The Watsons: Beginnings - Prologue

The Watsons

          Robert Thomas Watson was the only son of Samuel Nottingham Watson, from an old Yorkshire family, and Margaret Davison, the only daughter of Thomas Davison, Esquire, of Blaikstone in the same county.

          Samuel Watson studied the law and worked his way into Parliament. In marriage, he did quite well for himself. Firstly, he married Miss Davison with a dowry of £2,000, which was quite good for a gentleman’s daughter at the time. Together, they had three children though only two survived infancy: Robert was the eldest and was followed by Theophila three years later and Susanna three years after that. In the same year the latter was born, Samuel was elected as a member of the House of Commons for Yorkshire. However, disaster struck when, two years later, both Mrs Samuel Watson and little Susie passed away during an outbreak of smallpox.

          Samuel mourned his wife for a full year before he met Miss Mordaunt, the daughter of a baronet of property in Warwickshire, with a dowry of £3,000 and the aid of her father in the purchase of a house in London. Their subsequent marriage produced only one living daughter. In March of 1751, Penelope was born. Penny, as they came to call her, was adored by both her eleven-year-old brother and her four-year-old sister. However, the second Mrs Samuel Watson passed away within days of her birth.

          Being a widower with three young children, no one questioned Samuel’s choice to marry the widowed Mrs Turner after only six months of mourning. Though her family held no title, they were of the same respected lineage as his first wife. Her late husband, Mr Marwood Turner, had been her paternal first cousin and had doubled her dowry in the marriage settlement, which left her a widow of some distinction with £4,000. They had one child who survived. Margaret, or Maggie as they affectionately called her, was only a year-and-a-half younger than Penny. The third Mrs Turner, being a distant relation as well as his step-mother, treated Robert as her own son, as did her father and brother, Misters William and Charles Turner whom he was bade to call “Uncle William” and “Cousin Charles”.

          In 1756, Robert’s paternal grandfather passed away, leaving his father an inheritance which increased their income—though only slightly. Then in 1757, Uncle William’s brother also passed away, and, without surviving male issue, the Turner estates passed to him. With the extra income, Uncle William was able to support Robert through Cambridge and helped place him in a living after his ordination.

          In 1762, Theophila married Mr John Mordaunt with a dowry equal to her mother’s; however, she passed away two years later without issue. Her loss caused a deep sadness in the family, especially in Robert and Penny who loved her dearly.

          In 1768, Penelope had her debut, and, in June of that year, she chose to marry the much older Mr Francis Parker of Devonshire. Her grandfather, the baronet, was not sanguine with the match as the Parkers had made their fortune in trade, but he still allowed it. She married with the same £3,000 as her mother, and her husband left it entirely in her control along with making her the heir to his estate and fortune should they have no children. She was even more pleased with her choice when her husband encouraged her to bring her spinster aunt, Miss Dorothy Mordaunt, into their home to give her a companion after it became clear that they would not be blessed with children.

          Uncle William and Sir Charles Mordaunt—Penelope’s grandfather—helped Samuel Watson hold his position in parliament until 1768 when he chose to step down due to poor health. With the permission of Mrs Parker—who would inherit the London house as per the terms of her mother’s marriage settlement—Samuel sold the house in London and purchased a house in Bath. Samuel lived there with his wife and Maggie until he passed away in December of the following year—though the latter two chose to continue living at the Bath house with Mr and Mrs Parker’s permission.

          Robert was deeply affected by his father’s passing. While he shared many of his sire’s physical traits, he was more reserved, and they often had clashing views on both religious and moral matters. However, they were still family. And, knowing the living would not be enough for Robert to start his own family, and since all his daughters had inherited their mother’s fortunes, Samuel left the whole of his own fortune, about £2,800, to his son.

          While his father embraced life with boundless energy, Robert lived in a more serene style. Though his income was modest—just over £120 per annum—with the interest on his inheritance in the four percents, Robert managed his affairs prudently and even slowly increased his income through investments and improvements to his glebe lands. He was satisfied with his calling, yet there were moments—fleeting as they were—when he felt lonely.

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The Willoughbys

          The widowed Mrs. Cassandra Beauclerk, née Willoughby, was the youngest of nine children born to a prominent family with several estates across England. Her father, the Hon. Thomas Willoughby—the second son of Lord Middleton, had married to Elizabeth Sotheby—the sole heir of Thomas Sotheby of Briddhalh in Yorkshire and Antonina Wickham. Through their marriage he gained a fortune and an estate, but it doesn’t mean that their marriage was only one of convenience as shown by their large and healthy family.

          By the time Cassandra was old enough to come out into society, Mr and Mrs Thomas Willoughby had both passed away. Her eldest brother, Henry, had married the previous year, and her sister-in-law kindly offered to chaperone her new sister. Cassandra was a very pretty girl, and, in her first season, attracted the eldest son of Lord Vere, who was himself the second son of the Duke of Saint Albans, shortly after her debut. Her family was thrilled at her good luck, and she married the Hon. Mr. Beauclerk more to please them than out of any personal desire—making a far more advantageous match than her elder sisters had.

          However, the marriage was far from happy. Her husband was a drunkard and a gambler who frequented houses of ill repute. His reckless spending drained not only his fortune but also Cassandra’s small dowry. Their union remained childless, a circumstance for which she was unfairly blamed, adding to her misery. When her husband was found dead in the Thames one cold winter morning, she felt no grief, only relief for the end of the eight years of suffering she had endured in his company.

          Cassandra returned to her family, dividing her time between their various homes. Her oldest brother had inherited their mother’s estate on their father’s passing. It was during these travels that a fateful meeting made her begin to consider whether remarriage might not be the evil she once feared. 

Next: Chapter One - New Acquaintances

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