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Violet Crawley ; Dowager Countess of Grantham
Biographical information
Born	Before 1860
Marital status	Widowed
Residence	Dower House, Downton, Yorkshire
Title(s)	Dowager Countess of Grantham ; Old Lady Grantham ; Lady Grantham ; Your Ladyship ; My Lady ; Milady ; Mama ; Granny ; Cousin Violet ; Aunt Violet ;
Physical information
Gender	Female
Hair colour	Grey
Eye colour	Blue
Family information
Family	Aunt ; 4th Earl of Grantham (husband) † ; Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham (son) ; Lady Rosamund Painswick (daughter) ; Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham (daughter-in-law) ; Marmaduke Painswick (son-in-law) † ; Lady Mary Crawley (granddaughter) ; Lady Edith Crawley (granddaughter) ; Lady Sybil Branson nee Crawley (granddaughter) † ; Matthew Crawley (second cousin twice removed-in-law/grandson-in-law) ; Tom Branson (grandson-in-law) ; Miss Sybil Branson (great-granddaughter) ; Master Crawley (great-grandson) ; Susan, Marchioness of Flintshire (niece) ; Hugh, Marquess of Flintshire (nephew-in-law) ; Lady Rose MacClare (great-niece) ; James MacClare, Earl of Newtonmore (great-nephew) ; Lady Annabelle (great-niece) ; Lady Annabelle's Husband (great-nephew-in-law) ;
Affiliation
Occupation	President of the Downton Cottage Hospital
Loyalty	Downton Abbey
Behind the scenes
Portrayed by	Dame Maggie Smith

Violet: "I'm so looking forward to seeing your mother again. When I'm with her, I'm reminded of the virtues of the English."

Matthew: "But isn't she American?"

Violet: "Exactly."

— Violet, speaking to Cora, and Matthew about Martha Levinson.^[src]

Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham is the widow of the late 4th Earl of Grantham, mother of Robert Crawley, the earl of Grantham and Lady Rosamund Painswick , mother-in-law of Cora Crawley , countess of Granthem and Marmaduke Painswick, grandmother of Lady Mary Crawley née Crawley, Lady Edith Crawley, and the late Lady Sybil Branson nee Crawley, grandmother-in-law of Tom Branson and the late Matthew Crawley, and great-grandmother of Sybil Branson and George Crawley.

BiographyEdit

Early LifeEdit

Violet was the daughter of a Baronet and had at least one sister, the mother of her niece and goddaughter, Susan MacClare, Marchioness of Flintshire.^[2] While she was born into nobility, her family was relatively impoverished and she brought almost no money with her upon marriage. When she married the 4th Earl of Grantham sometime before 1860, she brought her noble blood but little money into her marriage.^[3] After her wedding, she was "pursued" by Lord Hepworth's father^[4].

Life at DowntonEdit

Violet gave birth to two children, a son and heir, Robert and a daughter, Rosamund. Not following in their mother's footsteps, her children married into money rather than nobility. The Countess was against Robert's engagement and marriage to the American heiress Cora Levinson, in 1889,^[5] but did reap the benefits of her fortune^[6].

Series 1Edit

The death of James and Patrick Crawley changed everything for Violet as her granddaughter lost her chance to

marry the heir of the Earldom. The new heir, Matthew Crawley did not live up to her standards as he was of the upper middle class rather than nobility. Unlike her son, Violet refused to accept the change in Mary's inheritance which caused her to form an alliance with her daughter-in-law Cora Crawley.

When the two Countesses realise that Matthew would remain heir to the Grantham title and Cora's fortune, they shifted their focus on getting Mary to marry Matthew. The urgency for marriage was heightened when Violet was told by her niece that a rumour was spreading around London that Mary was not virtuous with Kemal Pamuk. She was scandalised to learn that the rumour was true, and further urged Cora to get Mary to marry Matthew.

This period of time was characterized largely by Violet's many quarrels with Isobel Crawley , mother of Matthew.

As president of the Downton Cottage Hospital, Violet held complete control over the hospital and its chief doctor, Richard Clarkson. Mrs. Crawley began to intimidate the doctor into pursuing modern medical practices, such as the administering of adrenaline to cure dropsy in a local farmer, despite the protests of the Dowager Countess. She pursues Isobel and Clarkson into the operation room, where she witnesses the farmer's life being saved. In order to avoid further episodes such as this, Robert appoints Isobel Chairman of the Board, forcing Violet to share power with her.

