeing the writing on the wall.

Appearances
Mention
William: "What are you giving them to eat?"
Mrs. Patmore: "Not much. They know the money's for the hospital, so they can't expect Belshazzar's feast."
Episode 2.01

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Elizabeth Bennet[]

Elizabeth Bennet, later Darcy is the protagonist in the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice[151] by Jane Austen[152]. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the circumstances of the time and environment require her to seek a marriage of convenience for economic security, Elizabeth wishes to marry for love.[153]

She is the daughter of Mrs Bennet, Pemberly is the estate of Fitzwilliam Darcy, whom she goes on to marry.

Appearances
Isobel: "People have always tipped the butler to look 'round the house. Even Elizabeth Bennet wanted to see what Pemberly was like inside."
Violet: "A decision that caused a greast deal of embarassment if I remember the novel correctly."
Episode 6.06

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Mrs Bennet[]

Mrs Bennet appears in the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. She is the wife of her social superior Mr Bennet and mother of five daughters including Elizabeth. She is frivolous, excitable, and narrow-minded, and she imagines herself susceptible to attacks of tremors and palpitations. Her public manners and social climbing are embarrassing to Jane and Elizabeth. Her favorite daughter is the youngest, Lydia, who reminds her of herself when younger, though she values the beauty of the eldest, Jane. Her main ambition in life is to marry her daughters to wealthy men.[154]

Appearances

Lady Shackleton: "Of course a single peer with a good estate won't be lonely long if he doesn't want to be."
Violet: "You sound like Mrs. Bennet."
— Episode 5.01

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Bulldog Drummond[]

Bulldog Drummond is a British fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile[155] and published under his pen name "Sapper". After an unsuccessful one-off appearance as a policeman in The Strand Magazine, the character was reworked by McNeile into a gentleman adventurer for his 1920 novel Bulldog Drummond.

Drummond is a First World War veteran, brutalised by his experiences in the trenches and bored with his post-war lifestyle. He publishes an advertisement looking for adventure, and soon finds himself embroiled in a series of exploits, many of which involve Carl Peterson—who becomes his nemesis—and Peterson's mistress, the femme fatale Irma.[156]

Appearances
I want to be happy, of course, but mainly I want to be worthy of her, and I know I sound like Bulldog Drummond, but I do.
—Henry Talbot, 2015 Christmas Special

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Cat that walked by himself[]

The cat that walked by himself is a character and chapter in Just so Stories[157] by Rudyard Kipling. It explains how man domesticated all the wild animals except for the cat.

Appearances

Matthew: "Seriously, I can only relax because I know that you have a real life coming. If I ever thought I was putting that in jeopardy, I’d go away and never see you again."
Mary: "You don’t mean that."
Matthew: "But I do. I am the cat that walks by himself and all places are alike to me. I have nothing to give and nothing to share. If you were not engaged to be married, I wouldn’t let you anywhere near me."
— Episode 2.06

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Cupid[]

In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupido, meaning "desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus, and is known in Latin also as Amor ("Love"). His Greek counterpart is Eros.[158]

Appearances
Mary: "Why are you playing Cupid?"
Tom: "He's nice. He's mad about you. He loves cars. I rest my case."
Episode 6.06

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Madam Defarge[]

Madame Thérèse Defarge is a fictional character in the book A Tale of Two Cities[159] by Charles Dickens. She is a tricoteuse, a tireless worker for the French Revolution, and the wife of Ernest Defarge.

She is one of the main villains of the novel, obsessed with revenge against the Evrémondes. She ruthlessly seeks revenge against the Evrémondes, including Charles Darnay, his wife Lucie Manette and their child, for crimes a prior generation of the Evrémonde family had committed[160].

Appearances
Daisy: "Not possible? Don't give me not possible!"
Mrs Patmore: "Alright Madam Defarge, calm down and finish that mash!"
Episode 6.04

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Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde[]

Dr Henry Jekyll and his alternate personality Mr Edward Hyde are characters appearing in the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson[161], first published in 1886.

It is about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the evil Edward Hyde. The work is commonly associated today with the Victorian concern over the public and private division, individual's sense of playing a part and the class division of London. However, after stage and film productions of the story, the plot has become simplified and misrepresented as merely good versus evil.[162]

Appearances
Spratt: "I beg your pardon?"
Denker: "Butler by day, author by night. Like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde."
2015 Christmas Special

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Jane Eyre[]

Jane Eyre is the principle character in the novel by the same name, originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by English writer Charlotte Brontë. Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of its title character, including her growth to adulthood, and her love for Mr. Rochester, the byronic master of fictitious Thornfield Hall[163].

