Person

Book/Story

Nicknames

Family

Description

*ARCHER , Lady

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Lady Archer was notorious for keeping a gaming house. She was one of several ladies (Lady Buckhamshire, Lady Archer and Lady Mount Edgecumbe) who were pilloried in the newspapers of the time for fleecing young men at the game of Faro, and nicknamed “Faro’s Daughters”

Max Ravenscar describes Lady Bellingham as “one of the Archer Buckingham kidney”

*BUCKINGHAM, Lady

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Probably Lady Buckinghamshire. Albinia, 3rd Countess of Buckinghamshire, (1757-1816) - daughter of Lord Vere Bertie, married to 3rd Earl of Buckinghamshire. ran a gambling establishment. - Lady Buckhamshire, Lady Archer and Lady Mount Edgecumbe were pilloried in the newspapers of the time for fleecing young men at the game of Faro, and nicknamed “Faro’s Daughters”

“Gillray scarified them more than once, but neither his cartoons nor those of the other caricaturists of the day affected their activity or induced them to change their ways." (from 'Regency Ladies' by Lewis Melville)

" From The Times, 13 March 1797;

"Public Office, Marlborough Street - On Saturday came to be heard informations against Lady Buckinghamshire, Lady Elizabeth Luttrell, Mrs Sturt and Mr Concannon for having on the night of the 30th of last January, played at Faro, at Lady Buckinghamshire's house in St James's Square, and Mr Martindale was charged with being the Proprietor of the table. The evidence went to prove that the defendants had gaming parties at their different houses in rotation and that when they met at Lady Buckinghamshire's, the

witnesses used to wait upon them in the gambling room, and that they played at E.O. Rouge et Noir, &c, from about eleven or twelve until three or four in the morning."

Max Ravenscar condemns Lady Bellingham as “one of the Archer Buckingham kidney” .

“There was a great deal of absurd stuff written in the daily papers about the wickedness of such gaming houses as Mrs Sturts, and Lady Buckingham’s,”

*MENDOZA, Daniel (1764-1836)

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Mendoza was a famous bareknuckle pugilist (boxer). Declared Heavyweight Champion of England in 1791, after defeating Richard Humphries, he was the first Jewish champion. A smaller than usual boxer (5ft 7inches, 160 lbs), he was famous for his new “scientific” style of boxing, relying on many rapid punches rather than heavy punches or “mauling”. He successfully defended his title twice before losing to John (Gentleman) Jackson on April 15, 1795. After that, he became proprietor of a public house in Whitechapel and opened a very successful school of Boxing. He wrote the Art of Boxing, published in 1787.

Mendoza is mentioned in passing. Max Ravenscar has taken lessons with him and Lord Ormskirk refers to Mendoza’s fight with Gentleman Humphries.

*PITT, William, (1759--1806)

FARO’S DAUGHTER

William Pitt was the second son of the Earl of Chatham. A brilliant young man, he entered Parliament at 21 and at the age of 23 became Chancellor of the Exchequer. He became Prime Minister of England the following year and held that office for the next 17 years, throughout the French Revolution and the War with France. He died at the age of 46 and was regarded as one of England’s most brilliant statesmen.

Mr Pitt’s “iniquitous tax on hair powder” is mentioned.

*REPTON, Lady Sarah (Sally) (real?)

FARO’S DAUGHTER

She was the daughter of the Duke of ??. and a keen gambler.

Lady Sarah Repton is mentioned in passing. "Naturally Sally has the entree everywhere...it was Sally who warned ...(Lady Mablethorpe)... of what was going forward" between her son and Deborah Grantham.

*STURT, Mrs

FARO’S DAUGHTER

A woman who was notorious for keeping a gaming house -- see extract from The Times (above) under Lady Buckingham

“There was a great deal of absurd stuff written in the daily papers about the wickedness of such gaming houses as Mrs Sturts, and Lady Buckingham’s,”

?*HOBART, Mrs

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Possibly a relation of Lady Buckinghamshire or a pseudonym for her. The Buckinghamshire family name was Hobart.

