Raphael Wattiswade is a dealer in rare books and a spymaster. He is the father of Minerva Grey, who married Harold Grey, Duke of Pardloe, Earl of Melton.
Personal History[]
Raphael Wattiswade was born circa 1699.[4]
In the early 1720s, he was working as a rare book dealer in Paris. He met Sister Emmanuelle (neé Hélène) while looking for someone to restore a rare Book of Hours. Raphael and Emmanuelle began an affair. The stress of the pregnancy and subsequent birth drove Emmanuelle to madness, leaving Raphael to raise his newborn daughter, Minerva Cunnegunda Wattiswade, alone.
After his daughter's birth, he continued to work as a book dealer in Paris, while also acting as a clandestine information dealer for a vast network of clients. As his daughter grew older, Raphael trained her in the art of spycraft and used her as a courier, though Minnie also developed her own sources of information. Many of his associates were connected with the Jacobite Movement, although he does not appear to be representing any one government or party. He seems to be a freelance spymaster, providing information to anyone who will pay.
As of 1760, he was apparently still active and in contact with his daughter.
Outlander Series[]
"A Fugitive Green"[]
In April 1744, he is working as a rare book seller under the name Andrew Rennie, using his shop as a front for more clandestine activities. One of his clients is Jamie Fraser.
He sends Minnie to London to courier documents and collect information on several British nobles. Hoping to find his daughter an English husband, he also arranges for Minnie to meet with a marriage procuress. When Minnie returns from Paris pregnant, Raphael moves them to Amsterdam for a fresh start.
Lord John Series[]
The Scottish Prisoner[]
Jamie recognizes Minnie as the daughter of "Andrew Rennie," and recalls the man as an information dealer with a number of Jacobite contacts. Minnie implies that her father is still active, or at least in contact with clandestine sources of information.
Personality[]
He is a highly observant man with a considerable amount of charm.
Physical Appearance[]
Seventeen-year-old Minnie notes that her father's eyebrows were "beginning to thicken and gray, to grow unruly," and she thinks to herself that he is becoming "elderly," though in fact she later notes that he is only forty-five years old.
Relationships[]
Name[]
- Raphael comes from the Hebrew name רָפָאֵל (Rafa'el) which meant "God has healed".[5]
- Wattiswade may trace its origins to the separate names Wattis (based on the Germanic personal name Walter, composed of the elements wald "rule" and heri "army")[6] and Wade (from the Old English word (ge)wæd "to wade").[7]
Trivia[]
References[]
- ↑ Age (if he still lives) as of the end of Written in My Own Heart's Blood.
- ↑ Fugitive Green, Ch 18
- ↑ Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, chapter 35. "Minnie's sister" becomes godmother to Dorothea Grey. Given the last-known state of Minnie's mother, presumably they are sisters with the same father.
- ↑ "A Fugitive Green", chapter 7. In 1744, Minnie notes that her father is currently 45 years old.
- ↑ Behind the Name: Raphael. Accessed 3 October 2016.
- ↑ House of Names: Wattis – accessed 3 June 2016
- ↑ House of Names: Wade – accessed 3 June 2016