Appearances
Rosamund: "Mrs Carson. It's like Jane Eyre asking to be called Mrs Rochester. I'll never get used to it."
Mary: "None of us will."
Episode 6.04

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Fu Manchu[]

Dr. Fu Manchu is a fictional character introduced in a series of novels by British author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the 20th century. The character was also featured extensively in cinema, television, radio, comic strips and comic books for over 90 years, and has become an archetype of the evil criminal genius while lending the name to the Fu Manchu moustache.[164]

Appearances

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Gunga Din[]

Gunga Din is the principle character in a rhyming narrative poem by Rudyard Kipling[165], told from the point of view of an English soldier in India, about an Indian water-bearer (a "Bhishti") who saves the soldier's life but is soon shot and killed. In the final three lines, the soldier regrets the abuse he dealt to Din and admits that Din is the better man of the two for sacrificing his own life to save another. [166]

Appearances

Isobel: "Are you thinking of getting married Dr. Clarkson, because if you are you are a better man than I am Gunga Din."
Dr. Clarkson: "Why"
Isobel: "Well, with good friends like you I am enjoying life as it is and I wouldn't want to risk things by changing it."
— 2012 Christmas Special

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Iphigenia[]

Iphigenia is a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology, whom Agamemnon is commanded to kill as a sacrifice to allow his ships to sail to Troy. In Attic accounts, her name means "strong-born", "born to strength", or "she who causes the birth of strong offspring."[167]

Appearances

Cora: "Before you scold me, it’s no good pretending Mary is not a good deal too attached to Matthew."
Robert: "So you summon Lavinia? To be sacrificed like some latter day Iphigenia doomed to push his chair through all eternity?"
Cora: "Robert. It’s quite simple. Do you want Mary’s marriage to be a success? Do you want grandchildren?"
Robert: "Sometimes, Cora, you can be curiously unfeeling."
— Episode 2.06

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Juliet[]

Juliet Capulet is the heroine of William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.[168] She falls in love with Romeo Montague, though their fathers' and respective families are rivals. Nevertheless they marry in secret. When her parents try to force her into a marriage with another nobleman, she drinks a potion that makes her appear dead. Unfortunately, Romeo does not know what she did and believes her to have died. She awakes shortly after he enters the tomb and commits suicide. She follows in suit. Their deaths and now revealed marriage ends their families' feud.

Violet confronts Matthew and tells him Mary is still in love with him after he announces his intention to marry Lavinia. Violet says that Mary looked like Juliet upon awakening in the tomb when he made the announcement.

Appearances

Violet: "Mary is still in love with you."
Matthew: "What?"
Violet: "I was watching her the other night when you spoke of your wedding. She looked like...Juliet on awakening in the tomb."
— Episode 2.07

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Long John Silver[]

Long John Silver is a fictional character in the novel Treasure Island (1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the novel, he is a cunning and opportunistic pirate who was quartermaster under the notorious Captain Flint. Long John Silver had a pet parrot called Captain Flint, often seen sitting on his shoulder where she would nibble on seeds. Silver claims to have served in the Royal Navy and lost his leg under "the immortal Hawke". "His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird". [169]

Appearances
Thomas: "I can't believe I've been passed over for Long John Silver."
O'Brien: "You should've spoken up when you had the chance. Don't make the same mistake next time."
Thomas: "Who says there'll be a next time?"
— Episode 1.01

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Princess Aurora / Sleeping Beauty[]

Princess Aurora is one of the names associated with the princess in Sleeping Beauty[170] from The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood (La Belle au bois dormant) by Charles Perrault and Little Briar Rose (Dornröschen) by the Brothers Grimm. The name was not firmly associated with Sleeping Beauty until the 1959 Disney film by the same name.

Appearances
Mention
Robert: "Mary has more suitors tonight than the Princess Aurora."
Violet: "Will she judge them sensibly?"
Robert: "Oh, no one's sensible at her age. Nor should they be. That's our role."
Episode 1.03

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Simon Legree[]

Simon Legree is a character appearing in Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly by American novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe[171]. Simon Legree is a cruel slave owner, a Northerner (US) by birth whose name has become synonymous with greed. He is arguably the novel's main antagonist.[172]

Appearances

Timothy Drewe: "You mean you want to farm the land yourself. Then it is all settled."
Robert: "Mr. Drewe, it is no good painting me as Simon Legree. We left your father a long time to get straight and left him alone at the end of his life."
— Episode 4.05

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Lady of Shalott[]

The Lady of Shalott is a Victorian ballad by the English poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson[173]. He wrote two versions of the poem. The poem was loosely based on the Arthurian legend of Elaine of Astolat, as recounted in a thirteenth-century Italian novella titled Donna di Scalotta, with the earlier version being closer to the source material than the later. Tennyson focused on the Lady's isolation in the tower and her decision to participate in the living world, two subjects not even mentioned in Donna di Scalotta.[174]

Appearances

Tom: "Is something the matter?"
Isobel: "If it is it shouldn't be."
Tom: "It's the first time I have heard her laugh since it happened."
Isobel: "I know, I don't want her to spend her life in sorrow, she isn't the Lady of Shalott."
— Episode 4.03

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Methuselah[]

Methuselah[175] "Man of the dart/spear", or alternatively "his death shall bring judgment" is the man in the Hebrew Bible reported to have lived the longest. Extra-biblical tradition maintains that he died on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 1656 (Anno Mundi, after Creation), at the age of 969, seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood. Methuselah was the son of Enoch and the grandfather of Noah.

