Stephen Brydges
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| Portrayed by Clive Owen | |
| Full Name | Stephen Nicholas Brydges |
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| Date of Birth | 12 September, 1775 |
| Father | Johnathan Brydges |
| Mother | Frances Brydges |
| Town Residence | {{{residence}}} |
| Branch of the Military | Navy |
| Ship or Regiment | {{{regiment}}} |
| Currently Enlisted? | Yes |
| Enlistment Date | 1789 |
| Current or Final Rank (if retired) | Post-Captain |
| Major Engagements | Trafalgar (1805) |
Played by Emily.
Family
Father: The Rev. Johnathan Brydges (b. 1738)
m. 1766
Mother: Frances "Fanny" Brydges (nee Simpkins.) (b. 1749)
Siblings:
Sophia (b. 1767)
John (b. 1769)
Anna (b. 1770)
Francis (b. 1772)
Sarah "Sally" (b. 1776)
Louisa (b. 1778)
Thomas (b. 1780 - d. 1806)
Background
Born into the midst of an ever-increasing brood brought up in a country parsonage in Surrey, Stephen was the third son born to Johnathan and Fanny Brydges.
The large family was largely content and happy, though not without the trials faced by any family of such a size and the means to which we confine some of our more modest clergymen. Mrs. Brydges being a capable manager, and her husband being tolerably amenable to economy, the family thrived, though none would expect anything spectacular of their offspring by way of distinguished careers for their sons or notable marriages for their daughters. The sons of the family drew on tenuous connections in order to secure introductions into lines of work they might settle comfortably in.
The lot were educated wholly by their steadily sensible parents, the boys cast into what careers they could counter, the girls to the best matches within their grasp, variously an innkeeper, a solicitor, a schoolmaster, and a merchant who rose to a knighthood in his later years.
Stephen, at the age of twelve, was sent from home to attend the Royal Naval Academy of Portsmouth, going to sea at fourteen. Crossing the Atlantic a number of times, as a young midshipman slowly but steadily moving up through the ranks, Stephen was stationed for several years in the West Indies, attaching himself to his commanding officer, Captain Grewald, displaying fervent loyalty and an unflagging determination. Upon Grewald's eventual recommendation, the young man was given the poor sloop the HMS Adrasteia to command.
Despite this, Stephen distinguished himself at the Battle of Trafalgar, capturing two ships larger than his own with superb command and stratagems verging on the brilliant, amassing £15000 in prize-money.
His youngest brother, Tommy, followed in his brother's footsteps, rising to become a Lieutenant aboard the HMS Northumberland, upon which he was killed in the action at the Battle of San Domingo. Stephen felt the loss of his brother keenly and largely blamed himself for perhaps romanticizing a life upon the sea, though he had seen many men die in service and under his command, by disease, battle and sundry disasters.
The weary Adrasteia has more recently been decommissioned and her captain, recently made post-captain, now awaits his new orders and hopefully his eventual rise to the admiralty, in the meantime enjoying a well-deserved season in London, following the usual visits to his family.
Personality
Relationships
Friends
Nathaniel Scarborough - Met only recently, but total bros already because they drunkenly beat the crap out of a jerkface together and that means soul bonding.
Annabelle Beacham - Stephen feels a protective and almost brotherly affection for the girl.
Love interest
Doesn't his mother wish.
Enemies
William Gosling - Sadly not the jerkface Stephen helped beat the crap out of. Yet.