Robert Fitzgerald

Robert "Robbie" Fitzgerald

Portrayed by Hugh Dancy
Full Name	Robert James Fitzgerald
Date of Birth	14th January, 1782
Father	Richard Fitzgerald
Mother	Madeleine Fitzgerald (nee Freye)
Town Residence	{{{residence}}}
Branch of the Military	Cavalry
Ship or Regiment	{{{regiment}}}
Currently Enlisted?	Yes
Enlistment Date	1800
Current or Final Rank (if retired)	Lt. Colonel
Major Engagements	Douro, Talavera, the River Côa

Lt. Colonel Robert Fitzgerald, invariably known as Robbie by his friends and family, is the younger son of the Earl and Countess of Rotherham. He has one older brother, Lord Surrey, and two younger sisters, Ladies Viola and Olivia Fitzgerald. He was brought up at the family seat of Rotherham Park in Yorkshire.

Robbie is a clever young man with a quick wit and quick tongue. Blessed with physical agility, a good seat on a horse and a firm sense of his place in the world as a younger son, he chose the army for his profession, buying a commission in the cavalry when he left school. His talent for strategy and quick thinking has led to swift promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

He took part in the taking of Oporto in May 1809 and the Battle of Talavera in July 1809, as well as a minor battle at the River Côa in July 1810. Being a regiment of Light Dragoons, the 14th (Robbie's regiment) was often employed on outpost duty, providing patrols and videttes (mounted picquets). It was during one such routine patrol on the Spanish/Portuguese border in March 1811 that Robbie was injured in an unexpected clash with a French cavalry patrol in the same area. While he only broke his leg, poor treatment in the military hospital at Elvas meant that Robbie was sent back to Lisbon to recuperate. Poor transportation across Portugal exacerbated the injury and the decision was taken to send him home to England to convalesce. He arrived on the 1st May 1811, and is doing his best to recuperate in Town, where he has chosen to stay with his family, despite the constant whirl of activity that is the London Season.

In his personal life, Robbie is close to his family, especially to his sister Viola, to whom he is very similar in temperament as well as appearance. He enjoys play acting and the kind of clever conversation he can find with her and almost nobody else. Despite lacking a university education, he is relatively well-read and intellectually sharp with a keen sense of humour and self-parody.

Robbie is a PC belonging to Rose, and played by Sharpie.

Family

• Father: Richard Fitzgerald, Lord Rotherham (b. 1752)
• Mother: Madeleine Fitzgerald, nee Freye, Lady Rotherham (b. 1758)
• Brother: Richard Fitzgerald, Lord Surrey (b. 1778)
• Sisters: Lady Viola Fitzgerald (b. 1787), Lady Olivia Fitzgerald (b. 1793)
• Sister-in-law: Cordelia, Viscountess Surrey, (b. 1783)
• Nephews and nieces: Henry (b. 1805), Madeleine (b. 1808) and Mortimer (1811) to Richard and Cordelia
• Aunt: Mrs. Dorothy Greystone (b. 1756); widowed; sister of Madeleine, Lady Rotherham

Personality

Robbie can perhaps be summed up in one word: Quick. Quick-witted, quick-thinking, quick-tempered. He struggles to be patient, especially with his convalescence. He has always been on the go and to be forced to stay in one place, living a sedentary life, grates.

This has naturally led to Robbie's living an active life, always busy with one thing or another. Being the second son, he has not been brought up to run the estate, or to eventually shoulder the responsibility that comes with the title of the Earl of Rotherham. This combination led him to take an Army commission, rather than choosing a safer career such as the Church or going into law.

He is easily distracted, reading several books at once, easily switching from one to another as his mood changes, or as the fancy takes him. While intelligent and a keen reader, he has not the patience to become a scholar and settle to studying any one thing exclusively.

His natural restlessness means that, until he was injured, he was physically active, taking part in several different activities from fencing to riding, which stood him in good stead when he joined the army. He is an accomplished rider, and found that he was well-suited to the discipline of fencing. Unlike most of his contemporaries, he preferred the sabre rather than the foil or the épée, however.

His active mind also led him to try various activities such as play-acting (something he often encouraged his sisters to take part in, too) or engaging them in a game. While not interested in learning to play anything musical (although the German flute was a favourite among his Army friends), he is a good amateur singer, something that he developed further in the Army – although this has had the odd effect of severely limiting his repertoire as many of the songs he learned as a soldier are decidedly unsuitable for ladies' ears.

His tastes in literature vary widely, although ha has always preferred reading what he wants to, rather than what he ought to, or what he has been told to. He has a thorough knowledge of Shakespeare, reads novels and poetry, and picks up trivia from the most unlikely sources.