The name Methuselah, or the phrase "old as Methuselah", is commonly used to refer to any living thing reaching great age.

Appearances

Robert: "Happy New Year, Mama."
Violet: "1920. Is it to be believed? I feel as old as Methuselah."
Robert: "But so much prettier."
— 2011 Christmas Special

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Mr Squeers[]

Wackford Squeers is a character from the novel Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens. A cruel, one-eyed, Yorkshire "schoolmaster". He runs Dotheboys Hall, a boarding school for unwanted children. He mistreats the boys horribly, starving them and beating them regularly. He gets his comeuppance at the hands of Nicholas when he is beaten in retaliation for the whipping of Smike. He travels to London after he recovers, and partakes in more bad business, fulfilling his grudge against Nicholas by becoming a close partner in Ralph's schemes to fake Smike's parentage and later to obfuscate the will that would make Madeline Bray an heiress. He is arrested during the last of these tasks and sentenced to be transported to Australia.[176]

Appearances
Tom Branson: "You talk of her as if we should be scared of her."
Bertie Pelham: "She makes Mr Squeers look like Florence Nightengale."
Episode 6.08

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Mrs Tanqueray (2nd)[]

Paula Tanqueray, previously Jarman The Second Mrs Tanqueray is a character in an eponymous play by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero[177]. It adopts the 'Woman with a past' plot, popular in nineteenth century melodrama.

The play opens with a late night dinner between the widower Mr Tanqueray and some of his long time professional friends. All are upper class members of British Society, and are very disturbed when they learn of the upcoming second marriage of Tanqueray to a Mrs Paula Jarman, a lower class woman with a known sexual past.

As the play progresses we see the misery of the mismatched couple and their shared efforts to foster a bond between the young, but impeccably proper Miss Eillean Tanqueray and her young unhappy stepmother. This is compromised when Mrs Tanqueray learns the identity of her stepdaughter's fiancé; he is the man who ruined her, years ago. She reveals her knowledge to her husband, who prevents the marriage and alienates his daughter. This alienation spreads and husband and wife, father and daughter, step-parent and child are all angered and alone. When the daughter learns the reasons behind her disappointment she is struck with pity and makes a speech about trying again with her stepmother, only to go to her and find her dead, apparently by suicide.[178]

Appearances

Rosamund: "You're not being fair. I will support you whatever you decide...Just as Cora will, and Robert."
Edith: "That sounds like a speech from 'The Second Mrs. Tanqueray'. But you don't mean a word of it."
— Episode 4.07

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Prisioner of Zenda[]

The Prisioner of Zenda is a character and a novel by Anthony Hope[179] published in 1894. On the eve of the coronation of King Rudolf of Ruritania, his brother, Prince Michael, has him drugged. In a desperate attempt to deny Michael the excuse to claim the throne, Colonel Sapt and Fritz von Tarlenheim, attendants of the King, persuade his distant cousin Rudolf Rassendyll, an English visitor, to impersonate the King at the coronation.

The unconscious king is abducted and imprisoned in a castle in the small town of Zenda. There are complications, plots, and counter-plots, among them the schemes of Michael's mistress, Antoinette de Mauban, and those of his dashing but villainous henchman Count Rupert of Hentzau.[180]

Appearances
Mary: "You saw Henry when he was here. High-handed and bullying and unapologetic. Am I expected to lower myself to his level, and be grateful I am allowed to do so?"
Tom: "Listen to yourself. Lower yourself to his level? Your not a prisioner in The Prisioner of Zenda."
Episode 6.08

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Rochester[]

Edward Fairfax Rochester in the novel Jane Eyre is the master of Thornfield Hall. A Byronic hero, he is tricked into making an unfortunate first marriage to Bertha Mason many years before he meets Jane, with whom he falls madly in love.

Appearances

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Romeo[]

Romeo Montague is the hero of William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy written early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.

Appearances
Violet: "Oh, what is the latest from your aging Romeo?"
Isobel: "If it is of any interest, I have not heard from him since we last met."
Episode 5.03

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Saint Paul[]

Paul the Apostle (c. 5 – c. 67), whose Jewish name was Saul, was an apostle (though not one of the Twelve Apostles) who taught the gospel of Christ to the first-century world. He is generally considered one of the most important figures of the Apostolic Age. In the mid-30s to the mid-50s, he founded several churches in Asia Minor and Europe. Paul took advantage of his status as both a Jew and a Roman citizen to minister to both Jewish and Roman audiences.

