The Hawking Family
Colonel Reginald Hawking
Full name: Reginald Prescott Hawking
Birthdate: April 17th, 1828 – September 12th, 1879
Marital status: Married, husband to Victoria Hawking 1860-1879
Occupation: Colonel, Royal Artillery Service
Although he passed a year before our story begins, the figure of the Colonel looms large over our heroes. While most remember him as the dashing, decorated hero of the Indian Rebellion, and Nathaniel adored him as his favorite uncle, Mrs. Hawking harbors a deep resentment of him for trapping her into married life. Still, their relationship was a complex one, rife with the conflicts of admiration, distrust, anger, and decades of silence. It has affected Mrs. Hawking profoundly, in many ways yet to be revealed.
For twenty years, our hero hid her activities from him for fear that he would prevent her from her work. But the truth remains that no one is quite sure just what his perspective on the matter was– how much he knew, what he would have thought, and what he would have done if she had ever let him in. The tragedy between the two of them is not only that Mrs. Hawking suffered for his marrying her, but that he in turn may have wanted something from her that she was never able to give.
Appearances: Like a Loss, Gilded Cages
Mentions: Mrs. Hawking, Vivat Regina, Base Instruments
Mrs. Clara Hawking
Full name: Clara Partridge Hawking
Birthdate: February 16th, 1853
Marital status: Married, wife of Nathaniel Hawking 1876-present
Occupation: Society wife
Clara is the vivacious wife of Nathaniel Hawking and mother to his two children Beatrice and Reginald. A charming, attractive society lady, she is a big personality accustomed to having the power to lead her adoring husband around by the nose. In stark contrast to the other Mrs. Hawking, she is comfortable with the conventions of her gender and happy with her place in the world. But far from being the soft, docile creature Mrs. Hawking imagines housewives to be, her sharp tongue, quick eye, and strong opinions make her a force to be reckoned with. She may be ladylike in the extreme, but she is nobody’s fool, and is well aware of how to use the strengths of her femininity to her advantage. What she will make of Nathaniel’s involvement in his aunt’s work, however, remains to be seen.
Appearances: Vivat Regina, Base Instruments
Mentions: Mrs. Hawking, Gilded Cages
Miss Beatrice Hawking and Master Reggie Hawking
Birthdates: May 16th, 1877 and October 8th, 1879
The children of Nathaniel and Clara, these pert, friendly little people are currently the youngest members of the Hawking family. Our hero of course finds them irritating, as she is neither fond of children nor of how the boy carries her late husband’s name. Still, they have absorbed from their father an awe and fascination of her, even though they don’t yet understand why, and in the next generation there may lie the hope for everything she is fighting for. In time, a bright and bold young girl like Beatrice could be of some use to her great-aunt, and sweet, sensitive Reggie has every hope in the world of growing past the old social baggage that claimed his departed namesake.
Mentions: Mrs. Hawking, Vivat Regina, Base Instruments
Mr. Ambrose Hawking
Birthdate: September 28th, 1824
Marital status: Married, husband of Margaret Hawking 1851-present
Occupation: Speculative financier
The patriarch of the respectable, successful middle-class Hawking family, and the father of Justin and Nathaniel. While his younger brother Colonel Reginald Hawking served in the military, Ambrose built the family business from the ground up, turning a series of small investments into a thriving venture capital firm with interests all across the empire. He was close to and very proud of his brave younger brother, with Reginald’s choice to marry the fiery, inscrutable Victoria Stanton being the only difference to ever come between them.
Ambrose is a bastion of traditional Victorian masculinity, accustomed to authority and privilege and very skeptical of the notion of women having agency. The world and its accompanying systems have done well for him, and so he is loath to see them change. His younger son Nathaniel, however, is beginning to question and even reject the assumptions to which his father raised him. It will come as quite a shock when he is confronted by Nathaniel’s new perspective on things, especially when it comes to affect the way Nathaniel decides to raise his own son.
Mentions: Mrs. Hawking, Vivat Regina, Like a Loss, Base Instruments, Gilded Cages
Mr. Justin Hawking
Birthdate: March 3rd, 1852
Marital status: Single
Occupation: Venture assessor
Hawking men are known for their charm, but none have it quite like Justin does. Nathaniel’s elder brother leads a glamorous life traveling the world as he evaluates possible investment opportunities for the family’s venture capital firm. His penchant for fast living and pretty women has given him a reputation of something of a rake, which leads him to clash with Nathaniel’s cultivated gentlemanly bearing. But though he may seem unserious, he has a quick, critical mind, and he has little patience for the falseness and hypocrisy of many Victorian values. His raffish lifestyle and ceaseless teasing aggravates the worst of Nathaniel’s insecurities. But although their priorities are often diametrically opposed, the brothers care a great deal for each other, and he stands to be a source of both struggle and support as Nathaniel’s worldview evolves.
Appearances: Base Instruments
Mentions: Like a Loss, Gilded Cages
