43 Comments

Edith

Lady Edith Crawley

Biographical information
Born	1894
Residence	Downton, Yorkshire
Title(s)	Lady Milady
Physical information
Gender	Female
Family information
Family	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (father) Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham (mother) Lady Mary Crawley (sister) Lady Sybil Branson née Crawley (sister) Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham (grandmother) Patrick Crawley, 5th Earl of Grantham (grandfather) † Isidore Levinson (maternal grandfather) † Martha Levinson (maternal grandmother) Lady Rosamund Painswick nee Crawley (aunt) Marmaduke Painswick (uncle by marriage) † Matthew Crawley (fourth cousin/future brother-in-law) Tom Branson (brother-in-law) Sir Anthony Strallan (future husband)
Affiliation
Loyalty	Downton Abbey
Behind the scenes
Portrayed by	Laura Carmichael

Lady Edith Crawley (Born 1894^[1]) is the second daughter of Robert and Cora Crawley, the Earl and Countess of Grantham. Sister of Ladies Mary and Sybil, sister-in-law of Tom Branson and future sister-in-law of Matthew Crawley. Edith is typically quiet and never really causes any trouble, unlike her two sisters, but she does tell the truth about Mary to The Turkish Ambassador, commencing a rumour in London, which makes her parents want to marry Mary off quickly. Edith develops a romantic interest in Matthew Crawley (who is set to marry Mary) early in the series; but later falls for Sir Anthony Strallan, an older gentleman and another of Mary's proposed suitors.

In series 3, Edith, like Mary and Matthew, is due to marry and it is known that she is due to marry Anthony Strallan.^[2]

1 Relationships
2 War Time Life
3 References

RelationshipsEdit

Patrick CrawleyEdit

Although Mary was set to marry Patrick before his death on the Titanic, Edith had true feelings for him and was deeply upset by the news of his death; it is unknown if Patrick had feelings for Edith too. This is contrasted with Mary's reaction of relief about being released from a loveless engagement, as shown by her annoyance at having to wear black in mourning.

Matthew CrawleyEdit

Edith decides to go after Matthew following Mary's initial rejection of him as a suitor. Matthew has eyes only for Mary, and clearly has no interest in Edith's advances. When Mary begins to return the affection, Edith is once again left alone. Matthew is Mary's fiancee and soon to be Edith's brother-in-law.

Sir Anthony StrallanEdit

Originally invited to Downton as a suitor for Mary, Edith enjoyed Anthony's company. To her delight, Anthony is more interested in her than in Mary. They go on many drives together in Season 1. Yet when Sir Anthony was looking for Edith in order to propose, Mary takes revenge for the exposure of the scandal regarding Mr. Pamuk by making him believe the love is unrequited. In the Chirstmas special, now- injured Strallan forbids Edith from thinking they might be together, because he's far too old, and a cripple. She disagrees, and says that she "won't give up on anyone who calls her lovely."

Mr DrakeEdit

Branson taught Edith to drive and as a result she offers her services to Longfield Farm to drive the tractor. Although first surprised by the offer, Mr. and Mrs. Drake soon accept. Mr. John Drake falls for Edith and she shares her first kiss with him, but Mrs. Drake sees them and hires a replacement before informing Edith that she is no longer is needed.

Peter GordonEdit

When a severely burnt soldier arrives at Downton from Canada with claims to be Patrick Crawley, no one but Edith believes him. She spends lots of time with him reminiscing about their childhood and tries to convince the others that after the Titanic sunk he suffered from amnesia so they mistook him as Canadian, where he took his name from a bottle. It apparently wasn’t until he was blasted in war that he completely remembered about Downton. Worried that Matthew Crawley would not be the future heir, Robert Crawley investigates the matter and finds out that one of Patrick Crawley’s friends, Peter Gordon, was on the Titanic and survived. Peter Gordon, shortly after hearing this, says goodbye to Edith in a letter. She still believes he was her cousin, and the whole thing leaves her devastated.

War Time LifeEdit

Similarly to Sybil, Edith wants to make use of herself during the war and this involves learning to drive. She thinks that it won't be long until Branson, the family chauffeur, goes to war as it is unfair for a healthy young man to be in England instead of fighting.

Edith later hears of a an opening at the local farm for a tractor driver, she decides to put her new skills into practice, but is later dismissed when she has an affair with the married farmer, Mr Drake.