His conversion was the result of having experienced an unforeseen, sudden, startling change, due to all-powerful grace—not the fruit of his reasoning or thoughts. [181]

Appearances
Spratt: "But mind you, act surprised when she tells you."
Denker: "I will rival Saint Paul in my astonishment."
Episode 6.05

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Sydney Carton[]

Sydney Carton is a central character in the novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. He is a shrewd young Englishman and sometime junior to his fellow barrister C.J. Stryver. In the novel, he is seen to be a drunkard, self-indulgent and self-pitying because of his wasted life. He has a strong, unrequited love for Lucie Manette.[182]

Appearances

Carson: "And now my disgrace is complete. My lord, you have my resignation."
Robert: "Really, Carson, there's no need to be quite so melodramatic. You're not playing Sydney Carton."
— Episode 1.02

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Tess of the d'Urbervilles[]

Tess Durbeyfield is the principle character in the Thomas Hardy[183] novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles[184]. Tess, through her father, believes they are related to the wealthy d'Urbervilles, not realizing that while her descent is authentic, the modern d'Urbervilles had purchased the name, and is raped by "cousin" Alec d'Urbervilles.

Several years later the son of a preacher named Angel Clare proposes to her. This puts her in a painful dilemma, Angel obviously thinks her a virgin and she shrinks from confessing her past.

Appearances

Mary: "It was lust, Matthew! Or a need for excitement, or something in him that I...Oh, God, what difference does it make? I’m Tess of the d'Urbervilles to your Angel Clare. I have fallen. I am impure."
Matthew: "Don’t joke. Don’t make it little, not when I’m trying to understand."
Mary: "Thank you for that. But the fact remains...that I am made different by it. Things have changed between us."
— 2011 Christmas Special

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Usher[]

Roderick Usher is the subject of the short story The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe[185], published in 1839. The story is doubly referring, applying to both the structure and the family.[186]

Appearances

Cora: "I wonder if she (Edith) wants to come to Mallerton Hall tomorrow?"
Mary: "We should all go. The fall of the house of Usher."
Cora: "We mustn't crow. We may be next."
— Episode 6.01

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Other[]

[edit this section]

Bishop Richard De Warren[]

Bishop Richard De Warren is credited by Edith as having built the side aisle of one of the churches she and Matthew visit.

Appearances
Mention
Matthew: "Does it say anything about the side aisle?"
Edith: "The side aisles were added in the 14th century by Bishop Richard De Warren."
Episode 1.03

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Beth[]

Beth was one of the servants at Crawley House, who worked for Matthew and Isobel Crawley after they moved there. She doubled as housemaid and kitchen maid.

Appearances

Mention

Isobel Crawley: "So, are you the whole of our new household?"
Joseph Molesley: "There's a local girl, ma'am, Beth. She to double under housemaid and kitchen maid."
Isobel Crawley and her new butler, Joseph Molesley, upon her arrival at Crawley House.[src]

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Corporal Frank Brown[]

Corporal Frank Brown was a corporal who fought for the British in the Great War, in the Duke of Manchester's Own regiment. He died sometime before 1919, and was buried at the cemetery in Downton, by Thomas Jackson and William Mason, who served in the same regiment.

Appearances

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Mr Bromidge's mother[]

Mr Bromidge's mother was a housemaid and the mother of Mr Bromidge. She was instrumental in the employment of Gwen Dawson as her son's new secretary in 1914, as Gwen was a housemaid herself.

Appearances

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Ivy Burns[]

Ivy Burns is the deceased wife of Joe Burns.

Appearances
Mrs. Hughes: "Yes, it must have been hard for you when Ivy died."
Joe Burns: "Took some getting used to."
Episode 1.04

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Peter Burns[]

Peter Burns (fl. 1913) is the son of Joe and Ivy Burns who went off to join the army. Whether he survived World War I is unknown.

Appearances

Episode 1.04 (Mentioned only)

Mention
Mrs. Hughes: "What about your son? Do you see much of him?"
Joe Burns: "Peter? No. I would’ve given him a share of the farm if he wanted it, but he’s joined the army."
Episode 1.04

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General Burton[]

General Burton commands the Richmond division according to Dr. Clarkson at the time Thomas is inquiring about a medical position.

Appearances
Mention
I've done as I promised. General Burton is commanding the Division at Richmond and I think I may have a place there for you.
—Dr. Clarkson to Thomas Barrow, Episode 1.07

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Colonel Cartwright[]

Colonel Cartwright would be the commanding officer for Thomas according to Dr. Clarkson, under General Burton.

Appearances
Mention
Under Colonel Cartwright. These are the papers.
—Dr. Clarkson to Thomas Barrow, Episode 1.07

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Mrs Cobb[]

Mrs Cobb was the previous tenant at the cottage given to Charles Carson and Elsie Hughes after their marriage in 1925.

Appearances
Barrow: "I'd like some volunteers to clean Mrs Cobb's cottage for the Carson's. His Lordship would like it done before they get back."
Andy: "I don't mind. I could go up with the maids in the morning."
Episode 6.04

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Jack Courtenay[]

Jack Courtenay was Lt. Edward Courtenay's youngest brother. When his brother became blind from mustard gas in 1917, his family wrote to him saying that Jack had Edward's best interest at heart, having decided to take Edward's place in the army.

