Hector Cameron was the third husband of Jocasta MacKenzie Cameron. He emigrated with his wife to the Americas after the disastrous battle at Culloden in 1746, and took ownership of a plantation called River Run.
Personal History
Both Hector and his brother-in-law, Dougal MacKenzie, and a third man were involved in smuggling gold for Charles Stuart from the King of France. In the end, it was too late to be useful to the cause and Hector hid his share in their home until the end of the Rising, at which point he buried it in the woods after taking some for their escape. Hector, his wife Jocasta, and their daughter, Morna, fled to the coast after Jocasta could not convince him to go and help her two older children and their families. On the way to the coast, they were stopped by the English and during the attack Hector accidentally shot Morna; Jocasta never forgave him for her death. The two then fled to the New World where they bought a plantation with the gold. Hector died from the morbid sore throat at age seventy-three.
Events of the Novels
Drums of Autumn
On his way to River Run, Jamie Fraser learns that his uncle died the previous winter, leaving his Aunt Jocasta – his mother's sister – a widow. Jocasta tells her nephew and his family that she and Hector would travel into the mountains to trade with the Indians.
When Jocasta hosts a dinner in honor of her nephew's arrival, Jamie wears Hector's tartan and dirk.
The Fiery Cross
After she was threatened by a mysterious stranger, Jocasta tells the story of how she and Hector escaped Scotland after the Jacobite Rising of 1745 with the help of the Frenchman's gold – and how Hector had accidentally killed their daughter, Morna.
Later, after Duncan Innes is attacked by Lieutenant Wolff, Ulysses kills Wolff on Jocasta's orders and the decision is made to hide Wolff's body in the mausoleum, Jamie's notion being that Hector's ghost will prevent Wolff from haunting River Run.
A Breath of Snow and Ashes
After Phaedre's affair with Duncan comes to light, Jocasta reveals that Hector was Phaedre's father.
Personality
Physical Appearance
Hector was a handsome man, with dark wavy hair and strong bones. His right eye was slightly narrowed, perhaps congenitally, though the drooping eyelid was more pronounced in old age. He was of middling height and broad-shouldered. In his later years, he was bowed in stature and suffered rheumatism in his hands.[2]
Name
- Hector is a Latinized form of Greek ‘Εκτωρ (Hektor), which was derived from ‘εκτωρ (hektor) "holding fast", ultimately from εχω (echo) meaning "to hold, to possess".[3]
- Cameron comes from the Gaelic cam-shron meaning "crooked nose" or "hooked nose".[4]
Trivia
References
- ↑ A Breath of Snow and Ashes, revealed by Jocasta in November 1774
- ↑ The Fiery Cross, chapter 96
- ↑ Behind the Name: Hector - accessed 24 June 2016
- ↑ Scottish Surnames: A — L – accessed 12 August 2015.