Bancroft

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SOON. The Bancroft Family are a prominent family in Easthallow, and longtime standing members of the Blackwell City Council. The current matriarch of the family is Guinevere Bancroft. The Bancroft's pride themselves on being a longstanding matriarchal family, as many were not in power to the degree that the Bancroft's were.

History
The Bancroft family settled in Easthallow circa 1835, upon hearing of the possible boom in the tourism industry. The Bancroft's had already successfully opened various hotels in London, Edinburgh, and most recently Florence. Wanting to 'cash in' on the tourism boom, the family relocated from London to the small town in order to gain favor with the locals and to help establish a world-renowned hotel there as well.

Estrela Bancroft was the first of the family to be seated upon the City Council and contributed heavily towards the town's turn to tourism. Majority of the funding of the Heritage Hotel was backed by the Bancroft family, considering that was their specialty.

The family quickly rose to prominence in town, due to the popularity and success of the hotel. As time went on, they decided to stay in Easthallow and it remains their "home base" until present day. The eldest daughters remained in Easthallow, and the other children would leave to attend other hotel business as necessary.

Their hotels continued to flourish until the mid 1970s, when their pride and joy the Heritage Hotel shut down. Following the closing of Heritage, word spread and many of their other hotels around the world also began to shut down. Currently, the only Bancroft hotel left open to this day is located in London, England, and is managed by the Volkov Companies.

Many speculate that due to Guinevere taking over, all while dealing with the loss of her son, his wife, and having to take in her grandson, Maddox, that managing the hotels problems were simply too much. Unfortunately, if that is the case it resulted in great loss for the family.

Currently, there are few surviving Bancroft family members. Maddox Bancroft, though missing, is presumed to still be alive. Three of Felicity Bancroft's grandchildren are still alive, but they do not bare the Bancroft name.

Family archives going back show that the family has been matriarchal for at least the past 200 years. There has also not been a single female heir born into the Bancroft family since the birth of Guinevere in 1927. Few speculate this also has to do with the decline in the Bancroft name, both in business and in social standing.

Previous Members
The following are all descendants of Estrela Bancroft who either lived or spent time in Easthallow. Other Bancroft members are not listed here, as most do not go by the Bancroft name anymore.
 * Estrela Bancroft (1815-1895), Married 1833 to Orion Hart
 * Andromache Bancroft (1840-1930)
 * Filomena Bancroft (1885-1943), Married 1910 to Aleksander Volkov
 * Guinevere Bancroft (1927-), Married 1946 to Cornelius Hayes
 * Everett Bancroft (1953-1975), Married 1973 to Camellia Harlow
 * Maddox Bancroft (1975-)
 * Felicity Bancroft (1886-1958)
 * Analisa Holmes (1915-1950)
 * Rosalie Holmes(1941-)
 * Gerard Holmes (1942-)
 * Leila Asbury (1917-1955)
 * Kieran Asbury (1952-)
 * Artemis Bancroft (1845-1885)
 * Athena Bancroft (1846-1854)

Guinevere Bancroft
Guinevere Bancroft (born October 31st, 1927) is the current matriarch of the Bancroft family. Since heading the family she has had her fair share of controversy, and many speculate that the downfall of the family can solely be blamed on Guinevere. Though not confirmed, since many do not know the state of the family's affairs when Guinevere took over after the passing of her mother, Filomena. Some also speculate that her father, Aleskander Volkov, who was once heir to the Volkov Companies, purposefully ran the family's business into the ground in the year that he temporarily head the family.

Guinevere has faced her fair share of tragedy since she was a child, and many say that resulted in her cold, closed off nature as an adult. The first only child of the Bancroft line, and the last daughter born to the family, a lot had been expected from her since birth. Her mother passed away suddenly and tragically when Guinevere was only 16. Filomena was adamant in her will that everything be passed down directly to Guinevere, and if necessarily, Aleksander could temporarily lead the family until Guinevere was of age. Under no circumstance was Guinevere supposed to give her place as head of the family to her aunt Felicity, who was still alive at the time. This pressure resulted in Guinevere experiencing frequent fainting spells, which caused her to wait until the following year to become head of the family. At this point in time, she was 17 years old.