Thomas: ""Things cannot be as they were and, whatever you might think, Jack has your best interest at heart.""
Edward Courtenay: "Stop."
Thomas: "Who's Jack?"
Edward Courtenay: "My younger brother. He means to replace me. It's what he's always wanted."
Thomas Barrow reading a letter to the now-blind Edward Courtenay[src]

Appearances

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Mr Cox[]

Mr Cox was mentioned by Joss Tufton in the 2012 Christmas Special. He was a produce supplier based in Thirsk and was one of Mrs. Patmore's suppliers at Downton Abbey.  In 1921 he sold his shop to Tufton.

Appearances

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Peter Coyle[]

Peter Coyle was a footman in Mrs Benton's house where Baxter was a lady's maid. In around 1920, Coyle convinced Baxter to steal some jewels for him and gave Baxter a place to met him so that she could deliver the jewels. However, Coyle did not show up at the location and he handed in his notice the previous night. Furthermore, Baxter was reported to the police by Mrs Benton and she was sentenced to five years in prison, but was released after three.

In 1925, Coyle is on bail for theft, and Sergeant Willis tells Baxter and Molesley that Coyle uses many unsuspecting women to commit crimes for him and some become prostitutes. Willis wants Baxter to testify at Coyle's trial so that no woman can be victimized by Coyle in the future. Baxter reluctantly agrees to this.

At Coyle's trial, the latter looked at the list of witnesses that were to testify against him, and changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. Soon after he was imprisoned, Coyle wrote a letter to Baxter asking her to visit him in jail.

Appearances
Baxter: "A chance for what, revenge? What good would that do?"
Sgt Willis: "Not for revenge. To stop other girls from being tricked into the life of crime. Two of the women [Peter Coyle] used are prostitutes now. At least one is dead. Do you want him to go on?"
Episode 6.04

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Mr Crump[]

Mr Crump was mentioned by a stranger Sybil and Gwen meet in episode 1.05 on the way back from Gwen's interview and after the horse has lost a shoe. He was mentioned as the smith in the next town.

Appearances

Mention

Sybil: "Can you help? I should be so grateful. Our horse has cast his shoe. Is there a smithy nearby?"
Stranger: "Ah, you can try old Crump in the next village."
Sybil: "Thank you."
Episode 1.05

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Mr Daunt[]

Mr Daunt is the current valet to Lord Sinderby. Thomas Barrow and Phyllis Baxter used his name to earn Lord Sinderby's rude and snobbish butler Stowell a black mark with Lord Sinderby.

Appearances

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Mr Dorrit[]

Mr Dorrit is the husband of Mrs Dorrit who posed as the wife of Ian McKidd who in turn was posing as Dr Fletcher as the first guests at Mrs Patmore's Bed and Breakfast. Sergeant Willis informs Mrs Patmore and Mrs Hughes of the pending litigation.

Appearances
Sgt Willis: "Not as respectable as you think. Dr Fletcher was a Mr Ian McKidd and his wife was a Mrs Dorrit."
Mrs Patmore: "What?"
Sgt Willis: "Mr Dorrit is now suing Mr McKidd for damages related to adultery. You may be called upon to testify."
Episode 6.08

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Walter Evans[]

Walter Evans was a villager of Downton who, in 1912, won the annual Chadacre Cup for Best Exotic Plant at the Downton Village Flower Show.

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Mrs Gaunt[]

Mrs Gaunt is the telephone operator at the time the telephone is first installed at Downton Abbey. She is not seeen but is on the other end of the line when Carson first tries to use the phone.

Appearances
Mention
Carson: "I'm not shouting! Who are you?"
Mrs. Gaunt: "Mrs Gaunt."
Carson: "Oh, Mrs Gaunt."
Mrs. Gaunt: "What number do you want?"
Carson: "No, I don't want to place a call."
Episode 1.07

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Lizzy Gregson[]

Lizzy Gregson is the lunatic wife of the late Michael Gregson.

Michael tells Edith Crawley that his wife is insane, and was placed in an asylum some time before 1920. He goes on to tell Edith that Lizzy used to be a wonderful person whom he loved very much, and that it was very hard for him to finally accept that the woman he knew and loved was, in his words, "gone" and "wouldn't be coming back".

He wants to marry Edith by 1921, but they both already know it is impossible for Michael to divorce her, because being a lunatic does not make Lizzy responsible in the eyes of the law, so she is neither the guilty nor the innocent party.

However, by 1922 Michael, determined to be with Edith, had learned that in other countries insanity is legal grounds for divorce. He tells her that he has learned if he becomes a German citizen, he can divorce Lizzy.

Appearances

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Mr Harlip[]

Mr Harlip was a cousin of Vera Bates's, who lived in the north of England.

