Hector Rochford
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| Portrayed by Timothée Chalamet | |
| Full Name | Hector Rochford |
|---|---|
| Title | Viscount Rochford |
| Associated Noble House(s) | Earldom of Cheveley, Viscountcy of Rochford |
| Date of Birth | 18th January 1787 |
| Father | Justin Rochford |
| Father's Rank | Earl |
| Mother | Maria Rochford |
| Mother's Rank | Countess |
| Town Residence | The Albany, Piccadilly |
| Income | whatever his father deigns to give him |
| School | Westminster |
| University | Oxford (Christ Church) |
| Year Attained Title | birth/courtesy title |
Hector, Viscount Rochford is the only surviving son of Justin, Earl of Cheveley and Lady Cheveley. He has been blamed for his older brother's death and he is estranged from his parents. He lives a life of dissipation in London and is frequently threatened with disinheritance.
Hector is written by Rose.
Family
Father: Justin Rochford, Earl of Cheveley (b. 1746)
Mother: Maria Rochford, Countess of Cheveley (??) nee ?? [tbd]
Brother: Miles Rochford, Viscount Rochford (1785-1802)
Distant cousin: Sidney Rochford
Background
Childhood
Hector was always “the spare” and as such, nobody cared very much what he did. This was a bit of a shame as from childhood, he was inclined to be wild and few attempts were made to curb or moderate these tendencies. The fact that he looked so different from his brother and indeed his parents did not help endear him to his father. Full of excess energy, Hector rarely settled to any one thing and was fond of tricks and games. In this, he had a willing playmate in his elder brother, Miles. The two were thick as thieves throughout childhood and then at Westminster, even though they were two years apart and Miles was sometimes obliged to act responsibly as the weight of inheritance rested on his shoulders. Hector always assumed he would be destined for the army after school and was looking forward to it. All this changed one January day in 1802 when the two boys, almost young men now, went out hunting in poor weather. Two left Cheveley Chase; only one returned alive. In clearing a ditch they should have known better than to attempt, Miles’ horse stumbled and flung its rider - Miles’ neck was snapped on impact and Hector’s life changed forever.
The New Heir
Whether with justification or not, Hector was blamed for his brother’s death by parents who were forced to pay attention to their new heir for the first time. A military career was ruled out of the question (though Hector did try to run away and join up once, an abortive attempt after his father paid a lot of money to have his commission rejected) and Lord Cheveley tried to take his grieving, wild son in hand for the first time. It did not work out and for every attempt to make Hector more acceptable in his eyes, the more Hector pushed back and their relationship deteriorated further. He was sent to Oxford where he did as little work as possible and only avoided being sent down after an abortive duel on Christ Church Meadow because all the participants swore blind they had not been there and because Hector was deemed too essential to his college rowing team. When he was not at Oxford (and sometimes even when he was), he was doing his best to act the opposite of a responsible heir to a title and to hurt his father. He got at least one farmer’s daughter pregnant. He borrowed money against his inheritance. He got beaten up in an underground boxing club. In all occasions, Lord Cheveley paid what was necessary, expressed detached disappointment, compared him to his brother, docked his allowance, threatened to disinherit him, and then continued ignoring him.
Coming of Age
When he became of age, Hector moved out of his father’s house and took lodgings in London, cutting off contact with his parents except when absolutely necessary and when they happen to meet awkwardly at social events. He lives a life largely consisting of destructive dissipation, continuing to exceed his allowance and trying to see just what it will take to actually make his father properly acknowledge him or finally cut him off in favour of his insipid cousin Sidney.
