Regency/Gothic: Thornshire -- The Fishers

The Fishers of Lampstorth Manse (near Thornton)

The Fishers are the only titled family in Thornshire (though even they are not members of the peerage) and so it falls on them to be leaders in society.  This is greatly hindered, however, by reversals in their fortunes over the last decade that have left them one of the poorest of the Thornshire gentry.  Sir Carson Fisher, Bart., strains his meager resources to maintain his family’s status, but the strain is beginning to tell.

Sir Carson is a barrel-chested, spirited man; he has always been eager to share his largesse with his neighbors and it pains him that he now has to pinch his pennies.  Sir Carson’s wife, Prudence, is a prim and hardy Scot whom Sir Carson married for her dowry; unfortunately, that dowry has been devoured over the years and no more money is forthcoming from her family.  His elder son and heir, Cyril, has inherited his mother’s primness and none of his father’s generosity; more than anyone in Thornshire, he stands on ceremony.  The younger son, Edmund, is on leave from the Royal Navy; he has survived numerous battles over the years, but has never captured a prize.  The youngest child, Constance, is an embarrassment to her family; she is the very model of a bluestocking – pinch-faced, bespectacled, and never hesitant with unneeded advice from a lifetime of reading.