'Downton Abbey' Characters: The Earl of Grantham Quiz

Answer: Robert

The Earl of Grantham's name was Robert Crawley, but only his close family members actually called him by that name. In general, he was only very rarely referred to by his full title and was more generally simply known as Lord Grantham. While the Crawley family of 'Downton Abbey' are entirely fictional, the title of Earl of Grantham did actually exist in the Peerage of England between 1698 and 1754 - its sole holder was a man named Henry de Nassau d'Auverquerque, a distant cousin of King William III.

Hugh was the first name of the Marquess of Flintshire (the husband of Lord Grantham's cousin); Richard was the given name of Lord Merton, who later married Isobel Crawley; and Viscount Gillingham (one of Lady Mary's various love interests) was named Anthony.

Answer: Bates was his batman when he was in the army

Just over ten years prior to the events of 'Downton Abbey' - the first episode of which was set in 1912 - Lord Grantham had served in the British army during the Second Boer War. John Bates, the new valet who arrived at Downton Abbey in the first episode of the series, had been the earl's batman during that conflict.

In this context a batman was a soldier assigned to act as a personal servant and bodyguard to an officer - the job certainly did not involve fighting crime in Gotham City. It was also relatively common into the early 20th century for the batman of an upper class officer to become his civilian valet on retirement from the military.

Answer: The outbreak of the First World War

The first series of 'Downton Abbey' spanned the period of history between the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912 through to the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914. The Crawley's garden party was in full swing when a telegram was delivered that brought the news that Britain had declared war on Germany and Lord Grantham was left to make the sombre announcement.

The focus of 'Downton Abbey's second series was therefore the events of the First World War and how it impacted on the lives of both the Abbey's owners and servants. The Earl wanted to re-join the army and serve at the front, but he was instead, due to his age, fitness and position in society, simply given the honorary leadership of a local militia.

Answer: Jane Moorsum

Jane Moorsum was a pretty young woman whose husband had been killed during the First World War. In order to support her young son, she took a job as a house maid at Downton Abbey and soon drew the attention of the estate's owner. Their unlikely relationship grew when Lord Grantham took an interest in her son's education and their mutual attraction quickly developed to the point that the pair were nearly caught kissing by John Bates. In the end, Jane decided to quit her job in order to prevent a full-blown affair from developing and Lord Grantham responded by offering to pay for her son to go to a good school.

Daisy was the kitchen maid who married one of the footmen on his deathbed, Ethel was the housemaid who became pregnant by one of the convalescing officers and Gwen was the housemaid who left at the end of the first series to become a secretary.

Answer: Railways

At the start of the third series of 'Downton Abbey', Lord Grantham discovered that the Grand Trunk Railway in eastern Canada had collapsed and been nationalised by the Canadian government. This was a major personal disaster for him as he had unwisely invested his wife's money in the company and had therefore lost everything on which the family relied to maintain their lifestyle at Downton.

The Crawley family only managed to cling on to their ownership of the Abbey when Lord Grantham's heir, Matthew Crawley, reluctantly inherited a fortune from the father of his dead fiancée and used it to save the estate. From that point onwards, the Earl had to share ownership of his ancestral home; first with Matthew and later with his daughter Lady Mary (Matthew's wife).

Answer: To help his brother-in-law who was implicated in the Teapot Dome Scandal

Lord Grantham's wife, Lady Cora, was American. Although the couple later fell in love, the marriage had originally taken place because the Earl needed to marry a wealthy woman to secure the future of the Abbey and Cora's family wanted her to marry into the English aristocracy.

Cora's brother Harold Levinson was first mentioned when his unwise involvement in the Teapot Dome Scandal during Warren G. Harding's time as US President meant that he needed his influential English brother-in-law to come to the US to effectively provide a character reference and get him out of more serious trouble. Quite why the Earl of Grantham held any sway with the US authorities remained something of a mystery...

Answer: Prince of Wales

The 2013 Christmas Special (somewhat incongruously set in the summer of 1923) covered the events surrounding Lady Rose MacClare's debut into London society. She was the daughter of the Earl of Grantham's cousin and the whole Crawley clan (with the exception of Branson and young Sybil) made the trip to support her. Her somewhat wild behaviour led to a letter written by the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII) to one of his mistresses falling into criminal hands and opened up the threat of Britain's royal family being engulfed in scandal. The Earl of Grantham, Lady Mary, Lady Rose and John Bates all took part in a complicated plot to retrieve the letter from the thief.

All of the incorrect options are real historical figures who appeared in an episode of 'Downton Abbey'.

Answer: Isis

The Earl of Grantham's loyal Labrador, Isis, was well-known to 'Downton Abbey' fans as she was regularly seen in the show's opening title sequence. The two main storylines in which she was involved were being 'dognapped' by the evil footman Thomas Barrow in series two and her death following a cancer diagnosis in series five.

Isis's death caused some controversary in the media as it was claimed that the dog had been written out of the series due to her name becoming synonymous with a terrorist organisation. The Earl of Grantham didn't get a new dog until his mother, Lady Violet, presented him with a puppy towards the end of the sixth series.

The incorrect options are all, like Isis, the names of Egyptian goddesses. Bastet is probably the least likely of them to be given to a dog since that goddess is commonly depicted as a cat...

Answer: Burst ulcer

The episode of 'Downton Abbey' in which Lord Grantham's stomach ulcer finally burst and caused him to vomit blood all over the dining table proved to be particularly unpleasant viewing (and warranted a warning to viewers at the start about it containing "shocking scenes").

While viewers were certainly left worried that one of the show's favourite characters was about to be killed off, the Earl of Grantham underwent emergency surgery and eventually made a full recovery. He was just left with the regrets that stemmed from the fact that he had failed to follow his doctor's orders after the ulcer was diagnosed and refused to cut back on his favourite food and wine.

Answer: Hugh Bonneville

Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham was portrayed on screen by the British stage, television and film actor, Hugh Bonneville. While his role in 'Downton Abbey' remains one of the works for which he is best known (and gained him a Golden Globe nomination and two Emmy awards), he has also appeared in 'Doctor Who', 'Notting Hill' and as Mr. Brown in 'Paddington'.

Hugh Grant is known for his roles in a wide variety of romantic comedy films, including 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Love Actually'. Hugh Laurie gained fame as one half of the comedy partnership Fry and Laurie and as the title character in 'House'. Hugh Dennis is best known for starring in the BBC TV show 'Outnumbered'.