Eleanor Clare

Eleanor Clare

Portrayed by Felicity Jones
Full Name	Eleanor Catherine Clare
Associated Noble House(s)	Marquessate of Avening
Date of Birth	4th January 1795
Father	Edward Clare
Father's Rank	Gentry
Mother	Catherine Clare (nee Bentley)
Mother's Rank	Gentry
Town Residence	{{{residence}}}
Year of Debut	1812
Dowry	£15,000

Eleanor Clare is the only daughter of Edward and Catherine Clare. She is sixteen years old, has a fortune of £15,000 and is not yet out. Since her father remarried Miss Selina MacAlistair Eleanor has been at boarding school near Bath. She has recently joined her step-mother in London where she has met her guardian, Lord Avening. Eleanor's reserve and painful shyness conceals a keenly intelligent observer.

Family

Edward Clare - father
Catherine Clare (deceased) - mother
Selina Clare - step-mother

Oscar Moncrieff, Marquess of Avening - guardian and paternal second-cousin
Lady Gwendolyn Moncrieff - paternal second-cousin

Background

Childhood: 1795-1806

Eleanor was born into a happy family, a long desired child. Her father, though ten years older than his wife, was a kind man though not especially clever and his wife all that was sweet and lovely. Mr. Clare was one of the wealthiest men in Somerset, owning Shotley Park, an estate just outside Bath, and his wife the only child of Sir Roland Bentley of Clifton Hall in Kent. When Eleanor was only 4, however, Mrs. Clare died in complications surrounding the birth of Eleanor's younger brother. The boy died a week later as well. From that time on, Eleanor and her father, equally heartbroken, devoted themselves to each other. As Mr. Clare's health worsened and he became afflicted with gout, Eleanor was a source of comfort to him.

As time went on, however, and the Clares visited Bath more often and Eleanor grew older, Mr. Clare began to think of remarrying. His daughter would need a mother when she became a young lady and he began to long for some more grown up companionship. In the Autumn of 1805 he married Miss Selina MacAlistair, a young, pretty and apparently modest young woman who had shown a suitable devotion to his daughter. Eleanor instinctively hated her new step-mother and Mr. Clare was soon persuaded to send her to school.

School: 1806-1811

Eleanor has been at a select seminary for young ladies just outside Bristol since the age of 11. At school she learned all the feminine accomplishments, including dancing, drawing and music. However, her excessive shyness meant that she never became more than competent at anything involving performance. She plays the pianoforte nicely but despite having a tolerable voice, sings very badly. Her drawing again is pretty but nothing extraordinary. She enjoys reading poetry and improving books and has a strong religious conviction.

In 1810 her father died. Eleanor was at school at the time and she blamed Selina for her beloved father's death however indirectly. After the funeral she was sent back to school and her step-mother went to live at her sister's. Eleanor's legal guardian became the same second-cousin who inherited her father's estate, who expressed no interest in taking a practical role in her care. He agreed to give her a yearly allowance and put all responsibility for her practical life into Selina's hands. She will have a fortune of £15,000 from both her father and mother's fortunes when she marries.

Relationships

Enemies

Eleanor is played by Rose.