Appearances

Mention

Bates: "How did you get on with Vera's book?"
Anna: "I had a few answers waiting for me when I got back. And two returned "address unknown"."
Bates: "Who from?"
Anna: "Let me see, one was a Mr Harlip, I think, and the other was Mrs Bartlett."
Bates: "Harlip, he doesn't matter. He was a cousin in the north, she never saw him. But Mrs Bartlett's a shame. She lived on the corner, she was very friendly with Vera."
John Bates and Anna Bates in Episode 3.02.

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Thomas Jackson[]

Private Thomas Jackson was a private who fought for the British in the Great War, in the Duke of Manchester's Own regiment. He died sometime before 1919, and was buried at the cemetery in Downton, by Corporal Frank Brown and William Mason, who served in the same regiment.

Appearances

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Jimmy[]

Jimmy is a currier for the Downton post office who Mrs Wigan says will bring up the telegram concerning the fate of Patrick and James Crawley following the sinking of the Titanic. The Postmaster offers to run it up, but Mrs Wigan says to leave it until Jimmy gets in.

Appearances
Mrs Wigan: "Oh my God!"
Postmaster: "That's impossible. I'll take it up there now."
Mrs Wigan: "Don't be stupid, none of them will be up for hours. What difference will it make? Jimmy will do it when he comes in."
Episode 1.01

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Mrs Margadale[]

Mrs Margadale is Terence Margadale's wife. Her husband is committing adultery with Lady Rose MacClare, the daughter of the man her husband works under.

In the Blue Dragon, when Lady Rosamund asks him where his wife is after catching him with Lady Rose, he replies she is in the country, but stutters and says no more.

Rose later tells Matthew that Mrs. Margadale "is absolutely horrid." Matthew angrily replies Rose should meet her before jumping to conclusions.

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Monk[]

Monk is a servant of Michael Gregson.

Appearances

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Alice Neal[]

Mrs Hughes: "And you were fond of her?"
Carson: "I was. But people drift in and out of your life, don't they? Truth to tell, I felt she treated me badly. What does it matter anyway? We shout and scream and wail and cry but in the end we must all die."
— An exchange between Mrs Hughes and Mr Carson, in 1922.[src]

Alice Neal (died c. 1917) was an old romantic interest of Charles Carson, in the 1890s. Carson kept a photograph of her as a memento.

Alice, however, chose Charles Grigg over Carson, and he never saw her again. According to Grigg, however, their relationship had never worked, and they separated. When she was about to die, Grigg visited her at St Thomas' Hospital and she said Carson was the better man and that she loved him, but she had been a fool and could not see it at the time.

Mrs Hughes later presents Carson with a present: a framed photograph of Alice, so he can always remember her and the staff will think of him as more human.

Appearances

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Clive Pullbrook[]

Clive Pullbrook was an acquaintance of Reggie Swire's, who was supposed to be the second-in-line to receive the entirety of Swire's fortune. Reginald Swire, in the event of the death of his only daughter, left a last will which left his fortune to one of three men. The fortune which was much greater than his life seemed to suggest was to remain undivided and going to the first man on the list provided that he survive Reggie. Clive Pullbrook is the second man on the list, the first one having died. Before late 1919, Mr Pullbrook travelled to India, to visit some tea plantations that he owned there. He went missing there in India, and had never been seen again. After Swire's death, in the last few days of December 1919, he was impossible to reach. People were sent to search for him and it was discovered that he had been killed. The question remained as to whether he had died before or after Swire. Had he died before Swire then the money went to Matthew Crawley the third-in-line, but had he died after Swire the money would go to Pullbrook's heirs. It was determined that he died before, thus Matthew Crawley, was the heir. His receiving the money was delayed until a death certificate could be obtained from India, not an immediate task. Eventually the certificate arrived and was brought to Matthew by Swire's lawyer Mr. Charkham. Matthew Crawley was then able to claim the money and invested it in Downton Abbey. Swire wrote a letter to each of his potential heirs. As Pullbrook did not survive to inherit, his letter was not delivered. Mary Crawley at one point calls him Mr. Pillbox.

Appearances

Mention

Matthew: "Sometime before Reggie's death, Pullbrook travelled to the East, to India, to some tea plantations he owned there."
Isobel: "And?"
Matthew: "He's never been heard of since. They've made enquiries, they've sent an agent out to visit his property... There's no sign of him."
— An exchange between Matthew Crawley and his mother, Isobel, when he learns that with Pullbrook missing, he'll inherit Reggie Swire's fortune.[src]

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Wife of Sir Michael Reresby[]

The wife of Sir Michael Reresby is his deceased wife who was a Lady-in-waiting[187] to the Duchess of Connaught. She had two sons, but they both died in the war.

