COLLISION COURSE PRIMARY CHARACTER LIST
Will there be a coup or a dreaded power behind the throne?
King George II, the second Protestant Stuart king of England from Hanover, Germany. The last king to lead British troops into battle. The son of George I. The father of Prince Frederick Lewis. Grandfather to Prince George
Frederick Lewis, age 44, the late very bright, very popular Prince of Wales. George II’s heir, who because his father was elderly, was due to be the third king of England in the Protestant Hanoverian Stuart line. He was a follower of Sir Henry St. John Bolingbroke who advocated for a populist, inclusive government, with the king “a father figure to all.” This put the prince at a subtle possible point of odds with the exclusive noble families ruling England.
Prince of Wales George, 12 when the story opens, heir of the beloved, intellectual late crown prince, Frederick Lewis. Grandson of King George II and the late Queen Caroline, who passed shortly before his birth. Prince George was influenced by the ancient super-hero, Cato, who was willing to sacrifice self for the good of his nation.
3rd Earl of Bute (John Stuart,) 38, the handsome, Christian botanist-lawyer, academic, Scottish nobleman, descendent of the Stuart kings on his father’s side, and one of the most renown, intellectual families (Edinburg scholars, lawyers, judges, statesmen, bankers-businessmen, botanists) on his mother’s side, the Campbell Clan. The oldest son of James Stuart, 2nd Earl of Bute, he inherited his father and grandfather’s title and their park-like Mount Stuart estate on the Isle of Bute. The original home reflected the modest godliness of the earlier generations compared to the newer, ostentatious palace that adorns the Mount Stuart park-like property today. Lord Bute was raised by his mother’s brothers after his father died when he was nine. Much of his life revolved around England’s parliamentary circles as his uncles were instrumental in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and were distinguished in the House of Lords and in the Protestant kings’ cabinets. Lord Bute was educated at Eton and the University of Leiden, more academically selective than Oxford (considered to have too many radicals). After college, Bute spent two years as one of the elected Scottish representatives in the House of Lords. He became a close friend and advisor to the late Prince of Wales, FrederickLewis, after they met during a rainstorm pause at the Ascot races. The prince had sought a Whisk (Bridge) partner under a temporary shelter and his equerries retrieved Bute. Bute became a Lord of the Bed Chamber and a close advisor and family friend.
Augusta, Dowager (widow) Princess of Wales, was 29 when this story begins. She was a princess from Saxe-Gotha in Germany. She was the wife selected by George II for his heir, Frederick Lewis. Marriages to German princesses were political arrangements to keep alliances near Hanover while keeping the local Whig families from entrenchment “behind the throne.” Augusta arrived in England at seventeen and knew no English or French.
Duke of Cumberland (Prince William Augustus) was George II and Queen Caroline’s second son (after Frederick Lewis). He was their “favorite” son. It is the tradition that the second royal son become a military officer. Intellectual and industrious, the duke remained a bachelor and worked diligently to improve England’s land forces. A wounded heroic battle veteran, his father recalled him from Europe and promoted him to Commander-General on the emergency of the third Catholic Stuart-Highlander invasion. The Catholic “Bonnie Prince Charlie” and the highlanders had cut a bloody swath all the way to Derby on their way to retake the throne for the Catholic heir. The Duke of Cumberland spectacularly saved England. He made sure there would be no more invasions through Scotland by chasing down and killing the most war-like Highland chiefs.
Horace Walpole, MP, was the youngest son of the late Sir Robert Walpole, George II’s first and favorite First Minister in the House of Commons. The British people did not want “a premier” or “prime minister,” because it took too much power from the king (executive). The king’s minister in the House of Commons would marshal the vote for the king’s agenda. However, Sir Robert Walpole was arguably the first Prime Minister. Forceful, charismatic, and creative at bribes, he controlled the vote in the House of Commons for George II. He bragged he knew the price of all but three of the more than 400 MPs (Members of Parliament/ House of Commons). Horace Walpole had a family controlled seat in the House of Commons, coasted about on his late father’s coattails, was a loyal courtier to George II, a writer, collector of antiquities, and verbose social commentator. He was a virtuoso gossip.