Mrs Hobart is mentioned in passing as running a gaming house. 'Lady Bel had quite cast MrsSturt and Mrs Hobart into the shade.' Also, Lady Bel’s refreshments are better than 'the inferior stuff that Hobart woman gives her guests to drink!'

WANTAGE, Silas

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Silas Wantage is the doorkeeper at Lady Bellingham’s. A former boxer, he was Deborah Grantham’s late father’s sergeant in the army. He has known Deb and Kit since birth and is fiercely loyal to them.

WARING, Tom

FARO’S DAUGHTER

A friend of Lord Mablethorpe and Mr Ravenscar who lives in Berkshire. Adrian purportedly leaves town to go to Tom Waring's place for some shooting.

WELLING

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Welling is Max Ravenscar’s groom.

HONORIA, Aunt (surname unknown)

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Niece: Phoebe Laxton

Brother: Lord Laxton

Aunt Honouria is Phoebe Laxton’s sympathetic aunt, a widow and a great invalid, who lives in Welshpool, in Montgomery, Wales. Phoebe’s father, Lord Laxton, is reputed to be a little afraid of his sister and does not look forward to "enduring the lightning of

her extremely forked tongue."

HORLEY. Mr

FARO’S DAUGHTER

(not to be confused with “old Horley” the schoolmaster mentioned in Friday’s Child)

Horley is a gambler and a frequenter of Lady Bellingham’s gambling house. He wears an old-fashioned bag-wig.

KENNET, Lucius

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Lucius Kennet was a friend of Deborah Grantham’s late father. Also a soldier of fortune, “living by his wits and a dice box”, he has known Deb and Kit almost from the cradle. Now in his 30’s, he lives at 66 Jermyn St and works in Lady Bellingham’s gambling house. He is a large, loose limbed man, “a pleasant fellow with smiling eyes and an engaging address.”

LAXTON , Lady Laxton, Augusta

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Husband: Lord Laxton

Son: The Hon. Arnold

Daughter: The Hon. Phoebe

Daughters: 5

Augusta, Lady Laxton, is the mother of Phoebe Laxton. The Laxtons being “poor as church mice”, Lady Laxton has a reputation for ruthlessly arranging marriages for her numerous daughters to “the highest bidder”. She also cheats at cards and was consequently denied the entree to Lady Bel's card-parties (before the gaming-house).

LAXTON , Lord Laxton

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Wife: Lady Laxton, Augusta

Son: The Hon. Arnold

Daughter: The Hon. Phoebe

Daughters: 5

Lord Laxton, is the father of Phoebe Laxton. An avid gambler, his family is described as being “poor as church mice”. He visits Lady Bellingham’s gambling establishment.

LAXTON , The Honourable Arnold

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Father: Lord Laxton

Mother: Lady Laxton, Augusta

Brother: The Hon. Arnold

Sisters: 5

The Hon. Arnold Laxton is Phoebe Laxton’s brother. An avid gambler, like his father, he too looks to his sister to repair the family fortunes.

LAXTON , The Honourable Phoebe

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Father: Lord Laxton

Mother: Lady Laxton, Augusta

Brother: The Hon. Arnold

Sisters: 4

Phoebe Laxton is 18 and one of 5 daughters. She described as a “pretty child ... with pale golden ringlets and forget-me-not blue eyes.” She is “ a gentle little thing, easily led and still more easily bullied.” Nervous of her suitor, Sir James Filey, a much older man, she is befriended by Deborah Grantham at Vauxhall Gardens.

MABLETHORPE— Lady Mablethorpe, Selina

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Son: Lord Mablethorpe, Adrian.

Nephew: Ravenscar, Mr Max

Sister-in-law: Ravenscar, Mrs Olivia

Niece: Ravenscar, Miss Arabella

Selina, Lady Mablethorpe, a widow in her 50’s, lives in Brook St. She asks her nephew, Max Ravenscar to rescue her beloved only son from the toils of “a hussy from a gaming house” — Deborah Grantham. Lady Mablethorpe is a strong woman and a doting mother, but a sensible woman

She is a plump, well-dressed dowager, accustomed to having her bidding done and with little patience for fools. A practical, fairly outspoken woman.

