von Lowenstein, Gertrude, Dowager Princess—Princess Louisa’s mother and Stephan’s mother-in-law; she is an elderly but feisty woman, very protective of her family and susceptible to local superstitions. [SU, BL]
von Lowenstein, Louisa, Princess (aka Gräfin von Erdberg)—A wealthy widow and single mother hungry for a husband, at one time she had her eyes on both Lord John and von Namtzen. She eventually marries the widower Stephan von Namtzen, gaining the title Gräfin von Erdberg. [SU, BL, SP]
von Lowenstein, Siegfried; Siggy—The young son of Princess von Lowenstein; he is almost abducted by a supposed “witch.” [SU, SP]
x von Munchausen, Captain—(1720–1797) Von Munchausen was actually one of Sir Henry Clinton’s aides-de-camp at the time of the Battle of Monmouth. He’s better known as a teller of extravagant tales and has given his name to an interesting psychological disorder in consequence. [MOBY]
von Namtzen, Stephan, Graf (aka Graf von Erdberg)—A Hanovarian baron and captain in command of a regiment assisting England in the Seven Years’ War. He and Lord John form a close friendship during the Seven Years’ War, where they both sustain severe battle wounds, von Namtzen losing an arm and Lord John suffering shrapnel wounds; John recuperates at von Namtzen’s lodge in Hanover. [PM, SU, BL, HS, SP]
x von Riedesel, Frederika, Baroness—(1746–1808) Wife of Hessian commander General Friedrich von Riedesel, the baroness showed her bravery and devotion to her husband when she traveled from England to Canada with her three children, all under the age of five. Her home at Saratoga was used as an infirmary, where General Simon Fraser was taken after being mortally wounded by an American rifleman. [Echo]
x von Riedesel, Friedrich, Baron—(1738–1800) German general in command of the Hessian troops assisting British General Burgoyne at Fort Ticonderoga in September 1777. When British General Simon Fraser was mortally wounded at Saratoga, von Riedesel volunteered his home to treat the general, who died shortly after being deposited on the baron’s dining table. [Echo]
x von Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm—(1730–1794) Prussian-born officer in the Continental army, he became inspector general; he trained the Continental army in military drills, tactics, and disciplines, and wrote a manual about military drills, which was used by the Americans until the War of 1812. [Echo]
W
x Wade, General—Referenced by Roger Wakefield during his search for Jem, as he trudges the Highlands of Scotland and recalls the poem, “If you had seen this road before it was made, you would throw up your hands and bless General Wade.” The Irish general had been charged with building roads through the Highlands earlier in the eighteenth century. [MOBY]
x Waddell, Hugh, General—(1734–1773) The foremost British soldier in North Carolina, he led the militia—including Jamie’s provincial forces—during the War of the Regulation. [Fiery Cross]
Wainwright, Jethro—An itinerant peddler who traveled the North Carolina wilderness, transporting packages and trade goods from the cities into the backcountry. [Fiery Cross]
Wainwright, Mrs.—Mother to Percy; she was briefly married to General Sir George Stanley before she stepped into the path of a coach and was run down, although Lord John’s mother and third wife of General Stanley—Benedicta—believes the woman died of consumption. [BL]
Wainwright, Perseverance (commonly known as Percy; aka Percival Beauchamp)—He shares the secret of his birth name—Perseverance—only with Lord John Grey, his stepbrother by marriage, who becomes his lover and introduces him to a career as a soldier. Their relationship comes to an abrupt and sordid end when Percy is discovered in flagrante with a Hanoverian soldier in Prussia. Convicted of sodomy, he begs Lord John to save him. Percy’s death in prison is faked with Lord John’s help to avoid a scandal and dishonor to the family—and also because John can’t see a man he loves die for a crime of which he is guilty himself. Percy escapes to Ireland and then to Rome, and we hear no more until John encounters him suddenly in North Carolina nearly twenty years later. At this point, we learn that Percy has married into a French noble family, adopted his wife’s name, and has been working for some time for France’s Black Chamber spy network. He has other ties to influential French “interests” and has come on their behalf to make an offer to the English government, using John as go-between. [PM, BL, SP, Echo, MOBY]
Wakefield, Mrs.; Gran—Marjorie’s mother and wee Roger’s grandmother; her brother is the Reverend Reginald Wakefield, who will one day become Roger’s adoptive father. [LW]
Wakefield, Reginald, Reverend—A Presbyterian minister, historian, and friend of Frank Randall, as well as Roger MacKenzie’s adoptive father. His historical preference was for the eighteenth century, and since his pack-rat instincts caused him to store everything in the manse garage, there could be some very interesting information waiting for Roger and Brianna regarding her parents. [All, LW]
Wakyo’teyeshsnonhsa—see “Emily.”