Robbie in uniform

In some respects, it would have been easy for Robbie to simply drift along and fall into a career, making a good go of it. Realising this, Robbie chose a career that he seemed particularly well-suited for, and that in turn seemed well-suited for him, where he could make good use of his riding and fencing skills, as well as the natural leadership and command talents that came with being born into the aristocracy. He found that he was suited to the discipline of army life, and determined to become a good soldier and to rise to command a regiment of his own one day.

Robbie knew that he was never going to make a fortune from being in the army, and indeed if that were his only motivation (and if he had a head for mathematics) he would have joined the Royal Navy instead – there was a far greater chance of a man's making his fortune due to prize money in the Navy, after all. He joined for the personal satisfaction of being able to stretch himself and to make himself useful in some small way – and to get out from underfoot back at home. He was content with his lot, growing more so after his regiment went out to the Peninsular where they would see more action than in either England or Ireland.

He had not thought too seriously about settling down and marrying, although he was aware that he would have to do so eventually, that it was expected of a man in his position.

An easy-going, sociable man, Robbie's wit is quite dry, and he doesn't take life too seriously, although he can be serious when he needs to be. He developed a good, solid rapport with the men under his command, although he did not let them take advantage of it, and he has always enjoyed verbal sparring and repartee with his sisters Viola and Olivia. He uses humour to defuse situations he finds emotionally tense, and to deal with some of the things he witnessed during his time in Spain.

He is close to both his sisters, although he feels very protective of Olivia, who is eleven years his junior. He is aware that she withdraws somewhat into Viola's shadow, and he tries to draw her out and encourage her, without being overbearing about it. Personality-wise, he is closer to Viola, and he enjoys spending time with her.

14th Light Dragoons at the charge

Since being injured (he can't really consider it a wound, despite what those around him may call it), things have changed a lot. He can no longer take part in the physical activities he used to take so much pleasure in, and finds it beyond trying to be an invalid, confined to the house where he was used to living under canvas – or even in the open when the baggage could not catch up to the men. He has had the discipline and camaraderie that he cherished snatched away from him, and cannot even console himself that it was in some great battle.

He does not know what his future holds now, and although he is still recovering and cannot really consider what he will do next, he knows that he has lost, perhaps forever, something that was very dear to him.

Army Career

• Joins the Army as a Cornet, January 1800
• Promoted Lieutenant 1802

  

  Men of the 14th Light Dragoons exchange pleasantries with French cavalry

• Promoted Captain, summer 1804 In Their Flowing Cups
• Promoted Major 1807
• Promoted Lieutenant-Colonel 1810

Unusually for someone of his social status and connections, he has spent his whole career in one regiment, moving up the ranks quickly within that regiment due to the war and attrition caused by sickness, battle and (for his Lieutenancy) an officer above him purchasing a promotion into a different regiment.

He has proved to be a popular officer, jovial at times, yet serious when he needs to be. He is fair-minded when it comes to discipline within the ranks, and expects the highest standards of those around him.

His early career was spent in England at the height of the anxiety about Napoleon's proposed invasion, and he and the Fourteenth, spent months in various camps along the coast, knowing that Napoleon and his invasion force were only a few short miles away. It was while in Brighton Camp during this time that he received his promotion, by purchase, to Captain[1].

A Portuguese cart of the type used to transport the wounded

The time gave the regiment the chance to get used to life in the field and to practise some of the smaller-scale manoeuvres and various soldiering skills that they would need if it ever came to actual war.

Robbie was promoted Major in 1807, again by purchase, a role which required more administration than had been necessary while he was a troop commander. He has an eye for detail which stood him in good stead to be able to fulfil his duties in this role, although he is not naturally gifted in administrative tasks.

The Colonel returning to England to take up command of his own old regiment, Robbie, by now the senior Major, was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on seniority, glad to be able to take command of his own regiment.

Thanks to his wish to be actively doing something, rather than merely sitting behind a desk or dealing with routine administration and discipline matters, led him to deciding to command a patrol himself, expecting the outing to be nothing more than simple routine. The small group of dragoons were startled by a French party, and in the initial surprise and scuffle, Robbie's horse was shot under him, causing him to be thrown awkwardly to the ground with the result of breaking his femur (a compound fracture of the femoral shaft).

Initially hospitalised in Elvas in Portugal at the army hospital there, it was eventually decided that he could be sent home to give him the best chance of making a full recovery and returning to Spain. Until that time, or until such time as it is determined that he will never again be fit enough to fulfil his military duties, the Fourteenth is in the capable hands of his senior Major.

The journey from Elvas to Lisbon was agonisingly slow and uncomfortable, in an ox-drawn cart of a type the dated back to the Romans. The sea voyage was much smoother and the final journey to London was accomplished by a hired chaise - expensive but worth the money. Robbie arrived on the 1st May, a month and a half after the initial injury, which thankfully seems to be healing well.

