Finch Family

[Charles Rex]

Members of the Family Currently Played

• Heneage Finch Sr., Baron Daventry and Lord Chancellor of the Privy Council [NPC]
  
• Daniel Finch, Earl of Winchilsea [NPC]
  
• Elisabeth Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea [NPC]
  
• Heneage Finch Jr., Earl of Aylesford [NPC]
  

[Charles Rex]

Heneage Finch Sr.

Full Name: Heneage Finch, Sr.

Nationality: English

Title: Baron of Daventry, Raunston. Lord Chancellor of the Privy Council.

Estate Name:

Age: 56 (b. 1621)

Gender: Male

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Dark Brown, now greying

Marital Status: Married, but estranged

 

Physical Attributes

The dark looks were a trait his sons inherited.

 

Personality

In an age of corruption he added to his reputation as an able lawyer that of a statesman of integrity.

 

Background

Appointed Chancellor just this year, and Solicitor General prior to that. Friends with Leoline Jenkins. They were at Oxford together.

 

Married to Lady Mary Seymour Finch, this year they celebrate their 29th wedding anniversary - separately. The Lord Chancellor and his wife are estranged, which is all but public knowledge.

 

He has two sons, Daniel Finch and Heneage Finch Jr. He is uncle to Elisabeth Killington through his wife, a connection he takes seriously despite his estrangement.

[Charles Rex]

Daniel Finch

Full Name: Daniel Finch

Nationality: English

Title: Earl of Winchilsea

Estate Name:

Age: 30 (b. 1647)

Gender: Male

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Marital Status: Married

 

Physical Attributes

Daniel has a good physique and can even be called handsome, carrying the family trait dark looks. He is much better looking than his brother.

 

Personality

Known as something of a wastrel, Daniel does not share his fathers studious manner. It is rumoured that he has been seen frequenting the Kings Head Tavern. A ladies man.

 

Background*

Eldest son of Heneage Finch Sr; married to Elisabeth Finch; brother to Heneage Finch Jr; and distant cousin by marriage to Elisabeth (Seymour) Killington. Resides in Piccadilly Street with his wife and infant child Mary.

 

Spent some time in France in 1675, during which time the strength of the marriage greatly improved, though can a leopard ever change it's spots?

 

Has been involved with maritime affairs since, with interests in salvage and insurance.

 

* Some historical fudging.

[Charles Rex]

Heneage Finch Jr.

Full Name: Heneage Finch Jr.

Nationality: English

Title: Earl of Aylesford

Estate Name: Aylesford

Age: 28 (b. 1649)

Gender: Male

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Marital Status: Single

 

Physical Attributes

Despite having his families dark brown looks, a somewhat plain man. He stands 5'8" tall, with a portly swell* to his belly concealed by impeccable tailoring. Heneage is left handed.

 

* Following a personally stressful period Heneage has lost weight so that his clothing is currently baggy (April 1676)

* When he returned from abroad in '77 he'd regained any weight he'd lost, and then a little more, so that his clothing is a tad too tight.

 

Personality

 

Background

The younger son of the Lord Chancellor Heneage Finch Sr, and thus distant cousin by marriage of Elisabeth Seymour Killington. Brother is Daniel Finch.

 

He is the childhood friend of Charles Blount and remains best of friends with him to this day.

 

Became engaged to Lady Jane Mary Digby in Spring '76, however following a messy breakup of engagement, Hen went to Europe upon a diplomatic mission in October '76.

 

He returned in May '77.

[Charles Rex]

Elisabeth Anne Finch

Full Name: Elisabeth Anne Finch

Nationality: English

Title: Countess of Winchilsea

Estate Name:

Age: 27 (b. 1660)

Gender: Female

Eye Color: Blue

Hair Color: Blonde

Marital Status: Married

 

Physical Attributes

Small woman, rounded cheeks, a bit plain.

 

Personality

Appears demure and shy, insecure.

 

Background

Born Lady Essex. Rich, daughter of Robert Rich, 3rd Earl of Warwick, and Anne Cheeke.

 

On 16 June 1674, Elisabeth married Daniel Finch, becoming sister-in-law to Heneage Finch Jr and daughter-in-law to Heneage Finch Sr. She and her husband have a daughter, Mary.*

 

* Historical fudge of birth 2 years in advance.

 

Saint George's Day Awards, 1676

Received a Medals of Charity for her tireless work with Memorial Gardens.