Waldemar, Herr—Reinhardt Mayrhofer’s personal valet, who was in charge of procuring large quantities of shaving soap for his employer. [PM]
Walking Elk—See “Glutton.”
Wallace, Grannie—Mother of Mrs. MacLaren. [MOBY]
x Walpole, Horace; “Horey”—(1717–1797) The son of Prime Minister Robert Walpole, he was a famous writer, friend, and lover to poet Thomas Gray and member of the House of Commons until he retired from his seat in 1768. He was also an inveterate gossip and a writer of witty, observant letters. Lord John overhears some of his unexpurgated opinions while John and Hal are suffering through George II’s funeral obsequies. [BL, SP]
Walpole, Robert—(1676–1745) First prime minister of England and undisputed leader of the Hanoverian cabinet; godfather to Hal, the Duke of Pardloe. [BL]
Walsing, Colonel—An officer under Wolfe’s command, he mentions to Lord John that Wolfe gave him a pendant to return to his fiancée’s family in case Wolfe should fall in battle the following day. [CA]
Wardlaw, Mr.—A London shopkeeper and acquaintance of Jerry MacKenzie, he assures a devastated Jerry that Dolly and their son were not killed in the blast that demolished their home but were at Dolly’s mother’s home. [LW]
Warren, Derwent, Governor—Governor of Jamaica, corrupt in his professional life and an abuser of women, both gentlewomen and slaves; he is mysteriously killed and his body maimed by “zombies.” [PZ]
Washington, Cartwright, Harrington, Carver—Mysterious Loyalists (possibly real-life characters) whom William is to rendezvous with in Dismal Town, on the edge of the Great Dismal Swamp. Unfortunately, William runs into troubles of his own and the meeting never takes place. [Echo]
x Washington, George, General—(1732–1799) A veteran of the French and Indian Wars and one of the Founding Fathers; when the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in 1775, he was appointed commander in chief of the Continental army, and in 1787 was elected as first U.S. president. Jamie meets him unexpectedly while trying to return to Claire in Philadelphia and is obliged to accept appointment as a field general in the Continental army. While Jamie is impressed by Washington, both as a man and a soldier, neither sentiment stops his resigning his commission—in blood—when Claire is shot at Monmouth. [MOBY]
Washington, Henry—William is given this name as a contact for his intelligence-gathering mission to Dismal Town and is staggered to be told by Ian Murray that the man is not a Loyalist, as he’d been informed, but almost certainly is a Rebel. [Echo]
Wattiswade, Raphael (aka Andrew Rennie)—A rare-book collector who uses this as a front for his duties as a spymaster; also father to Minnie Grey, the Duchess of Pardloe. [SP]
x Wayne, Anthony, General—(1745–1796) General of the Continental forces, his fierce battle tactics and exploits—such as a bayonet-only night attack at the Battle of Stony Point—not only earned him respect from his men but also earned him the nickname of “Mad Anthony.” [Echo]
Weatherspoon, Dr.—The rector at the Old High Church of St. Stephen’s in Inverness, who gives says he�
�ll pray for Roger to find his way back to his faith (or whatever he is lacking since his return to the twentieth century). [Echo]
Webb, George—Secretary to the last royal governor of North Carolina, Josiah Martin. [Ashes]
Weber, Ober-Lieutenant Michael (pronounced “Mee-chay-el”)—A young Hanoverian officer from von Namtzen’s regiment, he tells Lord John of von Namtzen’s hunting accident and subsequent loss of his arm due to blood poisoning. More notably, he’s caught having sex with Percy Wainwright and is executed for the crime of sodomy by his commanding officer, Stephan von Namtzen. [BL]
Wee Gilbert—See “La Fayette.”
Weems, Sergeant-Major—One of the soldiers in Pardloe’s regiment, who confiscates a large automated fortune-telling machine from the Irish O’Higgins brothers. [BL]
Weisenheimer, Mrs.—A German patient in Savannah whom Claire diagnosed as suffering from gallstones. [MOBY]
Welch, Private—A private under William’s command on Long Island; he is placed under arrest by William for attempting to bargain for contraband brandy at a checkpoint the men were supposed to be guarding. [Echo]
Wellman, Mrs.—Widow of a Continental soldier after the evacuation of Fort Ticonderoga; her son—a patient of Claire’s—may have the mumps. [Echo]
Wemyss, Becky—Rob Cameron’s cousin and one of the dancers at the stones at Craigh na Dun. [MOBY]
Wemyss, Joseph—Lizzie’s father, also a former bond servant and loyal friend of the Frasers; he is most displeased by his daughter’s pregnancy and current bigamist marriage but has found happiness with his bride, Fraulein Monika Berrisch, and as “Opa” to Lizzie’s children.[All]
Wemyss, Lizzie (aka Lizzie Wemyss Beardsley)—Brianna’s former bond servant and current bigamist resident of Fraser’s Ridge, she is married to both Josiah and Keziah Beardsley, identical twins with whom she fell in love and then became impregnated by; she doesn’t know—or care—by which one. [All]
Wemyss, Monika—See “Monika Berrisch.”
