Bethany Ingram
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| Portrayed by Diane Kruger | |
| Full Name | Miss Bethany Grace Ingram |
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| Associated Noble House(s) | {{{noblehouse}}} |
| Date of Birth | 23rd September 1787 |
| Father | Richard Ingram |
| Father's Rank | Gentry |
| Mother | Katherine Ingram (née Mortimer) |
| Mother's Rank | Gentry |
| Town Residence | Norwood Abbey |
| Year of Debut | 1805 |
| Dowry | £2,000 |
Bethany Ingram is the second child of Richard and Katherine Ingram. She grew up on her father's estate in Warwickshire, but at sixteen was taken in as ward and companion of her second cousin on her mother's side, Lady Leonora Stanton. Beth has resided with Lady Stanton for the past eight years, but does not wish to rely on her cousin's generosity in the long term and now at 23 is looking to secure her future via marriage to a wealthy husband.
Beth is played by Sarah.
Family
- Mr Richard Ingram (father) - b. 1759
- Mrs Katherine Ingram, née Mortimer (mother) - b. 1765
- Mrs Susan Cavendish (sister) - b. 1785
- Mr Thomas Cavendish (brother-in-law) - b.1780
- Mr Isaac Cavendish (nephew) - b. 1807
- Miss Eloise Cavendish (niece) - b. 1810
- Mr Robert “Robin” Ingram (brother) - b. 1789
- Miss Lucy Ingram (sister) - b. 1792
- Miss Henrietta Ingram (sister) - b.1792
- Mr Jonathan Ingram (brother) - b. 1795
- Mr Anthony Ingram (brother) - b. 1798
- Miss Caroline Ingram (sister) - b.1799
- Mr George Ingram (brother) - b. 1801
- Miss Beatrice Ingram (sister) - b.1803
- Lady Leonora Stanton (second cousin) - b. 1748
- Sir William Stanton, 5th Baronet Stanton (second cousin by marriage) - b.1730, d.1803
Background
Born the second of what would be eight children, Miss Bethany Ingram grew up in Warwickshire in a household that was, in her opinion, overcrowded, over loud and often quite exhausting.
For that, the blame lies entirely with her parents. They are kind, loving, and utterly ineffectual at providing any real discipline - including self-discipline; her father was a man of not inconsiderable property and income, and certainly he would have had more than enough to ensure his wife and their children would be kept in relative luxury for all their lives . . . had the couple demonstrated any kind of restraint when it came to the matter of procreation.
As a result, most of Beth’s childhood was spent constantly having siblings underfoot and precious little in the way of peace and quiet. Being the second oldest, her parents relied on her to help keep her brothers and sisters in line, a responsibility she came to loathe as. With the family’s stretched finances, her parents could just afford a governess for the girls, and Beth watched in envy and resentment as other young ladies in the neighbourhood - who did not have to make do with hand-me-downs from their elder sisters - went off to schools and she, as she felt, was left behind.
That was Beth’s early life, and her future seemed set as either becoming a spinster aunt to her siblings’ children or marrying a local dullard simply to escape the noise of her family. Things changed, however, when she turned sixteen and her older sister Susan married. Attending the wedding was her grandmother’s cousin, Lady Leonora Stanton, recently widowed, and without children - and in whom Beth saw a possible escape from the life she felt trapped in. She complimented and gave honeyed smiles that Lady Stanton immediately saw through, but fortunately her cousin was amused by the sly tongued second Ingram daughter, and asked her parents if they would agree to her taking Beth on as both ward and companion.
With their resources strained and knowing Beth to be dissatisfied at home anyway, it seemed a happy solution all around. Thus, for the last eight years Beth has resided with Lady Stanton both at her estate near Nottingham and at times in both London and Bath. Lady Stanton has ensured the gaps in her charge’s education were filled, and arranged her debut, but it is clear that she has no intention of seeing Beth married as she does not wish to compromise her own comfort. She has hinted that she will leave her fortune to Beth, but Beth will not trust her entire future to cousin’s fickle goodwill and intends to see to it herself by securing a wealthy husband.
Personality
Quick-minded, determined and calculating, Beth learned early the sort of life she did not want and has devoted her energy to improving her situation. She is unsentimental in her ambitions, with little concern for others’ feelings when it comes to ensuring her own needs and concerns are met.
As Lady Stanton’s companion, she has been privy to much gossip and information passed around the older members of the ton, and this has made Beth somewhat popular among a certain set of young ladies in Society. Beth takes no particular pleasure in gossip, but with ruthless practicality is quite willing to use what she knows as currency to her own benefit, improving her own standing. She does not delude herself that any of these women are truly her friends, and indeed does not particularly care whether she is liked or not so long as she can use them to help her on her way. If the relationship is mutually beneficial, what else matters?
Her cool demeanour and often cutting remarks, however, mask deep rooted insecurities that even Beth herself does not fully understand. Her relative poverty as a child has left her with a feeling of inferiority, and despite Lady Stanton arranging her education she cannot shake the belief that she will never quite catch up to her peers or that they are looking down on her - that there is something in her which is intrinsically not good enough. It has created a sense of vulnerability in her that she covers up with sharpness and judgement, made worse by the knowledge that her situation is precarious and entirely dependent on someone else’s charity. This sense almost of resentment is primarily what drives her, in the hope that once she achieves security and wealth through marriage she will be satisfied.
Thread Tracking
Wednesday 29th May
- His cunning, or hers, may finally carry the day: Harris Throckmorton pays a morning call on Beth and Lady Stanton [1]
Thursday 30th May
- When she tosses her hair, they go perfectly still: Bethany runs into The Duchess of Pennington in a glove shop while out shopping on Bond Street [2]
Monday 3rd June
- The return of the prodigal son: Aubrey Sayre visits Lady Stanton on his return to London and Beth keeps him company for a time [3]
Wednesday 5th June
- The world was my oyster but I used the wrong fork: Leo Abberton and Charlotte Abberton join Beth and Lady Stanton - Leo's aunt-in-law - for dinner