Ferris

Character Profile

Name:	Henry Ferris
Date of Birth:	c. 1788
Service:	Aerial Corps
Rank:	Lieutenant
Nationality:	British
Billets:	Loch Laggan covert, First Lieutenant for Temeraire

Biography

Henry Ferris was the third son of an upper-class family which had the tradition of sending their second sons to the Army and their third sons to the Aerial Corps. The family seat, Heytham Abbey, near Weymouth, had been in the possession of the family since the reign of Charles II. Henry's father being dead, his ten-years-older brother Albert was the present Lord Seymour, while his brother Richard was a captain in the Army. Their mother, Lady Catherine Seymour, was still alive, living with Lord Seymour and his wife, the current Lady Seymour.

Ferris resembled his mother in that they both had high foreheads and reddish-brown hair, with a trick of holding their heads very straight, which made their necks appear longer. Lady Catherine was apparently quite anxious for her youngest son, not being able to forget that he cried when he was first sent into the Corps at seven. She over-compensated for her anxiety by proclaimed all too fervidly her pride in upholding the family traditions. As a result, visits home were quite uncomfortable for Ferris, although he himself told Laurence that he would not give up the Corps "for anything."

Ferris held the post of third lieutenant in late 1805 when Temeraire, Laurence and their crew were sent to China aboard the HMS Allegiance. However, he soon became acting second lieutenant after Evans broke his leg in the Valerie engagement and had to be sent back to Britain. First lieutenant Granby was also injured and laid up for some time after this engagement, which left Ferris in command of the other aviators.

Unfortunately, although Ferris was a good officer, he was still quite young and had never been on a dragon transport before. He had no experience in dealing with the jibes of the sailors and or in teaching the other aviators how to best ignore them. Escalating tensions between the two groups resulted in an encounter between Midwingman Martin and Midshipman Reynolds. As an aviator, Martin could not reply to a challenge to duel. Knowing this, the armorer's mate, Blythe, prevented Reynolds from issuing such a challenge by knocking him down. Since Blythe, not an officer himself, had struck an officer, he was flogged for his actions and was ill for some time afterwards. The incident only increased tensions between sailors and aviators, with the sailors believing Blythe's punishment was too lenient and the aviators believing it was too brutal.

Generally, however, Ferris handled his duties well. When the Allegiance reached China, Laurence and Temeraire were summoned by the Emperor to Peking. Granby and eleven others accompanied them, while Ferris remained with the Allegiance in command of the rest of Temeraire's crew.

Ferris was promoted to acting first lieutenant after Iskierka's hatching, when Granby harnessed her and became her captain. At the time, Ferris was only 18.

After Laurence and Temeraire brought the cure to France, Ferris was implicated in the trial even though he had nothing to do with it. He was dismissed from the Corps and Laurence was unable to learn his location. He feared that Ferris's family would not take him back.