Peregrine Bexley
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| Portrayed by (JJ Feild) | |
| Full Name | Peregrine Arthur Bexley |
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| Title | Sir Peregrine Bexley |
| Associated Noble House(s) | No connections |
| Date of Birth | 12th March 1781 |
| Father | Sir Arthur Bexley (deceased) |
| Father's Rank | Baronet |
| Mother | Lady Catherine Bexley (née Dunford) |
| Mother's Rank | Gentry |
| Town Residence | 18 St. James Square |
| Income | £5000 p.a. |
| School | ? |
| University | Cambridge. Degree in Botany. |
Sir Peregrine Bexley is a Baronet from Derbyshire, brother to the ever-popular Haverleigh family. He has recently arrived in town in search of a wife, an endeavor somewhat hindered by the fact that he seems more interested in his plants than in cultivating relationships.
Perry is played by Micaela.
Family
- Sir Arthur Bexley, b. 1734 d. 1810 - father - Never a particularly warm man, when he chanced to be home Sir Arthur was often to be found in his study with an awfully large collection of insects. Not especially interested in his children.
- Lady Catherine Bexley, née Dunford (b. 1748 d. 1781) - mother - An affectionate if otherworldly woman with a taste for the fanciful, Kitty had repeated trouble conceiving and bearing children. Sickly after Frederica, she departed the world shortly after the birth of her son.
- Frederica Haverleigh, née Bexley (b. 1778) - sister - Freddie has ever been a lovely and affectionate sister, but escaped the dreary house of her father to marry her childhood sweetheart about as soon as she could convince him. She and Perry are close, and she has had none of her mother's difficulty with childbearing.
- George Haverleigh (b. 1770) - brother-in-law - George is a merry and boisterous man, whose family lived in the same neighborhood as the Bexleys. Mrs Haverleigh had been friends with Lady Jane, and enjoyed having the children around her own. He and Perry are very different creatures, but fond of one another as any two brothers could be. His greatest delight is to hunt.
- George Arthur Haverleigh (b. 1799) - nephew - Georgie is the apple of his parents' eyes, a bright lad of 12 who has been sent to the same school as his uncle. He comes home for holidays and is warmly received by all.
- Margaret Haverleigh (b. 1802) - niece - Smarter than her brother, but younger and a girl, Meg is the most like her uncle. He is very fond of her.
- Eliza Haverleigh (b. 1805) - niece - Sweet and boisterous. Pretty much her dad.
- Henry Haverleigh (b. 1808) - nephew - 3 years old and already a troublemaker, and still very attached to his Mama. Not a fan of the new baby at all.
- Catherine Haverleigh (b. 1810) - niece - Baby of the family.
Background
1781 - 1803: Early Years
Perry Bexley was born on an improbably fine Derbyshire morning in March, the long-awaited son of Sir Arthur and Lady Catherine Bexley, an ill-matched couple. His mother, who had been pretty before so many disappointments and the difficult birth of her daughter, passed out of the world almost as soon as she had brought her son into it. Sir Arthur never remarried, more out of disinterest than a devotion to his wife's memory, and the halls of Bexley Manor certainly did not ring with laughter.
His sister Frederica, called Freddie, was the light of his childhood. Losing their mother made her all the more attached to the new baby, who their father never seemed to notice at all, and the nurses appreciated not having to chase a young child while trying to care for an infant. Bexley Manor, a solid and impressive Elizabethan edifice, boasted a fine library in which the children passed a great deal of time when their father was away traveling. Both may have learned some things before it was entirely proper, given their nurse couldn't read herself and thus couldn't check what they were reading. It wasn't a bad childhood, all told, and when they felt lonely the Haverleighs, neighbors with a great number of children, were always glad to have them over.
Freddie grew up into a fine young lady while Perry was off at a suitable boys' school, and they spent their fine Derbyshire summers exploring the large estate. Though not sociable by nature, he did well in school, which did not earn him too terribly many friends, and thus did not make the social connections his father had expected of a young gentleman to be a baronet. In truth, he had always found books to be better friends than most people. Freddie had the audacity to get herself married to the eldest Haverleigh just before Perry headed off to Cambridge, making them relations of the Haverleighs in truth. He studied natural philosophy, an area in which he excelled, with a particular interest in botany, and would have stayed in school forever if his father had not insisted he take a Grand Tour.