Wemyss, Rodney Joseph—The first child of Lizzie Wemyss Beardsley and either Josiah or Keziah Beardsley, her twin husbands. [Ashes, Echo, MOBY]
Weston, Mordecai, Captain—A member of the Third Regiment of Foot (infantry), commonly called “the Buffs” due to the buff-colored facings on their uniform coats. [SP]
Weston, Mrs.—Hal’s housekeeper at Argus House. [SP]
Whelan, Mr.—A volunteer under Jamie’s command at Monmouth. [MOBY]
x Wherry, Kitman—A Quaker and former Regulator from Salisbury. Jamie meets him and several other men on their way to a Committee of Correspondence meeting in Halifax, where Jamie knows delegates for the Continental Congress are to be chosen. [Ashes]
Whewell, Captain—One of the captains under Jamie’s command at Monmouth. [MOBY]
Whibley, Mr.—Young Benjamin Grey’s tutor, who was hired to teach him the basics of Latin but has perhaps been enlightening him in more-base studies. [SP]
x Whitcomb, Benjamin—(1737–1828) Captain and leader of Whitcomb’s Rangers, who functioned primarily as scouts and spies under the direction of General Gates; one of a breed of men called “Long Hunters,” known for their ability to live off the land for weeks at a time without human contact. [Echo]
Whitbread—A member of White’s wagering that the person lying in the gutter outside White’s was dead. [BL]
x Whitehead, Paul—(unknown–1774) A minor poet, he was the secretary and steward of Sir Francis Dashwood’s Hellfire Club. Upon his death, his heart was left to Dashwood, who kept it in a special urn; his ghost is said to haunt the Hellfire Caves of West Wycombe Park. [HF]
White Raven—The name given to Claire as the result of a dream by the Tuscarora medicine woman Nayawenne. [Fiery Cross]
Whitey and Mike—Two mules in the stables of Lord Dunsany. Jamie uses Whitey in an emergency “rescue” of the disillusioned Lady Isobel from a possible scandal and a real rape at the hands of her wicked suitor, the bigamous and greedy Mr. Wilberforce. [SP]
Wiedman, General—A British field general present at the Battle of Crefeld, he gives Lord John Grey a field promotion to lieutenant-colonel, but the official confirmation is held up by Colonel Twelvetrees’s investigation into a cannon explosion while under Lord John’s command during the battle. [CA]
Wilberforce, Mr.—Lord Dunsany’s local attorney, who is attracted to Isobel Dunsany; he runs away with her to marry her in Scotland and nearly succeeds in raping her (which would assure the marriage, even before the ceremony could be performed) but is prevented by Jamie’s timely arrival and forceful interference. [SP]
Wilbraham, Arthur—One of the men who support the accusations of treason and Jacobitism directed at Lord John’s father, Gerard Grey, the Duke of Pardloe; he is also a member of Lord John’s club, the Beefsteak. [BL, HS]
Wilbur, Colonel—The officer for whom Ian will be scouting at the Battle of Monmouth. [MOBY]
Wilbur, Mr. and Mrs.—A Hillsborough couple and friends of the Sherstons, they are eager to gossip about the compensation set by Governor Tryon for Roger’s injuries suffered after the Battle of Alamance. [Fiery Cross]
Wilhelm—Stephan von Namtzen’s butler, he assists in Lord John’s recovery from poisoning while in London with von Namtzen and requests the same assistance from Lord John regarding von Namtzen’s reckless behavior following the amputation of the graf’s arm. [PM, BL]
x Wilkes, John—(1725–1797) An affluent English politician with radical ideas and a known member of the notorious Hellfire Club. He is rumored to have presented a baboon dressed as the devil to a meeting of the club, where the Earl of Sandwich mistook the monkey for the real devil. [HF]
Wilkins, Mrs.—Philadelphia neighbor of Mrs. Hempstead and mother of Tommy Wilkins, who relays a message from Mr. Jessop to his playmate, Mary Hempstead, regarding a tall Scottish man who is looking for Fergus. [Echo]
Wilkins, Mrs.—Mother with a teething son. Claire has a major difference of opinion with Captain Leckie, a Continental army surgeon, regarding what ails the boy. [MOBY]
Wilkins, Peter—Teething baby who also has an ear infection, according to Claire. [MOBY]
Wilkins, Tommy—The young boy who delivers a message for Fergus, saying that a tall Scottish man is looking for him. [Echo]
