Robert Crawley, the 7th Earl of Grantham (a British peer) is a fictional character in the popular television period drama, “Downton Abbey”, set one hundred years ago. His family seat is Downton Abbey, Yorkshire, where he lives with his wife Cora, the Countess Grantham and their three daughters, the Ladies Mary, Edith and Sybil. He, being one of the landed gentry, generates his major income from tenant farmers farming on his Estate which he inherited from his father the 6th Earl. The rub is that he has no son and heir to inherit from him and his title must pass, on his death, to the nearest male heir. This is due to the law of primogeniture, which precludes the female line inheriting.
In the very first episode of Downton Abbey the nearest male heir, Robert’s cousin James and his cousin’s son Patrick are both lost at sea when the RMS Titanic of the White Star Line sinks in the early hours of the 15th April 1912 after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York. A search is made for a more distant male relative to become next in line and the family lawyer, Murray finds that it is Matthew Crawley, a solicitor from Manchester.
The 'Upstairs Downstairs' goings on at Downton continue for another 13 years (1912-1925) through six series (screened between 2010 and 2015) and rumours abound that a full length feature film is a possibility, although Maggy Smith says her character, Lady Violet, the Dowager Countess of Grantham (Robert’s...
