Henry Talbot

## Mr.Henry Talbot

Edith Pelham, Marchioness of Hexham (former sister-in-law)
Lady Sybil Branson † (former sister-in-law)
Alexander Crawley, 8th Earl of Grantham (former brother-in-law)
Miss Sybbie Branson (former marital niece)
Miss Marigold Pelham (former marital niece)
Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham † (former father-in-law)
Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham † (former mother-in-law)
 Lady Rosamund Painswick (former aunt-in-law)
Mr. Marmaduke Painswick (former martial uncle-in-law)
Miss Delilah Mellark (former marital aunt-in-law)
Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham † (former grandmother-in-law)
Patrick Crawley, 6th Earl of Grantham † (former grandfather-in-law)
Mrs. Martha Levinson † (grandmother-in-law)
Mr. Isidore Levinson † (grandfather-in-law)
Mr. Harold Levinson (former uncle-in-law)

**Mr. Henry Talbot** (b. 3 April, 1885) is a member of the Talbot Family—whose patriarch is the Earl of Shrewsbury. He the nephew of Lady Shackleton, a longtime friend of Violet Crawley. He became the Crawley Family through his marriage to Lady Mary Crawley from 1925 until their divorce in 1928.

## Biography

His father is a member of a junior branch of the Talbot Family that is headed by the Earl of Shrewsbury. There are thirty-eight other men in line to the earldom before Henry's father. His father has also been a member of the Parliament, while his uncle is a bishop.

In 1925, when Lady Shackleton visits Downton Abbey, he is an unexpected guest. His appearance genuinely surprises Mary, and they make small talk over dinner and in the drawing room. When Henry leaves, he gives Mary his card. Mary also expresses her distaste of cars, while Henry is obsessed with cars and practically makes a living working with cars. A little while later, he and Mary have dinner in London together.

Henry invites Mary and Tom Branson to watch a motor testing that he is doing with Charlie. After that, they have a drink in a pub where Mary increases her friendship with Henry.

In London, Henry has dinner with Mary, Tom, Evelyn Napier, and Lady Anne Acland and a few others. Henry accompanies Mary back to Rosamund's house, where Mary reveals the reason of her distaste of cars is because her husband, Matthew, died in a car crash. Suddenly, there is a rain storm, and Mary and Henry race into an alley to have shelter from the rain. In the alley, Henry admits his feelings for Mary, and then they share their first kiss.

On 20 July, 1925, Henry—along with Charlie and a few others, race at the Brooklands Race Track, and they invited the Crawleys to watch the race. Unfortunately, the race tragically ended with the death of Charlie, whose car caught ablaze and swerved to the side. Henry was tremendously upset by Charlie's death. He later telephoned Mary at night, but got his heart broken when Mary declared that they cannot be together and that they're not right for each other.

Henry reaches out to Tom, who invites Henry over while the Crawley family is in York. Mary is angry at Tom's interference, and tries to discourage Henry from pursuing her. Henry still stays behind for dinner, at the request of Mary's mother, Cora. After dinner, he finds Mary and Tom arguing about him, and tries to stop them. He accuses Mary of turning him down because he doesn't have enough money. Mary is outraged at being labeled a *"gold-digger"* and tells him to leave. Henry is gone the next morning before Mary wakes up. Mary takes her hurt out on her sister, Edith, by ruining her chances to marry Bertie Pelham. Tom reaches out to Violet, who comes over to talk to Mary. Mary finally admits that she's afraid Henry will die in a car crash like Matthew.

After talking to Violet, Mary calls Henry and asks him to come back. He returns to Downton, where Mary apologizes and professes her love for him. They get engaged, and marry on 16 August, 1925.

Henry moves in with Mary at Downton, and settles in well. However, he realizes that he's no longer able to race cars after Charlie's death, and is lacking direction in his life. Mary becomes worried, not wanting Henry to be unhappy. Mary helps Edith and Bertie reconcile, and they set their wedding for New Years' Eve at Downton. Right before the wedding, Henry and Tom reveal to Mary that they're going into business together, opening a car shop. Henry will get to keep his passion for cars, but not have to race. Mary is thrilled for him, and lets Henry know that she's pregnant. Henry is overjoyed, but Mary tells him to keep it a secret until Edith's wedding is over.

On the 21 August, 1926—only a few days before their first wedding anniversary, they welcomed their daughter Caroline. Henry was away for most of the time—he was in a motor show in Chicago when the King and Queen arrived at Downton Abbey in 1927. This distance created a conflict between the couple, as they barely spent time with one another and with their children as a family.

Unfortunately, this led to the couple's eventual divorce in early 1928, under the reasons of desertion. They eventually settled it a few months later, with Henry getting visitation privileges to their daughter and send child support until she turns of age. The two remained friends despite them parting ways.

## Appearance and Personality

Henry has dark hair and green eyes.

He remains close to immediate members of the Crawley Family even after his divorce to Mary. Other than his former wife, he is close to Robert, Cora, Edith, Bertie, Tom (who is also the co-owner of their car business), and Alex.

He is cheerful, charming, and a rule breaker—the latter being admired by Alex. He also went back to racing, but not as often as he used to before his marriage.

## Name Etymology

* **Henry** is a unisex name of German origin, meaning *"estate ruler"*.

* **Charles** is a male name of of German and French origin, meaning *"man, free man"*.
	+ it is the masculine version of his daughter's first name, Caroline.