Tobias Hawthorne

The great Tobias Hawthorne (by Grayson Hawthorne)The great and terrible Tobias Hawthorne (by Alexander Hawthorne)

## Relationships

### Parents

Unnamed parents †
Pearl O'Day (mother figure/mother-in-law)

### Family

Zara Hawthorne-Calligaris (daughter)
Skye Hawthorne (daughter)
Tobias Hawthorne II (adoptive son)
Constantine Calligaris (son-in-law)
Nash Hawthorne (grandson)
Grayson Hawthorne (grandson)
Jameson Hawthorne (grandson)
Alexander Hawthorne (grandson)
Evelyn Shane (adoptive granddaughter)

## Series Information

### Appearances

*The Inheritance Games* (mentioned)
 *The Hawthorne Legacy* (mentioned)
*The Final Gambit* (mentioned)

**Tobias Tattersall Hawthorne** is the patriarch of the Hawthorne family. He is recently deceased. Tobias was a multibillionaire and prominent philanthropist. His net worth was $46.2 billion. He was famous for his eccentricity and love of puzzles, riddles, and codes.

## Biography

### Early Life

Tobias made his fortune through the oil industry, then diversified. He was the ninth-richest person in the United States and the richest man in Texas. He married Alice O'Day Hawthorne, and they had three children, Zara Hawthorne-Calligaris, Skye Hawthorne, and Tobias Hawthorne II. His grandsons are Nash, Grayson, Jameson, and Xander Hawthorne. Grayson is his heir apparent.

### *The Inheritance Games*

Tobias has passed away about a month ago at seventy-eight years old. His law firm, McNamara, Ortega, and Jones, has been trying to locate Avery Grambs as it is stipulated in his will that she must be present before the will can be read. With the arrival of Avery and her half-sister Libby Grambs to Hawthorne House, Tobias's will is finally read. To the surprise of everyone, but his lawyers, Tobias leaves almost his entire fortune to Avery. Tobias leaves one hundred thousand dollars each to Andrew and Lottie Laughlin, the caretakers of his estate, as well as life-long, rent-free tenancy of Wayback Cottage, their home on the western border of the House. He leaves his head of security, John Oren, the contents of his toolbox and a sum of three hundred thousand dollars. Tobias also asks Oren to continue on in his position for Avery. Tobias leaves his mother-in-law, Nan Hawthorne, an annuity of one hundred thousand dollars a year, a trust for medical expenses, and all of her daughter Alice's jewelry. He leaves Skye a one-time inheritance of fifty thousand dollars and his wedding ring, writing “may she love as wholly and steadfastly as he loved her mother.” Tobias leaves Zara a one-time inheritance of fifty thousand dollars and his compass, writing "may she always know true north." Finally, he leaves each of his grandsons two hundred and fifty thousand dollars apiece, payable on their twenty-fifth birthdays with Alisa Ortega being the trustee until that time. The only condition Tobias put in his will for Avery to receive her inheritance is that she must live in Hawthorne House for one year, beginning no more than three days after the reading of his will. The Hawthorne family can only be kicked out of the House under extraordinary circumstances. If Avery refuses the inheritance and doesn't move into Hawthorne House, the money will be dispersed to charity.

Xander recounts to Avery how every Saturday Tobias would have some challenge of puzzles and riddles for his grandsons to compete against each other in. Xander says that he always lost his these Saturday challenges. Instead, he and Tobias would talk, with Xander mostly listening to Tobias's stories. This is how he learned that his grandfather didn't have a middle name. Alisa confirms that Tobias legally changed his name twenty years ago in August, when he wrote his original will. Tobias legally added "Tattersall" as his middle name. It is a clue in the game he leaves his grandsons, in that it means "tatters all" as in "he left them all in tatters." Alisa further informs Avery that Tobias's original will left his entire estate to charity.

He wrote the new will last year. Tobias reworked his will to include a hunt for Toby after he learned that his son had faked his death.

Nash informs Avery how every year on his grandsons' birthdays, Tobias would call them into his study and say the same words, "Invest. Cultivate. Create." He gave them ten thousand dollars to invest. Then they were expected to pick a talent or interest to cultivate for the year, no expense spared. Tobias also laid out a challenge every year. They were expected to create something by their next birthday. Examples include an invention, a solution, or a work of museum-quality art. He expected his grandsons to be extraordinary and to win.

During the charity gala, Grayson tells Avery that after Emily Laughlin's funeral his grandfather told him that what happened to Emily wouldn't have happened if he had put his family first and had chosen his brother over her.

Tobias formulated both versions of his will to be a puzzle that his children would only be able to piece together by cooperating. This was his way of trying to mend his broken family. Zara and Skye completely miss this and only learn the true meaning behind the will because Avery and the brothers want to figure out the mystery.

It is revealed to Avery that Tobias had been tracking her since she was born. He also gives Xander the mission to locate his long-thought dead uncle Tobias Hawthorne II.

## Appearance

Tobias had silver-gray hair and a face more weather-worn than one would expect. His eyes are the same silver-blue as Grayson's, his build is like Jameson's, and his chin is like Nash's. After seeing Xander in motion, Avery recognizes a similarity in the way Tobias and Xander's features pull together, something about the shape between their eyes, nose, and mouth.

## Personality

Tobias was eccentric. He loved puzzles, riddles, and codes. He also enjoyed anagrams. Alisa describes him as someone who was "fond of good guessers." He was also a man grieving his lost son. Zara says that he never was the same after Toby died. Mrs. Laughlin says that Tobias was a very private man. He was a champion at keeping secrets. His family didn't even know he was sick. He developed the habit of putting Nash's "lost souls" to work as members of his staff. Jameson says that Tobias "always said Hawthorne males have nine lives." Xander descibes Tobias as someone very chatty, who was full of stories, facts, and contradictions. Every once in a while, Tobias liked to cut off the world. Tobias was convinced that his wealth was the reason for his family having been torn apart and concocted the puzzle in his will to try and bring them together. According to Oren, the only person who ever really knew what Tobias was thinking was Tobias himself.

## Trivia

* Tobias owned a hotel, several private planes, and a helicopter. He owns the Texas Lone Stars football team. One of the many pieces of priceless artworks that he owns is a painting called *Four Brothers* by Cézanne. It’s a Hawthorne family favorite for obvious reasons.
* Red acetate, a type of filter paper, was a favorite of Tobias's, particularly for revealing hidden messages.
* He also owned many vacation homes. One of them is in Colorado called True North. There's another vacation home in Costa Rica maintained by Jake Nash. Another residence being a 17th-century castle set among more than a 100 acres of olive orchards in Tuscany, Italy. Thatched cottage in Bora Bora. A genuine castle in the Scottish Highlands. A flat in London. Apartments in Tokyo and Toronto and New York. His other vacation homes include Patagonia, Santorini, Kauai, Malta, the Seychelles, San Miguel de Allende, and much more.
* He was a very good shot.
* Skye informs Avery that Tobias chose his grandsons' middle names.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *The Inheritance Games*: page 36
2. ↑ *The Inheritance Games*: page 107
3. ↑ *The Inheritance Games*: page 20
4. ↑ *The Inheritance Games*: page 88
5. ↑ *The Hawthorne Legacy*: page 129