Emerson family
EFB
Status of MATERNAL line: Rich
Status of PATERNAL line: Upper Class - “Powerful”/”Influential”
Played Character Name(s) Jonathan and Katherine Emerson
Maternal line Stuart
Magical/Non-Magical & Heritage: Muggle Descent
Line of Work: Hypermarket retail
History: The Stuarts are a very small family, but very proud. This prestigious Muggle household date their ancestry as far back as the 14th century, just after the recession of the Black Plague. Ainsworth Stuart is the oldest known ancestor and is considered the father of this line. He was a wealthy trader of unknown Anglo-Norman descent who quickly filled the gaps of a reviving European economy in terms of international trades. While usually trading and selling his goods with other brokers, he began to set up his own shops in various locations, predominantly in England, France, and Spain. His assets and growing connections within the aristocracy have given him a shortlived Earlship of Carlisle, but he was contested by a poor, but well established noble family. However, he remained within the high social strata of his time, and was eventually granted a peerage of baron of his own. Due to England’s system of nobility, only Ainsworth’s eldest son was heir to the title. His two younger sons were considered commoners, but their wealth allowed them to mix with noble lines from continental Europe, where entire families were allowed to be ennobled. It was also his younger sons that vastly increased the wealth and prestige of this Muggle line. They expanded the Stuart market share, and investing in the new wave of colonial and capitalist movements.
The family continued through with several successful ventures, not all of them morally upright. The line was known for their mercenary nature and the Stuarts often entered grey ethics in their expansions, yet became prominent in the growth of the capitalist movement. Their business deals, while never explicitly illegal, sometimes bordered on murky waters, using their connections to gain economic advantages. They had a head start with trade in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, their shops ranging from small outposts to large warehouses, while squashing small, upcoming businesses by buying them out or selling their goods for extremely low prices until they drove the competition away. They were also quite liberal with their use of political links to be given tax pardons and favorable tariffs, allowing them to build their retail empire. Today, the Stuarts have long since retired from active business deals, their extensive hypermarket chains headed by appointed heads and trusted board members. Still, it remains a private company to ensure wealth remains securely within a small circle.
While predominantly muggle, a wizard or witch has popped up once every few generations, the first record of a magical branch belonging to a Gregory Stuart in the 16th century. They attempted to become purebloods by trying to marry into poor, but noble magical families, but the lines all but died off, and any magical Stuart line remains in the public shadows, most of them probably dissolved into another family. In fact, there are hardly any Stuarts left, as the current number alive today number less than fifty, which is a small number for such an old family. They don’t seem to mind, however, as the cutthroat nature of the Stuarts never really made them a close-knit line. In fact, they are quite prone to disowning members of their own family for the most trivial of reasons, which helps to increase the wealth of each living branch member. Disowned members, however, are kept tabs on, just in case it might prove beneficial to make mends, or just to know which families to dislike.
While the Stuarts are rich and well connected, the recent centuries have seen them relinquishing their active roles in economic sectors, more content to enjoy their wealth in peace.
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Paternal line: Emerson
Magical/Non-Magical & Heritage: Half-Blood
Line of Work: Politics and various conglomerates
History: The Emerson line is probably one of the oldest magical lines in Britain. Though it has enormous respect in the modern muggle world, a good part of the magical community sees them as a waste of magical blood due to their vast mixing. The line has been situated in England for thousands of years, long before written history. While the names of old have been forgotten, the family knows of its deep rooted past in the English Isle thanks to old relics passed down through the generations. Secured within their vaults are family treasures such as jadeite axes from the Neolithic era to Beaker pots to iron weapons, all crafted by some forefather in the distant past.
The first written record of the line links to Wulfred Ethelmar, a Saxon emigrate from continental Europe who was part of the Germanic settlement of Britain. As the native populations merged with these foreign invaders, whatever the Emersons had been before, they were now eclipsed by the recorded history of this Saxon line. Wulfred had been a young advisor to his tribal lord. His son, Ealdred Emerson, would continue in his father’s footsteps as an advisor, whose surname would be carried on by future generations. Skilled in wands and words, the Emersons would lay a firm foundation for themselves as trusted consultants, helping to negotiate treaties with various other tribes. In return, they were given land and gold, which would be the start of their amassed fortunes.
By the time of the Norman conquest centuries later, the Emersons had already been established as a large family of politicians, the main branch long settled in Durham, and smaller branches heading off in other parts of Europe as royal consuls. While their reputation was built with their deals with treaties and laws, their wealth was founded on independent ventures. The parcels of land they were given and the limited gold alloted them were invested numerous ventures. Like with their political careers, their economic deals were hardly prominent, content to play in the background and build connections within the various circles, advising and investing with merchants and other entrepreneurs.
Despite their attempts for low key profiles, their increasing wealth and power was becoming ever more apparent and the family’s name was much talked about, especially in the magical community. The Emersons had long been a very liberal family and their reputation, for better or worse, was built upon their openness to new ideas. They supported the equality of beasts and beings and were extremely accepting of half-bloods, squibs, muggles and muggle-borns, and so called “half-breeds” more than their more staunch pureblood counterparts. They figure an open relationship meant more opportunities, and also more wealth for exchange. Thus, it was a bone of contention for such a dirty line to have such a prominence. The few Emerson lines that managed to keep their blood purity shied away from the public eye to avoid association with the main branch, or married off into other pureblood families.
The main branch, however, stood fast in their stances. They were not concerned with social prestige, but with the growth of the magical community as a whole. As during this time, muggles and wizards kept an open relationship, the Emersons continued to forge relationships to foster positive development, which was understandable seeing as they built themselves heavily in advising and politicking in the muggle world. When the Statute of Secrecy was enacted, the family had more trouble than most in complying, due to their intricate mixing in magical and muggle affairs.
So while not really popular among those who hold traditional pureblood supremacy, they have made strong friendships among those with “impure” blood, which to them is a more desirable position because of their numbers. In the social context, the Emersons keep a minimal presence in the upper strata, attending a few social parties here and there, choosing to exert the bulk of their influence within law making policies, especially when it comes to business deals or social rights.
Today, the Emersons have strong establishments in both communities. They continue to employ themselves within the Ministry of Magic, focusing on magical law and international cooperation. In the muggle world, they advise numerous royal courts, lobby in legislatures, and invest in various economic ventures. Currently they play a dominant role in the financial services market, such as stocks analysis, wealth management, investment banking, merger delegations, and other services, grouped under the umbrella of the family’s business, Emerson, Ltd.
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Other family connections: Evans, Oakshire
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