2nd Earl Waldegrave (James Waldegrave), on his father’s death, when he was twenty-seven he inherited his father’s peerage and his father’s informal position as King George II’s “favorite.” The king tried to appoint him to a real job several times but Henry Pelham (his first minister who had replaced Sir Robert Walpole) would never approve it. After Henry Pelham’s sudden death in 1752, the king appointed Lord Waldegrave governor to Prince George and Prince Edward, which came with a seat on the Privy Council. Waldegrave was a close friend of Horace Walpole, MP.
Duke of Newcastle (Thomas Pelham) was a titled peer in the House of Lords. He was a stalwart in George II’s cabinet, and along with his half-brother, was one of the king’s closest advisors for years. Newcastle was from the Pelham family and when his brother, the king’s popular First Minister in the House of Commons, suddenly died, Newcastle took the opportunity to step into his brother’s big shoes and made himself (with the king’s approval) the dominate minister with a puppet named “king’s minister” in the House of Commons. It was an unorthodox power play to try to control the House of Commons from the House of Lords, who are appointed not elected.
Henry Fox, MP, from a humble background, Fox became a capable powerhouse influencer with seniority in the House of Commons. He was politically associated with the Duke of Cumberland, the king’s second, and favorite son, in the House of Lords, who was also Commander-General of the army. When the Duke of Cumberland needed legislation for army interests, he used Henry Fox as his spokesperson-influencer in the House of Commons.
William Pitt, MP, dropped out of Oxford because of his recurring gout attacks. He made his own academic regimen and was a prolific reader. Pitt had a military background as a commissioned officer, Coronet of the Horse in the Dragoons of the king’s army. (Dragoons rode into battle, and dismounted for hand to hand combat). He never saw battle but became a distinguished leader in the House of Commons, and poignant government critic of the influential “Cousins” faction. He was especially known for his powerful oratory and his “eagle eye” on the House of Commons floor. He lost his military commission and the king’s favor for siding with the late Prince of Wales’ opposition. William’s older brother, the family heir, who had led William into the opposition, lost the bulk of the family’s wealth for the king and Robert Walpole’s retribution. The elder Pitt brother was forced to mortgage the two family owned boroughs that provided the brothers a “pocket borough” seats in the House of Commons.
1st Earl Temple (Richard (Dick) Grenville). The oldest Grenville son, Richard inherited the Temple title and the fabulous Stowe property on his mother’s death in 1752. On her death, Richard also inherited from her Wooton of Underwood, the Grenville home of his late father, where he’d grown up. Richard married into more wealth, so was a big political splash. When he became Lord Temple, he left his seat in the House of Commons and entered the House of Lords. He was close friends with William Pitt and a senior member of the Cousinhood opposition faction. Add in his arrogance, and King George II hated him.
George Grenville, MP, Richard’s younger brother and also a politician. Arguably the brightest and most capable of the three living Grenville brothers, George had a seat in the House of Commons and was gifted in finance. He lived in the Wooton of Underwood Grenville estate home with his wife and family. George, often called “Grenville,” was also a key player in the Cousinhood or Cousin faction in the House of Commons with Richard (Lord Temple) and William Pitt, that had been instrumental in the late Prince Frederick Lewis’ opposition “Patriots” to his father’s government.
George Lyttelton, MP, is the cousin part of the influential Cousinhood faction in the House of Commons. He was an Oxford graduate, notably bright and literary. He was also a gifted orator and a leader in the Cousinhood. Lyttelton’s mother and the Grenvilles’ mother were sisters: Hester Temple Grenville and Christian Temple Lyttelton. After the Grenvilles’ father died, their mothers’ acclaimed brother, Uncle Richard Temple, Viscount Cobham, mentored his aspiring statesmen nephews and their close buddy, William Pitt. George Lyttelton and William Pitt became infamous in the House of Commons as the silver-tongued “Cobham’s Cubs” during the years that Prince Frederick Lewis ran the opposition “Patriots” to his father, George II’s, government. George Lyttelton’s older sister was married to Pitt’s older brother.
William Murray, MP, a brilliant jurist and Scottish academic. He was a Christian and close friend of Lord Bute. He was George II’s Solicitor General in the beginning of Collision Course. He was loyal to George II and his government (a Cabinet member). A venerated, outstanding orator for the government, Murray was naturally shy and tried to avoid the spit-in-your-face dogfights on the small House of Commons floor in St. Stephens Chapel.
