NAME: Mary Elizabeth MacKenzie, but goes by Lizzie
DOB/AGE: June 2, 1840 -- 27
SEXUAL PREFERENCE: heterosexual
ETHNIC BACKGROUND: Scottish, just came to America
OCCUPATION: currently living with her brother Robert and helping out with his household
FAMILY: Alistair MacKenzie, Father (deceased); Alba MacKenzie Ferguson, Mother; George Ferguson, step-father (deceased); Robert Alistair MacKenzie, brother (34); Ian Farlan MacKenzie, brother (31)
CURRENT RESIDENCE: New Shelby, on a small farm on the edge of town
APPEARANCE: Lizzie has dark hair, light skin, and the very strikingly blue MacKenzie eyes. She's of a rather average height of 5'4", having taken after her mother, rather than her brothers who took after their tall father. She's always been told she was beautiful, with her curvy figure and easy smile, but the hint of mischief in her eyes has the unfortunate effect of scaring proper suitors off.
PERSONALITY: Lizzie was raised a proper aristocratic woman, but she inherited a wicked sense of humor and a vicious streak of independence honestly. It has made her unsuitable for marriage in her many suitors' eyes, but Lizzie considers that a blessing. She has money of her own, and brothers who love her, and has no need for a husband to give her either protection or status. She will marry when and if she decides it's what she wants, and not a moment before.
SPECIAL SKILLS/WEAPONS: With all her young summers spent on the estate in the Highlands, Lizzie has quite a talent as a rider. The horses growing up allowed her hours of freedom, away from the requests made of her as a respectable girl. As well, the boys who lived at the estate taught her how to shoot, and she became quite good at it, but has never admitted this to anyone. Besides, when would she ever need to shoot a gun?
WEAKNESS: Lizzie is stubbon, and being the youngest child, she was used to getting what she wanted growing up. She also has a great distrust of men not when they are the rare ones pursuing friendship, but once they shift to pursuing her as a suitor. Watching her mother and her step-father soured her to the idea that men pursue women for love.
HISTORY: Mary Elizabeth was born the youngest child and only daughter of Alistair and Alba MacKenzie. Growing up she split her time between the town house in Edinburgh and the large rural estate outside the town of Inverness that her father took them to summer at. Her parents were quite different -- Alba coming from Edinburgh and preferring nothing but the city, and Alistair being raised on a large country estate and only coming into the city when he was older because that's where his business and Alba had led him. Lizzie inherited her father's love of the outdoors, just as Robert and Ian did. But even with their differences, Alistair and Alba enjoyed each other's company and Lizzie grew up in a happy home.
The happy home didn't last forever -- Alistair was returning home from London when his carriage was found the next morning crashed into a tree and Alistair dead in the ditch. Robert insisted there was something suspicious about his death since the carriage was shattered, and Ian agreed, but Lizzie only heard of such things when she crept out of bed to listen at the boys' doors. She was 11 when her father died.
Her mother remarried -- George Ferguson was one of Alistair's business associates and very quickly moved to courting Alba once her husband was buried. Lizzie never liked Ferguson, and the feeling was mutual. The man made degrading comments to her mother and nasty comments and touches to her, and she begged Robert or Ian to do something about them. But they couldn't, and Robert moved to the family's estate in Inverness and Ian was at university, leaving Lizzie alone at the home in town with her mother and Ferguson.
She never stopped sending letters to Robert and Ian, keeping the abreast of what was happening at their home. She watched her bright and independent mother fade under the "love" of Ferguson, but it wasn't until a few years later at Christmas that Robert and Ian agreed with her enough to throw the man out of their home. Ferguson made the mistake of laying a hand on Alba in front of Robert, and any leeway the man had been given was cut off with that one hit.
She and her mother went to stay with Robert at the Inverness estate after the Christmas fiasco, and things went well for about a month until Ferguson showed up again. He only caused a nuisance for a day before he was found strangled in the stables in the early morning. The police blamed the murder on Ferguson's gambling debts and no one in the family disagreed.
Lizzie and her mother returned to Edinburgh after Ferguson's death. There was nothing to stay in Inverness for -- Robert had decided to go to America for a while, Ian was returning to his home in Glasgow for work, and Alba was stattered from the death of Ferguson. Lizzie tried to take care of her mother, but it was too much. Alba did little more than sit in her rooms or her garden and mutter and cry. When Lizzie attempted to get doctors to help her, Alba became angry at the intrusion and blamed Lizzie for driving Ferguson away in the first place. A girl of her age, unmarried, and with not even a passing interest in getting married was trouble and an offense against God's expectations of women and society's expectations of a woman in her status. She was sent away from the house and installed at St. Margaret's nunnery outside of Edinburgh. If she had no desire for a family then she would give her life to God.
Lizzie was so hurt by her mother's feelings toward her that she didn't try to fight it. She made one claim, asking to take her inheritance from her father and go on, but clearance from the bank required the executor's signature -- and Robert was unable to be found in time. So instead she entered the nunnery.
Within two years, though, the strict enviroment and the stifling atmosphere had completely turned off Lizzie to religious life. Her mother's wishes meant nothing now and Lizzie refused to live like this. She'd strike out on her own. After being told that she wasn't allowed to leave the nunnery until her five year novice period was over, Lizzie packed her bags and snuck out of the building in the dead of night and made her way to Glasgow to find Ian. Her mother would find her at Ian's, so her brother bought her a ticket to America and gave her the last known address he had for Robert.
And so she ended up in New Shelby, needing a fresh start and an escape from her life in Edinburgh. Although Robert was surprised to see her, he took her in without question and she plans to stay as long as Robert does. Edinburgh can wait.
MUN: Rebecca PB: Lucy Griffiths
Random Facts About Lizzie:
* Lizzie has received 37 marriage proposals since she was presented to society at 16. She has turned them all down for a variety of reasons, none of which her mother or step-father approved of. If her choices are the men who want her as nothing more than a thing to possess, then she will happily be the old maid.
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memackenzie) wrote,