She attended university outside of Easthallow, which she recounted in diaries she kept as "the worst experience of my life" and that being away from Easthallow was like "life was slowly being drained from me." During this time she suffered what could only be considered as fits of insanity, and many of her school mates wrote about how Guinevere could "change emotions so drastically at the drop of a hat" to the point that it "affected many of us around her as well."

Due to her mental health, Guinevere was forced to leave school early. She was relieved at this fact, and many say upon her return to Easthallow her health was back to normal, especially those closest to her. Upon returning to Easthallow, she married Cornelius Hayes. Hayes, hailing from an American family of hoteliers, was eager to see how the Bancroft's ran things, and Guinevere's father tried to convince her that he was just looking to take the Bancroft name and fortune from her. Guinevere protested this, and had a falling out with her father. The two never repaired their relationship, and two years after Guinevere and Cornelius wed, her father Aleksander passed away.

Upon her return from school, Guinevere was offered her mother's vacant spot on the City Council. She accepted "without hesitation" and had said that it was a "high honor." She had been worried that due to her health issues that she would not be offered this position, and wrote in her diary that she was "relieved" and that things were "finally looking up again."

Guinevere gave birth to her first child in 1953, a son she named Everett. Many said she was unhappy with the child, wanting a daughter to carry on the Bancroft name, and not a son. For a period after his birth, Guinevere experienced strong mood swings, fainting spells, and fits of rage. Later this was attributed to postpartum depression, but diaries kept by the nanny to the Bancroft's suggest otherwise. Guinevere often recounted to her closest confidants that she felt "cursed" and that after giving birth to Everett it just further solidified the fact.

After giving birth to Everett, Guinevere's consequent pregnancies all resulted in miscarriages. She spent much of the 60s in seclusion, and her husband Cornelius attended to both the hotel business and the City Council. Before Cornelius, no other Bancroft husbands had been appointed to the council. Guinevere has said "though it was a tough fight, many were able to eventually see my way on it." In 1970, she returned to the City Council and the hotel full time. Though, as most things this was not without push-back.

The Hotel begun it's decline in the early 1970s, and it's said that Guinevere once more was plagued by personal issues that kept her from giving the Hotel the attention it truly needed. Her son, Everett, had become betrothed to Camellia Harlow, whom he met at university. Camellia came from a working class family, and Guinevere thought it was below her sons status. This made the rift between them even further. Everett married Camellia against his mother's wishes in 1973, and had planned to move out of the city. It has been said that Guinevere tried to mend their relationship in hopes of finally having an heir to the Bancroft title. On December 10th, 1975 Maddox Bancroft was born.

Two months before his son was born, Everett Bancroft committed suicide. His body was found by his mother. Camellia then died during childbirth. Although upset by both the loss of her son, his wife, and the fact that she still had no female heir to the Bancroft name, Guinevere raised Maddox as her own.

Things were looking up for the family when in 1978, they took another steep turn. The Heritage Hotel had a horrific fire in the left wing, which left many dead and dozens injured. After this, Guinevere went back into seclusion, taking Maddox with her. Many did not see them around town, and though people could be seen coming and going from the Bancroft Mansion, Cornelius was the only Bancroft to leave. Some say they would walk past and see Maddox staring out the window wistfully, before seeing Guinevere pulling him away. This is the only sightings that anyone had from them, aside from close friends and confidants still allowed in the home.

In 1993, once he was 18, Maddox was allowed to come and go from the family home as he pleased. Unfortunately, and sadly unexpectedly, tragedy would befall him and Guinevere again. After a heated, public argument with his grandparents Maddox disappeared in 1995. While there are rumors of sightings, no one has seen Maddox Bancroft since.

Appearance

Guinevere was short in stature, but was said to feel like a "large, looming" presence, and often described like a shadow, "somehow bigger than you, and always behind you." In her youth, she had jet black hair, and started going grey in her mid 30s. She has sectoral heterochromia, with half of her left eye being a bright blue in contrast to the brown of the rest of her eye and her right eye.