[Guest]

Joan Wycliffe

 

Full Name: Joan Eleanor Wycliffe

Title: The Hon. Mistress Wycliffe

Estate Name: Dereham Manor, in Norfolk

Nationality: English

Age: 29

Gender: Female

Eye Colour: Hazel

Hair Colour: Brown

 

The First Impression & Physical Appearance

 

At her very best, Joan Wycliffe may come across as an adequately attractive, if mature, lady of quality. However, with medium brown locks, hazel eyes, and figure that leaves something to be desired, the word "plain" would not be an inaccurate descriptor. Fortunately, Mrs Wycliffe has many redeeming qualities about her.

 

Joan is vivacious, yet manages to maintain a sense of dignity; fashionable, but always modest. Her less-than-ample bosom and slender torso prevent her from meeting the standards of beauty, but concurrently allow her to move with a certain grace, which is evident in her dancing ability.

 

When the situation doesn't warrant extravagance, Mrs Wycliffe tends to dress quite practically and with minimal amounts of jewelry. She favors pastel colors, matte fabrics, and has a special fondness for lavender. Generous amounts of floral perfume always cling to her body, sometimes overmuch.

 

 

Housing

 

St. Marks Hall, in room 201.

 

Family Background

 

The Abernethys of Havant had always been creatures of passion. They put their beliefs above all else, and were drawn to conflicts both petty and prominent alike. Thus when faced with the tyranny of His Majesty the King, their response was quite simply, predictable.

 

At the time of the first English Civil War, Sir Jasper Abernethy, a second-generation baronet, was the head of the household. He initially proved to be a staunch ally to the Parliamentarian cause pioneered by the Lord Fairfax of Cameron. But after Cromwell's regime proved to be utterly distasteful and a threat to the religious uniformity of England, he joined the ranks of those welcoming back the restored Charles II.

 

Lady Abernethy, or Margaret Finch, as was, did her best to keep her husband away from the more dangerous personages in politics. That is not to say she had any real interest in the political leanings of Sir Jasper. Rather, her primary concern was the reputation and social status of her family. Whereas her husband was a creature of faith and passion, Margaret was an opportunist who was more than happy to compromise her beliefs if it brought her an advantage.

 

The children of Sir Jasper and Lady Margaret came to inherit the qualities of their parents in differing proportions. James, the eldest, was ambitious and diplomatic; while the secondborn beauty, Miss Juliette, was a dogmatic shrew. Four more children followed, all of whom received less attention than the first two. This is the story of the one who embodied the best of her mother and the worst of her father: the middleborn Miss Joan Abernethy.

 

The Young Joan

 

Given her circumstances, it might be expected that Joan grew to become a being of envy, as Juliette alone received more attention than the younger four combined. This was not helped by the fact that Lady Abernethy was always either pregnant, or recovering from being pregnant, and thus had not enough energy to truly parent her children.

 

It is entirely possible that Joan may have had 3 or 4 more healthy siblings, had Sir Jasper continued to visit his wife's chambers. But rather than see his wife die in the childbed, the baronet took a mistress - something that his children now view to have been an act of compassion.

 

Joan came to have little recollection of the troubles that England faced during the Interregnum, as she far too busy engineering trouble for Juliette, which, quite frankly, was not very difficult, as the young beauty was unnerved by the smallest of things. Her relationships with the younger three were mostly positive, as they were united in their envies. Otherwise, their life in Havant was fairly traditional.

 

Courtship

 

Though the Abernethys were not an influential family in their own right, they did have their fair share of connections to rising political figures. Joan's marriage was sure to be a worthy match. But, it would have been on hold for as long as Juliette had her pick of the suitors. Mysteriously, however, Mistress Abernethy fell sick shortly before she was to travel to London. This left Joan to be presented in her place.

 

While Juliette was confined to her home, Joan came to court the Honourable Mr Wycliffe, a gentleman of a royalist family & heir apparent to both a title and fortune. There was some scandal surrounding the family, however. Mr Wycliffe had previously been betrothed to a lady of the Howard family but refused to marry her on the account of she being a recusant catholic. The Wycliffe's are, to this day, still feuding with Houses Stafford and Norfolk over this.

 

The marriage between Joan and Mr Wycliffe proved to be advantageous to all parties. Mr Wycliffe, as a married man, was finally able to get an advance on his inheritance, which Lord Wycliffe had withheld up until this point as a punishment for the scandal. The new Mrs Wycliffe, meanwhile, now had ties to the peerage and a household of her own. And lastly, the connection to a Tory lord would help redeem the Abernethy family in the eyes of the King.

 

The Hon. Mistress Wycliffe

 

The marriage was, by all accounts, quite happy. Mr and Mrs Wycliffe shared both the same opinions, penchant for drama, and soon enough, three children. Unfortunately, the only son of the union died at the age of two. Nevertheless, Joan was still young and presumably fertile; more sons would surely follow.