Appearances
Michael Reresby: "As you can see, we've rather let things slide. It's been very difficult since my wife died."
Thomas: "I can imagine sir Michael."
Michael Reresby: "She was a Lady-in-waiting for the old Duchess of Connaught."
Episode 6.03

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Mrs Tonkins[]

Mrs Tonkins is employed by Sir Michael Reresby and comes in three days a week to perform unspecified duties.

Appearances
Thomas: "So, can you let me know more about the job. How many staff do you have?"
Michael Reresby: "Well, there is Mrs Tonkins. She comes in three days a week."
Episode 6.03

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Mr Trewin[]

Mr Trewin is a teacher at the Downton School wishing to retire midterm in 1925. His cottage and some of his duties are offered by Mr Dawes to Joseph Molesley.

Appearances
Mr Dawes: "I'm glad I've caught you."
Molesley: "Oh, why is that?"
Mr Dawes: "It seems that Mr Trewin wants to retire. He told me on Sunday. He'll finish the term, then move to his sister's in Bath."
2015 Christmas Special

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David White[]

David White was a villager of Downton who, in 1912, won an award at the annual Downton Village Flower Show.

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Lavinia Swire's Cousin Binny[]

Cousin Binny was a cousin of Lavinia Swire who gave her the gramophone she was using at Downton for her and Matthew's wedding[188]. He did not attend her funeral.

Mentions

Matthew: "How did you get on?"
Lavinia: "Quite well, I think. And we got Cousin Binny's gramophone going. Woosh! I do feel rather worn out."
— Downton Abbey Season 2 Scripts Page 435

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References[]