ReferencesEdit

Retrieved from "http://downtonabbey.wikia.com/wiki/Edith"

Showing 23 most recent

43 comments

Anonymous User
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I think its maybe Sir Anthony Strallan Edith marrying.

17 days ago by A Wikia contributor
I really, really hope that the wounded soldier turns out to be Patrick, that he and Edith will get married and Edith will snatch the estate from Mary. Edith is my favorite character.

18 days ago by A Wikia contributor
Edith is getting married in season 3. Yay! I just hope it's not that old guy. I want someone new and interesting. Please make it exciting writers!!!!

18 days ago by A Wikia contributor
I cant wait to find out who Edith marries in season 3. I didn't like her in the first season but the second one I really started to like her. I finally started to understand her. Hurry season 3!!!!

18 days ago by A Wikia contributor
I think Edith is an endearing character. She is not as pretty as Mary or as well liked by their parents. Of course, she is starved for attention and love.

24 days ago by A Wikia contributor
I really don't know why so many people hate Edith. She is not perfect, but she is a good person. She really helped out during the War, even though she wasn't a nurse like Sybil. I like her much more than Mary, who is quite snobbish.

April 9 by A Wikia contributor

Edith may not have been very nice at the beginning but I agree she did become a much better person. I hope the second wedding in season 3 is hers. Strallan gave up on her, so maybe there will be a new guy on the scene.

24 days ago by A Wikia contributor

Edit will marry patrick crawley(gordon). Sir Richard will prove Patrick is the true heir, to upset mary and mathew. Edith will inherit all!!!!! Poor Mary.

March 16 by A Wikia contributor

I don't think Patrick's coming back; the guy was almost beyond doubt a fraud. Besides, Carlisle might be responsible for Vera's death.

March 16 by A Wikia contributor
I think Vera is responsible for Vera's death. She set Bates up for murder. (she wrote the note/took the poison)Her ultimate revenge.

March 23 by A Wikia contributor

There will be two weddings in the third season. Mary and Matthew will most likely be one, and I am hoping the other will be Edith's. It wouldn't be fair to her if her sisters had beaus since the first season and she really has not. Maybe Sir Anthony has a nephew or cousin (he does have a married sister) or something.

March 16 by A Wikia contributor
I think that the rivalry between Edith and Mary started when they were younger. I think Sybil adored Mary (because they are so close in season 1) and that got Edith jealous. They probably started saying mean things to each other and soon enough it escaladed into lying and scandalous behavior. But I do think Edith, Mary and Sybil love each other.

February 28 by A Wikia contributor
If this Peter comes back in season 3 and is Patrick Edith will one day be the Lady of Downton. Facial injuries in ww1 got special treatment . If this character of Peter Patrick does not show in 3 why was he created in the first place ?

February 20 by A Wikia contributor

I agree. Sir Richard was there. He will get the proof to hurt Mary and remove her and Mathew as heirs.

March 23 by A Wikia contributor

Edith is so damned emotionally needy: she just comes across as so very pathetic...one wonders how often she was pushed aside as a child...I mean, compared to Mary and Sybil, she has NO PERSONALITY

February 15 by A Wikia contributor

You stupid bitch! It's because of Mary and Sybil that she has no personality. If they would stop hogging all the damn attention, maybe Edith will finally find love!!!

March 8 by A Wikia contributor

Why do people hate Edith so? I think in all honesty she's quite lovely. And if you blame her for being nasty....Well really? As much as I like Mary she's so nasty to Edith and then Edith she gets blamed for it!

February 13 by A Wikia contributor
"Edith is typically quiet and never really causes any trouble, unlike her two sisters."
You're kidding, right? She's super jealous of Mary and causes trouble for Mary at almost every turn. The war changed her attitude somewhat but she was a nightmare before then. She even wrote the Turkish Ambassador to tell him of the scandal!

February 5 by A Wikia contributor

It's not as if Mary is entirely an innocent little sheep being preyed on by a wolf. She's vile and quite mean at times, almost sluttish not because she sleeps with men before marriage, not because she plays the field, but because she does it only to get at her sister.

