List of Downton Abbey characters

Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (played by Hugh Bonneville) (b. July 1865), usually called Lord Grantham, is the 7th and current Earl of Grantham, based in the Downton Abbey (supposedly based upon the now lost country house of Warter Priory) in village of Downton, situated between Ripon, Thirsk & Easingwold in the Yorkshire region. Being a British peer, he also holds the position of Lord Lieutenant. He is the husband of Cora, son of Violet, and father of Mary, Edith and Sybil. Robert is immensely proud of Downton as the place he grew up and takes his responsibility for the estate very seriously; he sees himself as its caretaker, not its owner. Although in some ways his character embodies the traditional values of the aristocracy, Robert does not shun all progress, and he is very protective of and loyal to his family and servants. He comes forward on both occasions to protect his eldest daughter Mary when she is blackmailed for having sexual affairs outside marriage with Kemal Pamuk and Anthony Foyle. Despite these virtues, Robert's adherence to tradition lets him down in other ways. He often resists "modern" suggestions for better management of the estate, especially after his daughter Mary joins his sons-in-law Matthew and Tom in running it. His attitudes occasionally clash with that of the more progressive and pragmatic Cora. Unlike the people of his era, Robert has a relaxed attitude towards homosexuality (having experienced it firsthand while at Eton), so he does not sack his servant Thomas Barrow or hand him over to the police when he is accused of kissing men. Robert also loves dogs and owned one, Isis. After Isis died from cancer, he was gifted by his mother a new dog, Tiye. By the end of the final series, Robert's worsening health forces him to step down from running the estate, leaving the task to his son-in-law Tom, and eldest daughter, Mary. In series 2, Robert had a brief liaison with a housemaid called Jane Moorsum, a widow whose husband had died in the Battle of the Somme, but this did not last long as she left. Provided by Wikipedia