  1. Spanish-American War
  2. Astor family
  3. Madeleine Astor
  4. Grand Trunk Railway
  5. Charles Melville Hays
  6. Fifth Officer Harold Godfrey Lowe
  7. Lucy Rothes
  8. Norman Leslie, 19th Earl of Rothes
  9. Robert confirms this in the 2012 Christmas Special
  10. Episode 3.08
  11. Downton Abbey: Season 3 Scripts: Page 479 and 480: Julian Fellowes notes: That the Countess of Newtonmore was 'chiefly heiress' was a phrase I rather liked, which I got from our historical advisor, Alastair Bruce. Peerages that may pass through women are much more common in Scotland than in England. Scottish titles created before the Act of Union can be inherited by women in default of a male heir, which for me is an argument for extending the custom to England. As for the title itself, Newtonmore was one of the towns I knew well when I was making Monarch Of The Glen. It is a lovely part of Inverness-shire and it was a privilege to be working there.
  12. The following lines: "She was chiefly heiress of that strand of the MacClares and they took her name. Shrimpie's the chief now." only appear in the Downton Abbey: Season 3 Scripts: Page 479. It does not make it on to the screen.
  13. http://www.newtonmore.com/things-to-do/immediate-vicinity/monarch-of-the-glen.html
  14. Anne Chamberlain
  15. Violet mentions the Duchess as "Dowager" and being a dear friend; Violet is in her 70s in Series 3, and the 15th Duke's widow, Gwendolyn Constable-Maxwell, was only 43 at the time, and thus unlikely to be a "dear friend of Violet, being more than a generation out.
  16. In the 2014 Christmas Special, Robert mentions that, in the 1880s, the Hexhams were trying to "unload a niece", who is presumably Peter's aunt.
  17. Bertie's mother mentions that, at Brancaster, she lives in a suite of rooms made into a flat "for an aunt", implying Peter has one aunt who may or may not be the same as the previous aunt.
  18. Bertie mentions that the arrangement for Peter to marry his cousin, Adela Graham, is "understood" by "both sets of parents".
  19. Bertie's father's second cousin was Peter, the 6th Marquess. Bertie's grandfather's first cousin was the fifth Marquess. Bertie's great-grandfather's brother would have been the fourth Marquess
  20. We can assume this, given that she is not referred to as "late" or "deceased".
  21. In the book, Downton Abbey The Complete Scripts: Season One, a portion of the dialogue in the script in the scene in which Cora and Robert discuss Mary's dilemma and Cora suggests Anthony Strallan as a potential suitor, Cora indicates that Strallan is probably over the grief of losing his first wife because it's been two years since Maud's death. Robert asks why Strallan and Cora replies: "He's got no children. He needs an heir." (246).
  22. Mary mentions that there is "only Mama and Uncle Harold" to inherit Isidore's money; if this woman was Isidore's sister, then she would, presumably, be in line to inherit too. As Mary does not mention her it implies that she is either dead, or a sibling of Martha.
  23. The book The Chronicles of Downton Abbey confirms that Isidore was Jewish
  24. Episode 3.02: Martha claims that Isidore "tied the money up tight" thinking that "the Crawley family had had quite enough"
  25. In Episode 3.02, Martha states that she could not "touch the capital" and that her income is "generous".
  26. The memorial says that Archie was "19" at death. 20 years before his death on 5th February 1917 is 1897, so he is born after that date - the earliest date being 18th February - but 19 years before 17th February 1917 is 1898, making that the latest date he could have been born.
  27. Amenhotep II
  28. Herbert Henry Asquith
  29. John Ward
  30. Attila the Hun
  31. Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg
  32. Napoleon
  33. King Canute
  34. Charles I of England
  35. Anthony van Dyck
  36. Winston Churchill
  37. Oliver Cromwell
  38. Albert B. Fall
  39. Franz Ferdinand
  40. Robert Henley
  41. Slavery at common law
  42. Herod Antipas
  43. Adolf Hitler
  44. Thomas Jefferson
  45. John, King of England
  46. Alexander Kerensky
  47. Vladimir Lenin
  48. David Lloyd George
  49. George III
  50. Ramsay MacDonald
  51. Crofter: n. Brit. A person who rents and works a small farm, esp. in Scotland or N England.
  52. Niccolò Machiavelli (Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli)
  53. Marie Antoinette
  54. John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
  55. Constance Georgine Markievicz
  56. Mary I of England
  57. Mary, Queen of Scots
  58. John Stuart Mill
  59. Tsar Nicholas I
  60. Nicholas II
  61. Queen of Naples
  62. Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
  63. Maximilien de Robespierre
  64. Reign of Terror
  65. Thutmose IV
  66. Tiaa
  67. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
  68. Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm
  69. Kaiser Wilhelm II
  70. Woodrow Wilson
  71. Dante Alighieri
  72. Theda Bara
  73. John Barrymore
  74. Béla Bartók
  75. Clara Bow
  76. Emily Brontë
  77. Lord Byron
  78. Ivy Close
  79. Phyllis Dare
  80. Piero della Francesca
  81. Sergei Diaghilev
  82. Charles Dickens
  83. Douglas Fairbanks
  84. Lillian Gish
  85. Elinor Glyn
  86. Lady Gregory
  87. H. Rider Haggard
  88. Nathaniel Hawthorne
  89. Samuel Johnson
  90. Al Jolson
  91. Karl Marx
  92. Tom Mix
  93. Pola Negri
  94. Mabel Normand
  95. Giacomo Puccini
  96. Christina Rossetti
  97. John Ruskin
  98. William Shakespeare
  99. Marie Stopes
  100. Bloomsbury Group
  101. Lytton Strachey
  102. Ellen Terry
  103. Anthony Trollope
  104. Rudolph Valentino
  105. Jules Verne
  106. H.G. Wells
  107. Oscar Wilde
  108. Sarah Wilson
  109. Randall Davidson
  110. Archbishop of Canterbury
  111. Archimedes
  112. Duke of Argyll
  113. John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll
  114. Niall Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll
  115. Robert Baden-Powell
  116. Charles Barry
  117. Adrienne Bolland
  118. Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn
  119. Duchess of Connaught
  120. Emily Davison
  121. Brigadier General Reginald Dyer
  122. Georges Auguste Escoffier
  123. Guy Fawkes
  124. Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife
  125. Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
  126. Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife
  127. Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk
  128. Maud Gonne
  129. Hobson's Choice
  130. Jack Johnson
  131. Rosa Luxemburg
  132. Edward Molyneux
  133. Florence Nightingale
  134. Sylvia Pankhurst
  135. Charles Ponzi
  136. Pope Benedict XV
  137. 8th Viscount Powerscourt
  138. Gavrilo Princip
  139. Charles Rolls
  140. Hannah de Rothschild
  141. Board of guardians
  142. Salome
  143. Wat Tyler
  144. Perseus
  145. There are many versions of this same myth, but this is the general idea of the myth.
  146. Labours of Hercules
  147. Augeas
  148. William Makepeace Thackeray
  149. Vanity Fair
  150. Becky Sharp
  151. Pride and Prejudice
  152. Jane Austen
  153. Elizabeth Bennet
  154. Mrs. Bennet
  155. H. C. McNeile
  156. Bulldog Drummond
  157. Just So Stories
  158. Cupid
  159. A Tale of Two Cities
  160. Madame Defarge
  161. Robert Louis Stevenson
  162. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
  163. Jane Eyre
  164. Fu Manchu
  165. Rudyard Kipling
  166. Gunga Din
  167. Iphigenia
  168. Romeo and Juliet
  169. Long John Silver
  170. Sleeping Beauty
  171. Harriet Beecher Stowe
  172. Uncle Tom's Cabin
  173. Alfred, Lord Tennyson
  174. The Lady of Shalott
  175. Methuselah
  176. Nicholas_Nickleby
  177. Arthur Wing Pinero
  178. The Second Mrs Tanqueray
  179. Anthony Hope
  180. The Prisioner of Zenda
  181. Saint Paul
  182. Sydney Carton
  183. Thomas Hardy
  184. Tess of the d'Urbervilles
  185. Edgar Allan Poe
  186. The Fall of the House of Usher
  187. Lady-in-waiting
  188. Downton Abbey: Season 2 Scripts: Page 435: Lavinia: And we got Cousin Binny's gramophone going.

See also[]

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