MABLETHORPE— Lord Mablethorpe, Adrian, 4th Viscount Mablethorpe

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Mother: Lady Mablethorpe, Selina.

Cousin: Ravenscar, Mr Max

Aunt: Ravenscar, Mrs Olivia

Cousin: Ravenscar, Miss Arabella

Adrian, Lord Mablethorpe is 20 and in love with Deborah Grantham.

“A handsome young man, hardly more than a boy. He wore his own fair hair tied in the nape of his neck, and supported his chin on one slender, beautiful hand. His expression was one of great sweetness, but there was a hint of obstinacy in the curve of his lips, at odd variance with the dreamy softness of his eyes.” He is described by his mother “in a despairing way” as being “just like his father... some romantic maggot in his head...forever reading tales of chivalry, and such nonsense, when he was a boy!”

MABLETHORPE, The Honourable Julius

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Sister-in-law: Lady Mablethorpe, Selina.

Nephew: Lord Mablethorpe, Adrian.

Nephew: Ravenscar, Mr Max

Sister-in-law: Ravenscar, Mrs Olivia

Niece: Ravenscar, Miss Arabella

The Hon. Julius Mablethorpe is one of Lord Mablethorpe’s trustees, along with Max Ravenscar. He is the less active trustee, and pithily described by his sister-in-law, Lady Mablethorpe as “that old woman!”

MORTIMER

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Mortimer is Lady Bellingham’s butler.

ORMSKIRK, Lord.

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Lord Ormskirk is a gambler who frequents Lady Bellingham’s gambling house. “A middle aged exquisite” with a “thin, handsome face”, “curiously lined” under his “elaborate maquillage” (make-up), he wears “a powdered wig”. Ormskirk is in his late 40’s, and twice a widower. “It was popularly supposed that he had driven both his wives into their graves.” He has several daughters and a son, lives at 39 Grosvenor Square and is a member of White’s Club.

Lord Ormskirk has dishonourable designs on Deborah Grantham. He holds bills of Lady Bellingham’s debts, (approx £1500 ) and the mortgage on her house (approx £5000 ), is reputed to be ruthless and has thrice killed his man in a duel.

PATCH, Mrs. Clara

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Mrs Patch is a “vulgar widow”, a friend of Lucius Kennet. An “improbable blonde of uncertain years, with a very much painted face, a singularly penetrating voice and a laugh which made Mablethorpe wince”, she accompanies Deborah Grantham and Lord Mablethorpe on an excursion to Vauxhall Gardens.

RAVENSCAR, Mrs Olivia (widow)

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Daughter: Ravenscar, Miss Arabella

Step-son: Ravenscar, Mr Max

Sister-in-law: Lady Mablethorpe, Selina

Nephew: Lord Mablethorpe, Adrian.

Mrs Olivia Ravenscar is Max Ravenscar’s widowed step mother. She is “a classically beautiful woman of pale colouring and rather expressionless features.”

An invalid whose “least exertion prostrates” her, she enjoys extremely frail health and describes her many and varied ailments in a gently complaining tone. She spends “the best part of her time at Bath or Tunbridge Wells”.

RAVENSCAR, Arabella

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Half-brother: Ravenscar, Max

Mother: Mrs Olivia Ravenscar (widowed)

Aunt: Lady Mablethorpe, Selina

Cousin: Lord Mablethorpe, Adrian.

Arabella Ravenscar is 18 and Max Ravenscar’s young half-sister, a charmer and an accomplished, though innocent, flirt, still stretching her wings. She has a habit of falling in and out of love a dozen times a year. Arabella is also an heiress, with “£80,000 invested in the funds.”