Another time was during the Downton Village Flower Show. Isobel learned that Violet was the perennial winner of the Best Bloom in the Village Award. She believed that the Dowager Countess won out of intimidation, pushing aside Bill Molesley, father of her butler. Isobel and Violet bickered as usual, and Robert, Cora, and Mary all sided with Isobel. Violet prepares to announce herself as the winner, but has a sudden crisis of conscience, seeing Bill Molesley's defeated face, and instead announces him as the winner. When he thanks her for "letting him have" the award, Violet lies and says the judges decided that he was the winner, confusing Cora, who was one of the judges.

By the time of the 1913-1914 season came around it seemed that her designs were coming to fruition and Mary was to marry Matthew. However when Cora became pregnant Matthew's position went into question and Rosamund advised Mary to wait until the baby was born to agree to marry Matthew. Violet was completely against this idea and advised Mary to agree to marriage using the logic that agreeing to marry a man when his whole future was at stake would make him love her forever. Also, she advised that Mary had the option to change her mind if the baby was a boy and Matthew lost his fortune. Unfortunately Cora lost her unborn son after she slipped getting out of the bath. Cora is unaware that O'Brien cause her fall and miscarriage by sliding a bar of soap across the floor. O'Brien was bitter over her mistakenly believing that Cora was looking to replace her when Cora was actually just helping Violet replace her lady's maid Simmons which O'Brien discovers when Violet asks her about it later on. Mary took Rosamund's advice which alienated Matthew leaving Violet to agree with Isobel Crawley for the first time. ^[7].

Series 2Edit

Throughout World War One, Violet remained a somewhat strong influence at Downton Abbey. On the day of the Benefit Concert, she learns from Isobel Crawley that Matthew, now a captain in the army, is engaged to a Miss Lavinia Swire. Violet observes this match with distaste, as she still hoped, along with Robert, Cora, and (to some degree) Isobel, that Matthew and Mary would end up together. She also dislikes Sir Richard Carlisle , a newspaper tycoon who Mary takes a romantic interest in. She also fights with Isobel over Violet and Rosamund's scheme to intimidate Lavinia out of her engagement with Matthew. They are especially spurred to action when Rosamund overhears Sir Richard threatening Lavinia in the gardens. Mary uncovers that Lavinia was blackmailed into helping Sir Richard start a political scandal, and is terrified of him. However, she refuses to use this information to destroy her, comparing it to her situation with Kemal Pamuk, and Rosamund and Violet are defeated.

When Isobel suggests to Cora that Downton Abbey be used as a convalescent home for wounded soldiers, Violet reacts with horror and disgust at the prospect of unknown men living in the house. Cora coldly reminds Violet that she is no longer the Countess of Grantham, and says that she will make the decisions regarding the house. Lady Sybil accuses Violet of not being able to communicate between social classes, prompting her to reveal that she and Carson the butler always had the first dance at the servants' ball.

During the time that Downton was used as a convalescent home, Violet bore witness to a concert that Mary and Edith put on for the soldiers, in which Matthew and William the footman return home after a period of being missing-in-action. Mary sings, "If You Were the Only Girl in the World," and Violet is one of only two audience members who doesn't sing along (the other being Tom Branson), and stares in confusion at those around her for participating. It seems that she has observed Tom Branson admiringly looking at Sybil instead of joining the singing which leads to her visible indignation and perhaps is the starting point of her vague suspicion that Sybil may have an unsuitable suitor.

As the war progresses, Matthew and William are both wounded. Matthew is transferred to the hospital at Downton, but William, whose lungs have been critically wounded, is forced to stay elsewhere due to the fact that he is not an officer. Violet, backed up by Edith and William's father, goes against the promoted Major Clarkson and other military officials in order to bring him back to Downton so he can die comfortably. They succeed, and Violet forces the local vicar to marry William and Daisy Robinson, the kitchen maid, while he is on his deathbed. Violet, Edith, and the entire downstairs staff attend the wedding. He dies six hours later. Matthew, however, suffered a spinal cord injury, confining him to a wheelchair.

