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Parker Family

The Parkers are a very old, pureblood wizarding family who originally made their fortunes selling extravagant - and very expensive - quills in the middle ages. They are believed to have been very close to Charles I of England during the time of the English civil war and were forced to escape to Normandy in order to avoid being killed at the time of the King's execution. Nowadays the Parkers are largely anti-royalist following a disagreement with Queen Victoria in the late 1800s, but their allegiance to Charles I remains strong, and the name Charles features heavily in the Parker family tree; the current family member bearing the name is in fact Charles Parker XV; the fifteenth. The Parkers continue their quill business to this day, but they are both rich enough to sustain themselves without paying much attention to it and are more heavily reliant on the muggle branch of their business, which is a well-known brand of fountain pens in the muggle world.

Wealth

The family are unbelievably rich, having amassed more money than they can spend in the first two hundred years of their business. These days they live very comfortably and it is not necessary for them to work, though many of them decide to anyway. When family members die it is tradition for them to pass their belongings down to one other family member and one alone; this has proven to be a troublesome tradition in the past, but it is common practice now for the relation to whom the money is bequeathed to make sizable donations to their siblings who might otherwise have gotten a cut of the inheritance. However, this is not a legal obligation and frequently the luckier of two feuding siblings will simply keep all of the money for themself.

Reputation

Though the Parkers' business is what made them their money, they are more well known for being excellent conversationalists, clever people and, above all, for being exceptionally beautiful. It is uncommon for a family member to choose a less stunning partner, but when this occurs they are generally forced to take this partner's surname in marriage, male or female, in order to preserve the general beauty of the family. Relatives with less fortunate facial features tend to be somewhat isolated by their family, are sometimes seen as black sheep, and as a rule enjoy smaller financial priveleges than their prettier siblings and cousins. Appearance aside, reputation is very important to every Parker, and if one family member is believed to be marring the good name of the rest, then actions are taken swiftly to silence their rebellious voice. Unsavoury behaviour is not tolerated.

Organisation

The Parkers are unusual amongst other powerful English families due to the way they organise themselves. At all times there is a stem family, and then the strongest son - or daughter, if there are no sons, thanks to the inherent sexism of the time in which the tradition was forged - will go on to continue the line of this stem family. It is frequently described as the Parker tree trunk - cousins and other more distant relations branch off on every side. The more closely related you are to the stem family, the higher the honour attached to your name. The current head of the stem family is Maurice Parker?, having been handed the title by his father, Solomon Parker?, who chose him over his twin brother purely because of his career-driven, businesslike nature; traits that strong Parker males tend to be expected to bear.

Current Stem Family

The current stem family consists of Maurice Parker? and his wife Helena along with their daughter Niamh - pronounced Neeve - and their son Edgar. They have disowned - or excommunicated - their elder son Oscar Parker? having become ashamed by his behaviour, which they consider to be improper. Solomon Parker?, however, still retains his connection to his grandson, as does the boy's uncle, Charles Parker, with whom he currently resides.

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