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HelpThe Cann Family!
in reply to a message by Espanolelwales
The Cann Family, 1880
H [52]: Jeremy Cann, "Jem"
W [48]: Caroline Elena (Montagu) Cann, "Lady Caroline [Cann]" / "Mrs. Cann" ("Caro" / "Caro-Jem" / "The Gem of London")
S1 [24]: Nathaniel Andrew Cann, "Nate"
D1 [22]: Harriet Esther Cann, "Hallie"
S2 [20]: Anthony Stephen Cann, "Tony"
S3 [17]: Timothy Martin Cann, "Tim"
D2 [16]: Lydia Judith Cann
Mr. Cann of Number 32 Berkeley Square was not always a mister of distinction. He came of age far from stately Mayfair and Belgravia, and the Palladian country houses of the ton. While London's elite dined on French cuisine that may or may not have been cooked by actual Frenchmen, young Jem's belly often ached in hunger as he slept on the cold workhouse floor in Jacob's Island. He was sure no gentleman in a gentleman's suit would even acknowledge him, let alone believe him if he'd said that there was a river of feces flowing through their city - the Mayor of London himself had denied this*. But the slime and refuse were real, and enough to drown a man, particularly one who'd been beaten since boyhood by the fists and cold shoulders of society.
There was one ace in young Jem's pocket, though: he had a head for figures. So as he grew into a tall, gangly thing, he did what anyone else born in the muck would do to escape: he climbed. And he cut some throats as he did - metaphorically speaking, anyway - as he learned to round out his vowels and actually pronounce his Hs.
And so young Jem metamorphosed into Mr. Jeremy Cann of Cann, Swynford & Pierrepont Holdings, richer than Croesus but not ostentatious, skeptical of the haute ton and the nouveau riche alike. The advice was the same from all corners, however: marry up. Aristocrats had invested poorly and their lands weren't as profitable as in centuries past, so now was the time to take one unlucky lord's daughter to wife and have one's children grow up in privilege and prestige.
Lady Caroline Montagu, bluestocking daughter of the previous Earl of Lacey and sister of the current, had driven enough suitors away by the time she was 23 that she had earned her title of the family's Black Sheep. After all, it was her duty to marry well and help the family's fortunes while their house fell apart and their tenants were either starving or leaving for northern cities. At first she didn't understand why her carousing, wastrel brother Alec wouldn't face the same criticism, though it didn't take long to settle in that men were allowed more mistakes in life, and women were tasked with restoring the balance as they were treated like children. So she retreated to her books, her escape. What, really, was the point of her life otherwise?
So when arrangements were made without her knowledge for her betrothal to an industrial tycoon who held stock in everything from railways to mines to bloody soap, Caro vowed to do everything to scare Jeremy Cann off. She spoke her mind, openly relished the prospect of spinsterhood, asked bold question - eventually getting some harrowing answers that she knew barely scratched the surface of Jeremy's childhood. Over the course of a month, they got to know one another out of sight of prying eyes, and feel much more than duty or convenience.
Jem had been looking for a means to an end, and instead found the be all, end all. And Caro discovered the great emptiness that had threatened to engulf her, through someone who filled her life with light.
Due to a certain... anticipatory indiscretion... it became necessary to move up the wedding date. That was when Caro confessed to Jem that she had loathed the idea of a ton wedding ever since she debuted. And so, the pair of them scandalized said ton when they eloped to Gretna Green at the end of the Season. A scant nine months later, Caro gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Nathaniel.
The Cann family flourished over the next two-and-a-half decades. Funnily enough, with Caroline being such a common name among her generation, many of the married Carolines were affectionately referred to with their husbands' Christian names: Caro-Lawrence, Caro-Joshua, Caro-Philip, etc. But since Lady Caroline, or "Mrs. Cann," had married below her, her so-called peers referred to her as "Caro-Jem" rather than "Caro-Jeremy." But she took this in stride, and worked it to her advantage: acting as a bridge between two worlds and solidifying her reputation thusly, she came to be known as "The Gem of London."
The dreaded Season is upon the Cann family once more, and like mother, like daughter: Hallie is another bluestocking who believes that if there even is a man out there for her, he's not at any of the balls or soirees she's attending.
* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_Island#Charles_Dickens
***
Please rate my personal name lists:
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/117507
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/109399
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/132018
H [52]: Jeremy Cann, "Jem"
W [48]: Caroline Elena (Montagu) Cann, "Lady Caroline [Cann]" / "Mrs. Cann" ("Caro" / "Caro-Jem" / "The Gem of London")
S1 [24]: Nathaniel Andrew Cann, "Nate"
D1 [22]: Harriet Esther Cann, "Hallie"
S2 [20]: Anthony Stephen Cann, "Tony"
S3 [17]: Timothy Martin Cann, "Tim"
D2 [16]: Lydia Judith Cann
Mr. Cann of Number 32 Berkeley Square was not always a mister of distinction. He came of age far from stately Mayfair and Belgravia, and the Palladian country houses of the ton. While London's elite dined on French cuisine that may or may not have been cooked by actual Frenchmen, young Jem's belly often ached in hunger as he slept on the cold workhouse floor in Jacob's Island. He was sure no gentleman in a gentleman's suit would even acknowledge him, let alone believe him if he'd said that there was a river of feces flowing through their city - the Mayor of London himself had denied this*. But the slime and refuse were real, and enough to drown a man, particularly one who'd been beaten since boyhood by the fists and cold shoulders of society.
There was one ace in young Jem's pocket, though: he had a head for figures. So as he grew into a tall, gangly thing, he did what anyone else born in the muck would do to escape: he climbed. And he cut some throats as he did - metaphorically speaking, anyway - as he learned to round out his vowels and actually pronounce his Hs.
And so young Jem metamorphosed into Mr. Jeremy Cann of Cann, Swynford & Pierrepont Holdings, richer than Croesus but not ostentatious, skeptical of the haute ton and the nouveau riche alike. The advice was the same from all corners, however: marry up. Aristocrats had invested poorly and their lands weren't as profitable as in centuries past, so now was the time to take one unlucky lord's daughter to wife and have one's children grow up in privilege and prestige.
Lady Caroline Montagu, bluestocking daughter of the previous Earl of Lacey and sister of the current, had driven enough suitors away by the time she was 23 that she had earned her title of the family's Black Sheep. After all, it was her duty to marry well and help the family's fortunes while their house fell apart and their tenants were either starving or leaving for northern cities. At first she didn't understand why her carousing, wastrel brother Alec wouldn't face the same criticism, though it didn't take long to settle in that men were allowed more mistakes in life, and women were tasked with restoring the balance as they were treated like children. So she retreated to her books, her escape. What, really, was the point of her life otherwise?
So when arrangements were made without her knowledge for her betrothal to an industrial tycoon who held stock in everything from railways to mines to bloody soap, Caro vowed to do everything to scare Jeremy Cann off. She spoke her mind, openly relished the prospect of spinsterhood, asked bold question - eventually getting some harrowing answers that she knew barely scratched the surface of Jeremy's childhood. Over the course of a month, they got to know one another out of sight of prying eyes, and feel much more than duty or convenience.
Jem had been looking for a means to an end, and instead found the be all, end all. And Caro discovered the great emptiness that had threatened to engulf her, through someone who filled her life with light.
Due to a certain... anticipatory indiscretion... it became necessary to move up the wedding date. That was when Caro confessed to Jem that she had loathed the idea of a ton wedding ever since she debuted. And so, the pair of them scandalized said ton when they eloped to Gretna Green at the end of the Season. A scant nine months later, Caro gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Nathaniel.
The Cann family flourished over the next two-and-a-half decades. Funnily enough, with Caroline being such a common name among her generation, many of the married Carolines were affectionately referred to with their husbands' Christian names: Caro-Lawrence, Caro-Joshua, Caro-Philip, etc. But since Lady Caroline, or "Mrs. Cann," had married below her, her so-called peers referred to her as "Caro-Jem" rather than "Caro-Jeremy." But she took this in stride, and worked it to her advantage: acting as a bridge between two worlds and solidifying her reputation thusly, she came to be known as "The Gem of London."
The dreaded Season is upon the Cann family once more, and like mother, like daughter: Hallie is another bluestocking who believes that if there even is a man out there for her, he's not at any of the balls or soirees she's attending.
* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_Island#Charles_Dickens
***
Please rate my personal name lists:
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/117507
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/109399
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/132018
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