Wilkinson, Horatio—A young Continental soldier who brings a wounded friend to Claire for treatment during the Battle of Monmouth. [MOBY]
Williamson, Melchior, Sir—Justiciar of Athlone, whom Lord John and Jamie meet with upon their arrival in Ireland on the trail of Gerald Siverly. [SP]
Willie B.—One of Young Grannie Abernathy’s grandsons, ordered to locate a bag of turnips to pay Claire for treating Old Grannie Abernathy. [Ashes]
Willoughby, Mr.—Jamie’s Chinese former associate in Edinburgh, a poet and acupuncturist with a marked foot fetish. “Yi Tien Cho,” as he was known in China, was a political refugee who preferred his freedom rather than live as a eunuch in the emperor’s palace. His acupuncture treatment, which he teaches to Claire, helps relieve Jamie’s severe seasickness. Jamie and Claire reminisce about him briefly while at Fort Ticonderoga, wondering whether he escaped Jamaica and, if so, what he’s been doing all these years. We may possibly find out…. [Echo]
Wilmot, Captain—One of the officers in Lord John’s Forty-sixth Regiment of Foot. [PM, BL]
Wilson, Annie—Young Tammas’s mother. [MOBY]
Wilson, Ephraim—Hiram Crombie’s great-uncle, and possibly the Scottish wanderer who helped beget a branch of Wilsons among the Cherokee population. Malva Christie uses some of his bones to make a charm called “the Venom o’ the North Wind.” [Ashes]
Wilson, Mouse—A jovial Cherokee woman whom Claire treats for a broken tooth; she causes a stir when a horrified Hiram Crombie reveals that his wife’s family shares the same last name. [Ashes]
Wilson, Mr.—Annie’s husband and Tammas’s father. [MOBY]
Wilson, Mrs.; Grannie Wilson—Late mother of Mairi Crombie and mother-in-law of the Presbyterian settler Hi
ram Crombie. She astounds everyone present at her wake by sitting upright and admonishing Hiram for the poor offering; Claire quickly determines that she is suffering from an aortic aneurysm, which bursts, causing the old woman to die peacefully—again. [Ashes]
Wilson, Red Clay—A Cherokee who accompanies his sister, Mouse, to see Claire for treatment of a broken tooth. [Ashes]
Wilson, Tammas—A two-year-old child on Fraser’s Ridge who is suffering from pinworms and has spread it to his entire family. [MOBY]
Windom, Corporal—Leader of the so-called mercy detail to which a young Lord John is assigned after the Battle of Culloden; under the Duke of Cumberland’s orders, the detail’s job is to execute any wounded Scots located on the battlefield, giving them mercy from their wounds. [PM]
Wingate, David—A militia casualty of Alamance. Claire operates on his shattered elbow, damaged after a musket ball strikes him. [Fiery Cross]
x Wolfe, James, General—(1727–1759) During the Seven Years’ War in Canada, he devised the attack on the French fort at Quebec, ordering British troops to secretly land below the fort at night and scale the unprotected cliffs to the open plain above. Lord John, who had come to pay his respects to Wolfe before commencing an investigation into Gerald Siverly, one of Wolfe’s officers suspected of corruption, is not impressed by the man personally. Still, Wolfe’s plan works, allowing his forces to defeat the French. General Wolfe was mortally wounded at the beginning of the battle but was reported by his aide to have said (upon being apprised that the French were fleeing—it was a very short battle), “Now, God be praised, I die contented.” Lord John, who had seen many men die, rather doubted the coherence of Wolfe’s utterance, but tactfully forbore to take issue with the statement, which consequently went down in history. [CA, SP, Echo]
Wolff, Lieutenant—A representative of the British navy charged with negotiating lucrative naval-stores contracts with the timber owners along Cape Fear; he is an unfortunate choice for the position, given his dislike of Scotsmen. At one point he proposes marriage to Jocasta Cameron, not out of love or even affection but simply to get his greedy hands on her land and wealth. His drunken appearance at her wedding to Duncan Innes is not especially welcomed but is noted as having dire consequences. [Fiery Cross, Ashes]
The Companion to the Fiery Cross, a Breath of Snow and Ashes, an Echo in the Bone, and Written in My Own Heart's Blood Page 59