February 5 by A Wikia contributor

Edith is my favorite character. Edith is such an underdog, and you can tell she just really wants to be loved and needed, since even her own parents don't think anything of her, and both her parents and Mary openly insult her, going on about how she'll be an old maid, even though they don't even attempt to find her suitors, instead dedicating every drop of attention on obnoxious Mary. Hell, the show itself dedicates twenty times as much screen time to Mary. Mary being the uber-bitch that she is goes out of her way to torment her, too, and Edith has infinitely more reason to be icy and defensive than Mary, who has a horde of suitors parading around her every episode while Edith is left to languish on her own. I really hope things turn out happy for her in the end, but they'll probably just abuse her character some more. Lord knows she might even get some leftover scraps of Mary's "fairytale."

January 25 by A Wikia contributor

Well said! I quite like Edith, I feel so sorry for her when she is constantly belittled by her family.
I think in a way her predicament can link to how some people feel they are not the 'favourite' child, and are made out to be inadequate to thier siblings.
I REALLY hope Edith gets HER happily ever after, it is just not fair the number of times she is brought down, insulted.

April 16 by A Wikia contributor

Hated her at first (what a bitch!) but grew to really like her. I think she is a nice person, she's grown up a lot since the beggining of the series. Initally I think she was jealous and left out (not being that pretty, not getting any suitors while Mary got heaps, being the middle child) and so acted out, rather childishly, to get attention - but I really think she's grown up and proven to be a kind and empathetic person

January 23 by A Wikia contributor

I agree. I never "hated" Edith, but I didn't think that highly of her either. As the series unwinds, I find myself liking Edith more and more. My heart goes out to her. She's been "not very nice" at times, but as we get to know her better it becomes obvious that she's actually quite loving, and quite deserving of love. The scene at the end of episode five where Edith is sitting alone on the grounds of Downton Abbey, with the letter from Patrick in her hand, crying...I wanted to put my arms around her and comfort her. My heart really went out to her. One of my hopes is that by the end of the series Edith and Mary have a reconciliation, and love each other as sisters should.

February 6 by A Wikia contributor
Edith's okay.She's not the best, but she's not the worst either.

February 20 by A Wikia contributor

Love this bitch!

January 22 by A Wikia contributor
I don't like her either!

January 16 by A Wikia contributor
It's disappointing she kissed a married man like that. Especially when there would be no chance for him to further this as a married man who is a farmer, little money, no standing in upper society. And after the couple welcomed her to help out, what disrespect to the wife. I do like her, but that wasn't right, no matter your class.

January 15 by A Wikia contributor

Especially since his wife mourned for his impending death because of the dropsy of the heart. He was saved because of Edith's nurse relative, Mrs. Isobel Crawley.

January 15 by A Wikia contributor
^^^ wait, what? that was the same farmer??
but yes, I agree, even though it was equally the farmer's fault for kissing her, she really should have known better and realised the difficult and unfair position she was putting him and his wife in

January 23 by A Wikia contributor
O.k. The farmer she kissed. Was the woman his wife or mother?

January 25 by A Wikia contributor
'The woman' was his wife.

February 20 by A Wikia contributor
I thought it was his sister at first, but it would make sense if she was the wife.
I actually feel quite bad for the wife, at one point Edith insults about 'Perhaps the cows can have a midnight feast', no wonder she had a sour face when her husband was getting pally with young, Lady Edith!
That annoyed me a bit when I realised she was his wife, but still, it DOES show Edith is not snobby in the sense she is better than 'commeners'.

April 16 by A Wikia contributor

i love her

January 13 by A Wikia contributor
I don't believe that she would sign a letter to the turkish embassy about pamuk. That would lower her own social standings and bring down the family. Shes much too selfish to do that. I suppose she might have been blinded in jeallosy. I understand the neglected middle child feeling that.

January 8 by A Wikia contributor
I'm in love with her!!

December 30, 2011 by A Wikia contributor

Akward.

February 20 by A Wikia contributor

The thing about Edith is that she's a lot more kind inside, than appears on the surface of her snobby exterior. I thing she's empathetic.

December 29, 2011 by WhisperOfTheWillow

I think you are right.

February 6 by A Wikia contributor

Hate this bitch.

November 30, 2011 by A Wikia contributor

You probably hate yourself too.

January 9 by A Wikia contributor
Stop being a hater

January 30 by A Wikia contributor
Stop picking on Edith, personally I like her.
I think in the third series she will become quite a dark horse.

April 16 by A Wikia contributor
Don't worry girl, she's a useless rotten bitch.

10 days ago by A Wikia contributor

Wikia