The Seafox Ensemble

| Background |

The Hadley Family
The Hadley family are a family of military tradition, a family with good standing and reputation. Manson Andronicus Hadley, at the time of "Legacy" is a Captain serving in the Sudan. His wife is of notable German lineage, but goes by the name Edith in her English home.

They have 5 children, four sons and a daughter.
  • Thomas Marcus Hadley
  • Alvin Trajan Hadley, Married to Olivia
  • Reginald Octavian Hadley
  • Julia Domina Hadley
  • Jordan Horatius Hadley
Grand Children
  • Judith Hadley
Captain Manson Andronicus Hadley is a Lancer or Cavalry officer, a unit formation that persists up until the First World War. He is highly principled and holds himself to a personal code of honour. Chester exploits this as a character flaw in "Legacy", later leveraging Manson's sense of duty to take the fall for the embarassment at the loss of the Kruger Gold.

Unfortunately, owing to his background and miltary success in his career, in the original engagemeng with the Van Vuurens he underestimates his adversary. One of his senior officers is captured, and the guilt he feels makes him rash in descisions to follow. Once he reagains his moral sense, he realises that he can defeat them and his adaptability in battle is demonstrated by the plan he hatches successfully.

At the time of "Captive Truce", Mason is not on active duty, but is reactivated to serve as a Major in a newly formed Flying Corps unit. He sees this as an opportunity to restore his reputation, and recover his Son at the same time. His son was taken captive, and through the invovelemt of the order a prisoner exchange has abeen agreed to that includes the relase of his son, Thomas Marcus Hadley.

Association with the Order

Manson Andronicus Hadley enjoys the respect of the council for his effectiveness and is appointed as the Executor in "Captive Truce". This appointment serves as the basis for the friction between himself and Chester. Chester felt entitled to his uncle's seat as Archivist, an achievement that is never realised along with him never being on the council.

Hadley shares many of the same values as Lord Munster, seeing the British Empire as a force for good, and furthering the interests of civilising the world. If is for this association, he was chosen for the mission in "Legacy" to neutralise the Van Vuurens and recovery the Kruger Treasury Gold. His reputation was tranished in "Legacy", leading him to take responsibility for the mistakes of others. In "Captive Truce", to further the Order's aims he recovers his commision and a promotion. However, enduring the consequences of the acts of others, he has slowly become dissolusioned with what he stands for and sees the institutions and principles of what he upholds becoming debased and being eroded.

Owing to the outcome in "Captive Truce", Major Hadley is assigned to the Gallipoli Campaign in "Ashes of Empire". During this engagement, Majjor Hadley's personsol convictions take a final toll as many die. Finally, through his pleas the British command yields to a withdrawl and the army is evacuated.

During the Gallipoli campaign, letters are redirected to him from South Africa, and in them the seed of doubting the Order is planted, Circumstantial proof is in his hands that the order has been playing both sides, and while he was sent to recover the Krugher Gold, there was a more sinister and nefarious purpose for it. Manson Hadley later confronts Lord Munster with this acusation, leading inadvertantly to Lord Munster's death.

His younger children Reginald and Julia later join the war effort, with Julia being killed in "Shield Maiden" at the hands of a sniper under the orders of Chester Munster. Reginald is later part of the negotiations for the Armistice that brings the war to its conclusion and is witness to the Order once again tugging at the strings of power to achieve its aim of a consolidated world power.

His youngest son, Jordan is the final casualty of his family in WW1. Jordan dying in a closing action just as the Armistice goes into effect.
The Munsters
Lord Munster, also referred to by his role as Archivist is a member of an assembly known as The Order. He has no direct heirs for his title and his neglecting this important responsibility in his own household is ironic given the original mandate of the order. He unfortunately has family secrets that he wants to hide, the primary one being his illegitimate Nephew, Chester. Lord Munster's sister refuses to reveal the identity of the father and since the child's birth remained unmarried.

Lord Munster's desire to keep the title in the direct line of descent forces him to recognize Chester as a member of the family. Lord Munster is an honourable man who believes deeply in the civilising force that the British Empire can be, a force for good. He is however often naieve to the methods and moral lines that need to be crossed to build and maintain an Empire.

Once recognized, Chester expected that he would have full respect, rights, and privileges however this remains elusive including his inclusion in the order.

As discussed in "Captive Truce" by the Order, there continues to be suspicion around his role in the loss of the Kruger Gold and how the Van Vuuren family were able to transport it. The question around whether he can be trusted, has done damage to his reputation. He is never invited to join the council, although remains an intelligence operative often used by the Order to complete and carry out its missions. His anger at being excluded leads him to behave duplicitously playing both sides, narrowly escaping responsibility.

A deep hatred develops between Manson and Chester as his duplicitous nature surfaces early on and continues to be the source of failure and disappointment. Chester however slowly becomes well placed and powerfull in his own right, establishing a network the Order becomes dependant on. This renders Chester untouchable causing others to suffer and be affected negatively.

Chester marries once he is Lord Munster and has a single Son, who continues the family line until "Fallen Realm" where his great grand daughter now carries the title during the dissolution of the Order.