1803 - 1811 : Young Man
Frankly his tour was no burden at all, as he enjoyed seeing the great works of art and hearing foreign music and trying new foods, though he could have done without much of the social aspect and preferred the countryside to the city. The number of times he made the driver stop so he could examine an interesting plant were admittedly many. It awoke in him an interest in the classics he had studied as a boy, and he returned to Cambridge armed with a collection of antique coins, a great number of seeds and cuttings and pressed samples, in a rage to learn as much as he possibly could about a number of subjects.
Though his father did not approve of him becoming a professional scientist in any capacity, he allowed his son to colonize the library upon his eventual return home. He urged his son to go to London, but as Perry had few enough friends of his own age, he chose to remain, and add yet more books to the collection. He came to know the estate better than his father ever did, riding about the estate and asking farmers irritating questions and making impertinent suggestions for improvements. He even built a truly enormous glass conservatory, and spends a great deal of time working in it himself. Three gardeners have quit since the young master came home. Freddie is always making him clean his fingernails before holding the babies.
Marriage has never been first in his mind, and having seen his sister make a love match he was hesitant to marry just for the sake of it. His father's death last year has made him finally take the plunge and go to Town and win himself a wife. George and Freddie have made the move with him, taking a house with enough room for all of them; this is partially an attempt on Freddie's part to make sure he actually goes out and sees people.
Personality
Isolated as a child, Perry is not inherently unfriendly but he is certainly not an especially sociable man. He can come off cold, and given his academic slant, a bit superior. The fact of the matter is that he has not had to engage in a great number of social situations, and doesn't know how to handle them especially well. He can seem rude and abrupt, and those who meet him have the overwhelming sense he would rather be somewhere else, which is probably true. He's by nature a solitary creature, and has never wanted to share that solitude with anyone but Freddie, and by extension, sometimes George. Books have been more faithful friends to him than people, and with an absent and largely uninterested father, he has had precious few instances of true social intimacy.
On the other hand, he is not unkind in the least--a trait certainly didn’t inherit from his father. He enjoys helping the tenant farmers in whatever way he can, and loves his nieces and nephews a great deal. He is much more animated and warm in their company than anyone else's, and he is a very good brother to Freddie and George. He cares deeply and fiercely for those he chooses to let in, he just has trouble getting started in that process. He is quite shy and finds it difficult to talk to strangers, which will render finding a wife difficult, but with his sister’s help and the draw of being an unattached titled man of no great age and an estate worth 5,000 a year, it’s more likely to happen than he thinks.
Though the running of the estate, in which he does prefer to participate directly, takes up most of his time, he does have several hobbies suitable to a gentleman of his position, interest in botany notwithstanding. He collects Antique coins, and takes a great interests in horses and the breeding of them. He knows the pedigree of all of his mounts, and a great deal about many breeds, especially draft horses. Inherited traits are of particular interest to him in plants and animals, so this at least is in keeping with his true passion, but he likes the actual riding and purchasing of them as much as any horse-mad young gentleman. He would have preferred to stay at Cambridge, the only place he ever felt he might fit in even slightly, and feels somewhat slighted that he was not permitted to continue his study, but as the only son, duty called.
Unfortunately he has little patience for the intricacies of social interaction, and does better when either Freddie or George is present. Women are a bit of a mystery to him, as he only really ever knew his sister well, and did not do nearly the requisite amount of carousing on his Tour or at university, to hear his late father tell it. He likes to keep abreast of scientific developments in a variety of areas of study, and is in correspondence with many botanists. Words, he finds, come easier on paper than in person. He is not a particularly proud man but he is sensitive to mockery and insult, having been teazed a great deal in school.
He may appear cold and unpleasant but there is a loyal, affectionate, kind-hearted man in there waiting to be discovered--if you can find your way through the greenhouse.
Relationships
Romantic Interests
Natalie Relmsey: poor Sir Peregrine would probably have a conniption if he knew I'd put her on this list #sorrynotsorry