 

She took it upon herself to support her husband's political career, much as Lady Abernethy did for Sir Jasper. His friends became her friends, just as his enemies became her enemies. She did not travel to court often, on the account of her ill-timed pregnancies, but Joan kept up with current events proficiently.

 

She personally joined the feud between the Wycliffes and the Howards by publicly drawing attention to the quarrel between Isabel Howard and her son-in-law, the heir to Winchester. To put it delicately, Lord & Lady Stafford did not take kindly to this.

 

It would be years before Lord and Master Wycliffe would be reconciled, but in the meantime Sir Jasper Abernethy helped his son-in-law garner a seat in the House of Commons. Ostensibly, the baron's heir was an ally to the King, but in truth he his sympathies lay with the Country Party. If he had lived long enough to have witnessed the attempted assassination of His Majesty, Mr Wycliffe would have likely revealed himself to be an enemy of France and all that it stands for.

 

But as it stood, he died en route to London during the Spring of 1676. It was, by all means, a tragedy in more ways than one. In one fell swoop, the barony and the entailed estate were now to be forever out of Joan's reach. And instead of attending the Royal Wedding, Mrs Wycliffe would now be obligated to mourn.

 

The "Merry" Widow

 

Shortly after the death of Master Wycliffe, there seemed to have been an altercation between the widow Wycliffe and George Churchill. Specifically, he publically claimed to have kept her as his mistress!

 

 

To this day, Joan denies that it ever occurred. Luckily, Lieutenant Churchill is hardly the most credible authority, and most have paid the rumors no heed. This did not include her old enemy, Lady Stafford, who took it upon herself to call further attention to how shamelessly Mrs Wycliffe dishonored the memory of her late husband. The Wycliffe’s don’t necessarily believe the rumors, given that they were spread by their enemy. Even so, they currently view their daughter-in-law with suspicion, as if there were to be a pregnancy by this hypothetical tryst... the barony and estate could very well have gone to a bastard.

 

The young dowager Wycliffe found herself in further trouble too. The seemed to have been a falling out between Joan and her cousin Daniel Winchilsea. It is not certain what caused this, but rumour has it that it caused much strife in the marriage between Lord and Lady Winchilsea. As far as anyone knows, there has been no further interaction between the feuding cousins.

 

Now with two dowries to provide, no title, and powerful enemies, Mrs Wycliffe presumably plans to make use of the two bargaining chips she has left yet: her fading youth, and her cousin the Lord Chancellor. As to whether she will let partisan opinions and petty conflict get the better of her again, it is hard to say. Whatever the case, it is high time that she returns to London.

 

Family Rundown

 

 

Abernethy Family:

 

* Sir Jasper Abernethy, Baronet (1626 - Present)

* Margaret Finch, Lady Abernethy (1628 - Present)

• * Sir James Abernethy, Knight (1645 - Present)
  * Juliette Abernethy (1647 - Present)
  * Marianne Abernethy (1650 - Present)
  * John Abernethy (1653 - Present)
  * Cecily Abernethy (1653 - Present)
  * Charles Abernethy (1654-1655)
  * Stillborn Abernethy (1658 - 1658)

 

Wycliffe Family:

 

* Charles, 1st Lord Wycliffe

* Frances, Lady Wycliffe

• * Edward Wycliffe (1644 - 1676)
  
  • 
    * Surviving children by Joan Abernethy:
    * Eleanor Wycliffe
    * Frances Wycliffe

* Alice Wycliffe (1650 - Present)

* Richard Wycliffe (1654 - Present)

 

Finch Family:

 

* Heneage, 1st Lord Finch of Daventry

• 1st Cousin once-removed

* Mary Seymour, Lady Finch of Daventry

• By marriage, 1st cousin once-removed

• * Daniel, Earl of Winchilsea
  
  • 2nd Cousin

* Elizabeth-Anne, Countess of Winchilsea

• By marriage, 2nd Cousin

* Heneage, 1st Earl of Aylesford

• 2nd Cousin

 

Joan's Household

 

* Harriet Miller - Lady's Maid (1651 - Present)

• A young, fair woman with full hips, breasts and, most notably, buttocks. Skilled at her trade, willing to go outside of her comfort zone. It remains to be seen how loyal she truly is to her mistress.

* George Fitzherbert - Bodyguard (1650 - Present)

• Mrs Wycliffe employed his services this spring in preparation for her trip to London (with the mob raving about, and all). Handsome enough, on account of his youth and muscular features. Rather quiet, but he is happy to accompany his mistress through the city.