She is “a tiny brunette with the most vivid, mischievous little face imaginable. She was quite as dark as her half-brother and much better looking. Her short upper lip had the most enchanting lift; her pansy eyes sparkled as she talked, and a pair of dimples played at hide-and-seek at the corners of her mouth.”

Arabella has recently come from Tunbridge Wells, where the 14th Foot was stationed.

RAVENSCAR, Max

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Half-sister: Ravenscar, Arabella

Stepmother: Mrs Olivia Ravenscar

Aunt: Lady Mablethorpe, Selina

Cousin: Lord Mablethorpe, Adrian.

Max Ravenscar is a rich (£20-30,000 per year) bachelor, aged 35, who has been asked by his aunt to rescue his young cousin from the toils of “a hussy from a gaming house” — Deborah Grantham.

Mr Ravenscar is “very tall, with a good pair of legs, fine broad shoulders, a lean, harsh-featured countenance with an uncompromising mouth and extremely hard grey eyes.” His hair is “black and slightly curling, cut in something perilously near a Bedford crop.”

He is a proud man, with a temper, and very much accustomed to having his own way. He dresses plainly but with taste, is a member of Brooks, is respected by his peers, and is a very fine horseman. He "kept a large house in Grosvenor Square...and his country estate, Chamfreys, was a noble mansion." Whilst he has no particular passion for gambling, he is a very skilled card player — picquet being the game he regards as “peculiarly his own.”

STILLINGFLEET

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Stillingfleet is mentioned in passing as, “when changing horses at the Green Man in Barnet”, having seen and admired Deborah Grantham in a travelling chaise, heading north. He spoke of it to others in London.

BELLINGHAM, Lady (Eliza) (née Grantham)

FARO’S DAUGHTER

a.k.a. Lady Bel

Widow of Bellingham, Sir Edward (a.k.a. “Ned”)

Niece: Grantham, Deborah (a.k.a. “Deb”)

Nephew: Grantham, Christopher (a.k.a. “Kit”)

Brother: (deceased) Captain Wilfred Grantham

“Some sort of cousin to” Amberley.

Eliza, Lady Bellingham “had been a very pretty woman in her youth, but there was little trace of a former beauty to be detected in her plump countenance to-day. A once pink-and-white complexion had long been raddled by cosmetics; there were pouches under her pale blue eyes; her cheeks had sagged; and it could not be said that a golden wig became her.”

Lady Bellingham, a widow, had turned to card parties to increase her income when the arrival of her beloved orphaned niece and nephew caused an increased demand on her purse. Now she keeps a gambling house in St James Square, but the cost of the establishment and the fact that she is no businesswoman, combined with her reluctance to make do with inferior quality goods, means she is “badly dipped” -- heavily in debt. Her debts have been purchased by Lord Ormskirk, who hopes to use them to persuade Lady Bellingham’s niece, Deborah, to become his mistress.

BELLINGHAM, Sir Edward (Deceased) (a.k.a. “Ned”)

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Wife: Bellingham, Lady, (Eliza)

Nephew: Grantham, Christopher (a.k.a. “Kit”)

Niece: Grantham, Deborah (a.k.a. “Deb”)

Brother-in-law: (deceased) Grantham, Capt. Wilfred

Ned Bellingham was Lady Bellingham's husband. Dead for the last 12 years, he “drank himself into his grave, though they called it an inflammation of the lungs...Of course, he left ...(Lady Bel)... with a pile of debts.” "When poor dear Sir Edward was alive, we always had our box at the opera.”

BETTY (surname unknown)

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Betty is a maid at Lady Bellingham’s.

BEVERLEY

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Beverley is a gambler and a frequenter of Lady Bellingham’s gambling house.

CREWE, The Honourable Berkeley

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Crewe is a gambler and a friend of Max Ravenscar. He vouches for Max in order for him to gain entrance to Lady Bellingham’s gambling house.

