Mr David Findley has lived and worked in Oxford his entire life, but in more recent years (since all of his children have flown the nest) he has extended his practice to the city where he teaches extra lectures and/or partakes in actual test studies. David met and married the older Annabella when he had been introduced to her father during a work study at the Paulet’s country manor. The two fell in love almost instantly, leaving them to elope and earn the rejection and exile from her family. Still, David came from an Upper-Middle class background, and quickly he taught his wife the new way of things. Soon after they had one child after another, and they have been exceedingly successful in raising their large brood of children to become independent, free-thinkers. David, in his golden years, has hopes to make a mark in the Science field however, and longs to practice what he preaches. Eager to follow his children into the city, David is the hearth to his family’s well being, and has recently chosen to rent out a townhouse in Islington. With an open heart, David is known to be kind, forgiving and open-minded but also restless, indulgent and crafty.
Duncan Kinkade
Duncan is the peace maker in his family, and overall a good egg. While his mother and middle brother having nothing but criticism for his eldest brother, Gust, Duncan remains steadfast in his affections and is known to defend Gust despite Gust insisting it’s not necessary. Duncan, like Hartley, has no idea of Gust’s secret past. There is child sexual abuse in play here, so please read Gust’s history before considering this character.
I think Igby really looks like he could be Austin’s brother, but I am open to other FCs if there is also a strong family resemblance.
Hartley Kinkade
Gust’s relationship with his brother Hartley is fraught at best. Without the full picture of Gust’s personal history, Hartley has long believed his mother’s complaints about his eldest brother, and Gust has been more than fine allowing him to think what he likes. There is child sexual abuse in play here, so please read Gust’s history before considering this character.
I love Josha, but I am open to FC negotiation, as long as there is a strong family resemblance.
Lottie Payne
Mother to Ambrose Wilkes, leader of the Black Powder Gang, Lottie has not only survived the brutal affections of her former pimp and a career as a prostitute, but thrived. While she’s not officially part of the Black Powder Gang, it’s well known that she advises her son from time to time. She also acts as the house mother and madame of the Gun, protecting her girls and her son’s interests at the same time.
Giovanni De Mura
Giovanni was born in Naples and came from a poor background. His father was a foundry worker, and his mother a seamstress. Giovanni started out as a street singer. At 22 he made his stage debut in Naples, and lived for a few years the life of a starving artist, traveling around Italy and Portugal and earning very little. His voice grew in power and weight as he aged, and at the age of 29 in Milan he met an opera manager from London who, after hearing him sing, engaged him for a six season contract with the Royal Opera. In London, Giovanni suddenly finds himself very successful – for the first time in his life, he has money, fame and recognition. Whether or not he can survive the allures of success remains to be seen.
Lisette Berwald
The famed “Swedish nightingale” Lisette Berwald is a star soprano opera singer. She resides in London, and will do so for at least the next two seasons. Her performances at the Royal Italian Opera have been met with rave reviews and much acclaim by critics and laypeople alike. Born in Sweden, she was discovered for her extraordinary voice and has been a court singer in Sweden and Norway, followed by engagements in Berlin and Vienna, where she was mobbed by admirers and received by royals. Now in London, she has secured the most lucrative deal of her career – but fate is capricious and past struggles with vocal damage may (or may not) come back to haunt her.
Joseph Warrens
Only the best of the best survive the harsh streets of Whitechapel, and Joseph Warrens has long since proven himself among those ranks. Born and raised in the poverty-stricken and dangerous streets he would later police, Joseph has a keen understanding of the woes and challenges that the people of his jurisdiction face. He spent his entire career in Whitechapel, and now has risen to the rather unenviable position of superintendent over Division H of the London Metropolitan Police. He is responsible for every success and failure of his men, and with the unique challenges Whitechapel offers, it’s often more failures than successes. While he is fiercely loyal to his men and fiercely protective of the streets that are his to protect, he has long since learned to play the bureaucratic games that his position requires. While his integrity (such as it is) has mostly remained intact, it has not made him the most popular of the Met’s superintendents, and the political aspects of his position also mean that he isn’t the most popular with his own constables, either. Still, Joseph puts the work and the people of his jurisdiction first, and will continue to do so until death takes him or he is relieved of his position.
Queenie Kirkham
Orphaned at age five by the death of an ill mother she cannot remember, Queenie has never known more than a life of hardship. Her older sister, Cat, did whatever needed to be done to keep the both of them off the streets, jumping from brothel to brothel to keep a roof over their heads. Queenie didn’t argue when she became old enough to sell her own body, but she and Cat have been plying their trade for a decade at The Gun, and the pull of the associated Black Powder Gang has been stronger than Cat’s warnings. In addition to her brothel work, she acts as a courier now for Rosie Wilkes, earning a reputation but no coin, and has grand ambitions to pull herself and her sister out of prostitution forever.
Cat Kirkham
Orphaned at age ten when her mother died from consumption, Catherine “Cat” Kirkham has spent most of her life scrabbling to keep herself and her younger sister off the streets. From early on, that meant selling her body, but she was lucky enough to land at The Gun brothel not long after it fell into the hands of Rosie Wilkes. There she could at least guarantee a roof over her and her sister Queenie’s heads and protection from the worst of her Johns’ abuse. But Cat knows better than most that nothing comes for free, and if she had fantastical notions of keeping Queenie from “the world’s oldest profession,” those withered long ago.
Madeline Wheeler
One of the newest Lambs, Madeline is the daughter of Irish immigrants who came to London seeking a better life. Instead, they found rampant discrimination, crime, and disappointment. Madeline had little intention of following her mother into the career of a washerwoman, and so turned to petty theft. One of the people she tried to steal from ended up being Lila Scriven, who took a liking to the firebrand of a young woman. Under Lila’s tutelage, Madeline has begun to blossom into a very promising thief indeed. She is wholly devoted to the gang and its leaders. Recently her parents have begun to question the source of her suddenly much greater income, and she can only lie for so long. Right now she claims to have a wealthy beau who grants her all sorts of gifts and allowance, but how long that particular lie will last is anyone’s guess.