Chamberlain Family

The Chamberlain Family

The Chamberlain's of Ashforth - Family Tree

See also Chamberlain Family RP log

Lords of The Marshes and Keepers of Lochenbaum

Origins

The Chamberlain Coat of Arms

The Chamberlains were a minor family whose fortunes had been attached to the Dukes of Ashforth for many generations. Distinguished initially as great gameskeepers, they ran many of the small holdings of the Duchy managing the game stocks of the knights of Ashforth and of the Duke himself. Their eventual and comparatively recent rise in status was entirely down to ambition and good fortune. Jared the second son of the gamekeeper of the minor small holding of Lochenbaum, broke with family tradition, becoming a squire to the ageing Duke of Ashforth, he was distinguished by replacing the Duke's son in a duel of honor, wearing more than 60 years he was severely maimed in this combat. His reward was marriage to a teenage heiress being named in jure uxoris Jared the First of his name - Lord of the Marshes. Alongside this he was granted ownership of the small-holding of Lochenbaum. The title of Keeper, he allowed to rest firstly with his elder brother, but on his death granted the title and the estate to his youngest son. Through marriage and alliances the family has survived its early travails and now stands ambitious on the edges of the older noble names, looking to establish their place by right in the annals of history.

Generations

Jared I - Lord of the Marshes

The first titular Lord Chamberlain of the Marshes through the claim of his wife Miranda Tor. He wedded and bedded the 16 year old Lady of the Marshes at the age of 64 following his maiming as a proxy in a duel in Ashforth. Despite their mutual hatred the marriage proved fertile, Miranda giving her husband four children who survived infancy. Jared had always been an active man and following his maiming, transferred his activity to the management of the Manor of the Marshes. From his work as a squire he had learned many of the qualities and duties of a Lord, but also, through his more 'earthy' roots he understood husbandry and management of the land. A keen apiarist he credited the Marsh honey with his longevity, surviving to his 83rd year.

For her part Miranda spent her married days confined within the east wing of The Marshes, her rights and power being wielded fully by her husband, though she had been Lady of the Marshes since her own fathers death in her 7th year. As an heiress described by many as a beauty and being of not inconsiderable means, she had been proposed as wife to many second sons in the area, being married to a crippled geriatric was not to her liking. At his death she made moves to restore herself as Lady of The Marshes, but her attempts met with failure and she lived out the last 35 years of her life in relative obscurity in a townhouse in Ashforth, supplied for her by her sons.

Hedge - Lord of the Marshes

The eldest surviving son of Jared and Miranda, he was 17 years old when his father died. Somewhat unconventionally, he was tutored from a young age by his father in the arts of husbandry and management of the lands. Though his fathers rule had been in the name of his mother. At his death, Miranda made claim as Lady of the Marshes. Hedge moved quickly, being betrothed to the daughter of one of the knights of Ashforth, he called on his prospective father-in-law's support to secure his ascendance to the seat of The Marshes. Miranda remained a threat, at 35 she still had prospects as a bride for someone with ambition, another child by another man could threaten all of their claims. She was kept under house arrest with her daughter Isobel as a companion for the next 15 years.

Hedge oversaw the growth of The Marshes, annexing more farmlands to the banners of the Chamberlains. He also oversaw the development of a property portfolio. He died at 52 years, survived by his 3 children.

Jared - Keeper of Lochenbaum

The second son of Jared and Miranda, assumed the title of keeper on the death of his uncle. He specialised as a hawker and falconer, supplying birds to the Dukes of Ashforth. He was survived by a single daughter, Caroline.

Mayim of Massilon

Regarded as a great beauty, Mayim was educated in Sirion, and at great expense, sent to Atamarra for finishing school. Jared appreciated the value of a good marriage match and Mayim was married to Typhus Valen, an elderly knight of Massilon. the match was productive and the line of the Valens continued strongly after her death.

Isobel Chamberlain

Isobel, styled the Maid of the Marshes, lived much of her young life in conefinement as her mothers companion. She yet maintains a household in Ashforth.

Jared II Lord of the Marshes

Jared was the eldest of the three sons of Lord Hedge and Catherine.

Jared enjoyed the fruits of his father and grandfathers labours having particular interest in the property portfolio in the city of Ashforth. Staying in the city he became close to his grandmother Marianne, before her death. Embittered toward her sons, Marianne supported Jared to explore his passions, specifically gambling, alcohol, and sexual depravity. He became notorious within the city for his proclivities and was unable to find a bride from even the most desperate of households. Worse still he developed siphylis which caused erratic and aggressive outbursts and seemed to enhance his penchant for violent activities.

At his ascension to the seat of Lord of the Marshes he became paranoid to his own security within his seat, focusing his paranoia on his younger brother Simeon whose marriage had been fertile. Using his command of the family assets he forced that his brother should divorce his wife and his children be bastardised. As a second punishment he had his brother married to an elderly prosititute from Ashforth, regarded by many as the ugliest woman within the city.

As his health declined rapidly, Jared looked to secure the succession to Marshes by looking to marry a distant cousin of his grandmother who already had three sons. Insisting that he ride to her village for the marriage he stopped at an alehouse en route for refreshment. It was here, alone that his temprament saw an end to his rule as he was killed in a ber brawl 3 days before his prospective marriage at the age of 48.

Hedge - Keeper of Lochenbaum and Caroline Chamberlain

The third son of Hedge senior and Catherine.

Seeing the damage being done to the family finances Hedge's mother arranged that he should be married to his cousin Caroline in order that the title of Keeper of Lochenbaum and the small holding attached remain in the family. Although she was 10 years his senior the marriage was agreed and solemnised in the family chapel at Marshes. The marriage was productive with the pair having 3 children, though Caroline died on the birthing bed with the 3rd at the age of 42.

Hedge remains as Keeper of Lochenbaum despite the death of his wife in whose name he had ruled initially.

Simeon - Lord of The Marshes

The second son of Hedge senior and Catherine.

Simeon took the seat of Marshes after the death without heir of Jared II. His life under the jurisdiction of his brother, had been difficult, he and his children being made to live amongst serving staff and recieving a meager income for his labours from his aunt Isobel. Often jealous and paranoid about his brother, Jared II subjected simeon and his family to many indignities culminating in his forced divorce of lorelai of Dale and remarriage to Krista Salen, a notorious and ugly prostitute from Ashforth.

Regardless of his treatment Simeon was a loyal husband fathering 7 children from his 2 wives. A devoted family man he sent his eldest son to be educated in Pucallpa at the academy of agriculture. At the advent of his brothers death, he collected what monies he could to send his second daughter to be educated in Dolmbar in Sirion.

Since assuming his title he has sold much of the property portfolio and works dilligently to establish the family once again as the peers his grandfather had aspired to them becoming. Keen to avoid the mistakes of his father, he has sent his children from him to earn their fortune and seek knowledge to help secure the longevity of the family line.