DOVE, Mrs

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Mrs Dove is Max Ravenscar’s housekeeper

FILEY, Sir James

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Sir James Filey is a “middle aged roué”, a “hardened gamester” and is qute rich -- (he has more than twice the wealth of Lord Mablethorpe). He has plans to marry Phoebe Laxton, a young girl a little more than half his age. He makes a bet to race against Max Ravenscar from Islington to Hatfield on the Great North Road. According to Lady Bellingham "his mother was a very vulgar, low kind of woman". Lady Maplethorpe said of him -- "a satyr! A hateful man, and if you had but known his mother--!"

GRANTHAM, Captain Wilfred, (Deceased)

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Son: Grantham, Christopher (a.k.a. “Kit”)

Daughter: Grantham, Deborah (a.k.a. “Deb”)

Sister: BELLINGHAM, Lady, (Eliza)

Brother-in-law: (deceased) Bellingham, Sir Edward (a.k.a. “Ned”)

“Some sort of cousin to” Amberley.

Captain Wilfred Grantham had been a Captain in the army, from which he resigned. He thereafter led a roving life, existing more or less, as a gambler. He was accompanied by his friend Lucius Kennet, and his ex-sergeant, Silas Wantage, as well as his two children, Deborah and Christopher. When his wife died, he sent his

children to the care of his sister, Lady Bellingham, a widow. He died abroad.

GRANTHAM, Christopher

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Familial Nickname: “Kit”

Familial Nickname: “Kit”

Sister: Grantham, Deborah (a.k.a. “Deb”)

Father: (deceased) Grantham, Captain Wilfred

Aunt: BELLINGHAM, Lady, (Eliza)

Uncle: (deceased) Bellingham, Sir Edward (a.k.a. “Ned”)

“Some sort of cousin to” Amberley.

Christopher Grantham is 22, an orphan, who at the age of 12 came to live with his aunt, Lady Bellingham. He attended Harrow and is now a soldier, a member of the 14th Foot.

He is “a pleasant looking young man, fairer than Deborah and without her brilliance of eye....he had grown up to be rather spoilt and not much inclined to consider the wishes of other people, but this selfishness arose more from thoughtlessness than from any badness of disposition....he was in general very well liked, having amiable manners, a good seat on a horse and an openhanded nature which led him to spend a great deal of money in the sort of hospitality appreciated by his friends in the regiment.” (p151)

Kit arrives in London, and is unimpressed to find his aunt is running a gaming house; he knew of it, but now he has marital ambitions, and is concerned with how it will look to others. He attempts to intervene in the battle between Deborah and Max.

GRANTHAM, Deborah

FARO’S DAUGHTER

Familial Nickname: “Deb”

Brother: Grantham, Christopher (a.k.a. “Kit”)

Father: (deceased) Grantham, Captain Wilfred

Aunt: BELLINGHAM, Lady, (Eliza)

Uncle: (deceased) Bellingham, Sir Edward (a.k.a. “Ned”)

“Some sort of cousin to” Amberley.

Deborah Grantham is an orphan, who came to live with her Aunt, Lady Bellingham, on the death of her mother. Deb was 15 at the time, and her brother Kit was 12. Now 25, she resides with her aunt in her aunt’s gaming house and presides over the tables; one of “faro’s daughters”. She has a hot temper when roused and a fine sense of honour.

Miss Grantham is “a tall young woman with chestnut hair, glowing in the candlelight, and a pair of laughing dark eyes set under slim arched brows.....The lady’s eyes were the most expressive and brilliant her had ever seen....She was built on queenly lines, carried her head well and possessed a pretty wrist and a neatly turned ankle.She looked to have a good deal of humour, and her voice, when she spoke, was low-pitched and pleasing.”

When Deborah Grantham attracts the romantic interest of young Adrian, Lord Mablethorpe, his mother enlists the help of her nephew, Max Ravenscar. She begs Mr Ravenscar to free her son from the toils of this “creature—oh, a hussy!——out of a gaming-house.” Max’s attempt to do so, by bribery, raises Miss Granthams ire and so a battle commences between Mr Ravenscar and Miss Grantham