At one point, a badly burned Canadian officer named Patrick Gordon comes to Downton to recover and claims to be Patrick Crawley, who allegedly survived the Titanic, recovered in Canada, and was caught in an explosion in the war. Violet, who has grown used to Matthew, reacts with indignation. Lord Grantham's lawyer, George Murray, speculates that Officer Gordon was a business associate of Patrick Crawley, and would have known some details about his life that would allow him to impersonate Patrick. The officer leaves Downton, not missed by anyone but Edith, who believed it was him.

The war ends, and Isobel is pushing for Downton to remain a hospital. Violet and Cora, who both want life to return to normal, manage to convince her that the refugees left disadvantaged by the war need her help more.

In 1919, the Spanish Flu hits Downton Abbey, infecting Cora and Carson and killing Lavinia. At the same time, Sybil plans to go through a "scandalous" marriage with Tom Branson, the family chauffeur. Robert and Violet attempt to talk her out of it. When they are unsuccessful, Violet decides to minimize the damage by making up details about Branson that would make the marriage seem more acceptable to other members of the aristocracy. Violet also tells Matthew that Mary is still in love with him, that she "looked like Juliet upon awakening in the tomb" and warns him when he chooses to marry he cannot undo it later. When he later tells Mary about this meeting, she responds about her grandmother, "Classic Granny."

Christmas SpecialEdit

Violet invites Sir Anthony Strallan over for tea, perhaps to rekindle his interest in Edith, who is present and remarks "I thought it was just us" upon seeing him outside. But upon seeing he has been injured, she later regrets her actions, telling Rosamund if Edith married him she would spend the rest of her life as a nurse maid. Later, when Richard Carlisle announces he is leaving and that they will not likely meet again, she replies, "Do you promise?" She also forgives Matthew for breaking a vase during a fight he had with Carlisle, saying it was a gift "from a frightful aunt and I've hated it for half a century."

Series 3Edit

Violet clashes with Cora's mother, Martha Levinson, when she arrives at Downton. Violet admits that she is the one who sent Sybil and Branson the money they needed to return to Downton for the wedding. Her lady's maid, Smithers, wrote the letter, so that the handwriting could not be identified. Violet does not approve of Edith's pursuit of Sir Strallan, and tells Robert to tell Strallan to stay away. Robert gets him to write to Edith and end their relationship, but Edith is devastated. When Strallan is at the dinner, Violet voices her surprise, and Robert tells her that he relented and reinvited Strallan due to Martha's interfering.

Sybil dies from eclampsia, after having given birth to a girl, and Violet is utterly smashed; giving a gasp and hobbling - old, worn down and devastated - across the hall, she comforts her son when Cora blames him for Sybil's death. She tells Robert that blaming themselves is wrong. By pressuring the family doctor, Richard Clarkson, to explain to Cora and Robert that Sybil's chances of survival would have been almost nil even if she had had a Caesarian, she helps her son and daughter-in-law to overcome their estrangement.

Her niece's daughter Rose comes to visit her. Rose is eighteen and she is the daughter Susan, Marchioness of Flintshire, who is Violet's niece and goddaughter . When Violet overhears that there is a secret about Rose's behavior in London being kept from her, she tricks Rosamund into filling her in about the details (Rose's unsuitable relationship with Terence Margadale), by pretending that Edith had already told her, which she had not. Violet arranges with Rose's mother to have her sent north to Scotland early.

On learning from Lord Grantham that the estate´s agent has resigned after a heated argument with Matthew over the running of the estate, she suggests to make Tom Branson the new agent because this would ensure his staying on at Downton together with his daughter, her great granddaughter.

When the family travels to Duneagle in September 1921, she expresses concern about leaving Tom behind, feeling he will be unsupervised. While in Scotland, she realizes just how frosty the relationship between Rose and Susan is, and realizes Susan does not handle it well.

PersonalityEdit

Violet Crawley has always been a woman who prefers to have a firm grip on matters, sometimes manipulating with her cunningness to change people's perception about things. One of her major motives is to protect the honor of the family and to safeguard it from ever becoming a topic of gossip. She is known to be sarcastic and competitive. Yet, throughout the whole series so far, Violet has developed a deeper side of sensitivity. She takes great love with her family and would prioritise them. For example, Violet agreed to be of assistance to Mary, should Mary be in the face of humiliation and scandal. She did this because she knows and understands how important Mary is in Violet's life, not only as a lady, but as a Granddaughter as well. Violet is a humorous and cheeky, but also fair woman who stands up for her beliefs.