Olivia's Ball

Robbie costumed as Prince Hal

He has chosen to attend his sister Olivia's come-out ball as Prince Hal from Henry IV, wearing a doublet and breeches of dark blue velvet embroidered with gold thread. He hopes that he will be able to leave his leg unsplinted for the evening, but will not be dancing as he is still unable to put weight on his leg for fear of setting his eventual recovery back even further.

Friends, Enemies and Acquaintances

Colleagues

Major Archibald Fortescue, the senior Major of the Fourteenth and the man in command during Robbie's absence
Captain Neal Ogilvy, the troop commander of C Troop
Mr Widmer, the regiment's surgeon
Mr Thompson, the regiment's veterinary surgeon

Friends

• William Devenish
• Charlie Devenish
• Gabriel Pritchard

Acquaintances

• Geoffrey Stapleton
• Sybilla Grenfell
• Matilda Grenfell
• Henry Layton, Earl Parry
• Bee Rosdew
• Rawdon Montgomery, Earl of Alderhan (they're related somehow but don't ask Robbie the precise details; he rarely knows such things. Their times at school overlapped by a year)

Random Snippets

His groom/batman is called Tobias (Toby) Jackson (first name not yet given in play)
His charger, left behind in Spain, is called Aeolus

Appearances in Fic

Robbie has appeared in several fics on LL, some detailing his life before he was injured, and some in an AU possible future timeline. (Note: comments on fics are always welcome)

Canon Timeline Fics

• We know what we are, but know not what we may be 1799: Robbie receives a letter from home instructing him to consider a future career
• Born to Command 1799: Robbie tells his sister Viola of his choice of career
• To Take Arms 1799: Robbie's interview with his father
• In Their Flowing Cups 1804: The officers of the 14th celebrate Robbie's promotion to Captain
• Home on Leave 1805: Robbie comes home for a couple of weeks in summer and hears all about Viola's debut (vignette)
• When the Blast of War Blows in Our Ears 1810: Robbie's regiment helps prepare for the retreat behind the Lines of Torres Vedras
• So quick bright things come to confusion 1811: Robbie is injured while out on patrol

AU Timeline Fics

• Break thy mind to me in broken English: Wilt thou have me? November 1811: Robbie proposes to Bee
• If music be the food of love... December 1811: Robbie gives Bee a special present for Christmas
• Brussels 1815 part I Robbie and Bee prepare for the Duchess of Richmond's ball
• Brussels 1815 part II AU - The Duchess of Richmond's ball
• Brussels 1815 part III AU - Waiting for news from the battle of Waterloo
• Merely Players AU - Robbie tries educating Bee in the appeal of Shakespeare

Referenced Threads

Sunday 28th April

• Always Window Shopping, Never Stopping to Buy Viola and Olivia receive news of Robbie's injury and subsequent return home (Robbie is referenced only)

Wednesday 1st May

• The Scars of Battle A wounded Robbie arrives home from the Peninsula

Sunday 5th May

• The Mother, The Men and The Maiden Geoffrey call on Viola; they argue (Robbie was NPC'd in the first post of this thread)
• The Aftermath Viola tells Robbie about her quarrel with Geoffrey

Monday 6th May

• The Prince and the Lionheart Lord Gabriel Pritchard comes to call

Tuesday 7th May

• From One Brother to Another Lord Parry and Lady Kirkfries come to call

Wednesday 8th May

• Much Ado About a Midsummer Night's Tempest Robbie finally makes his escape from the house for a short visit to Decker's, where he meets Matilda and Sybilla Grenfell

Thursday 9th May

• It's a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door Blake Pritchard, Elise Hampton, Viola and Robbie drive out to Richmond Park for a picnic
• Love is an Open (-top carriage) Door Elise and Robbie talk on their drive to Richmond
• Your Joyous Laughter is my Strength Lord Emerson, Elise Hampton, Viola and Robbie share a picnic and conversation in Richmond Park
• A Game of Speculation Robbie and Elise drive home from Richmond and speculate about the developing relations between Viola and Lord Emerson
• Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition Robbie and Viola discuss their excursion and the possibility of her getting engaged to Lord Emerson

Monday 13th May

• A Leg Up In The World Doctor Meredith comes to see how Robbie's leg is healing
• Lord, what will become of me, I shall go distracted! Viola and Lord Emerson call to announce their engagement
• Sailing into Port Olivia and Miss Bee Rosdew call

Tuesday 14th May

• I do not like the Cone of Shame Frederick Lazenby comes to call

Wednesday 15th May

• Two households both alike in dignity Clementine Worthing and Rawdon Montgomery call
• But one half-pennyworth of bread Family dinner after Viola and Olivia move back in