Noah Braithwaite

Noah Braithwaite is HMS Terpsichore's surgeon. He is a PC belonging to Keiju. His PB is an unknown extra from To The Ends Of The Earth.

Family
Father: Barnabas Braithwaite

Mother: Georgina Braithwaite (née Danforth)

Sisters: Frances, Harriet (died of pneumonia), Helen, Hannah, Abigail (trampled by horse)

Brothers: Bartholomeow, Benjamin (died of fever), Bramwell, Barnaby, Bernard (died in infancy)

Early life
The Braithwaites of Ferrybridge, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, were already a large family when Noah came into the world. He was the third son in a brood of seven but by the time he was four, two more sons and another daughter had joined the family's ranks. It went without saying that his mother was a formidable woman. Misfortune and illness did its share of weeding out the weaker children, however. An older sister and brother, and his younger sister, died young, of pneumonia, fever, and trampling by a horse, respectively. When Noah was six, another sister ran away to marry a soldier. By this time, his mother had had her fill of bearing children and produced only one more, a boy who died in infancy.

There were still too many people crowded into too small a cottage. The cramped environment was an important training ground of sorts for Noah, who learned young how to tolerate having no privacy or space of his own. Like his siblings, he went to work young as well, carrying out odd jobs for the shopkeepers and tradesmen near the coaching inn where their father worked. Barnabas was a coachman, in fact driving the York to London Royal Mail coach. He was gone as often as he was home. Two of Noah's brothers became post boys, though he avoided that line of work by working in the coaching inn's stable.

This was not where he wanted to spend his life. A busy, stinking stable invariably filled with tired and cross-tempered horses did not form the stuff of dreams for him. Noah was sixteen when he left home. In fact, he walked out of the stable carrying a few belongings in a haversack, ignoring the oaths of the chief ostler who was in the midst of changing a mail coach's team. He could never say what prompted such a drastic and uncharacteristic action. It was done, however, and he got onto the Great North Road, heading south without a backward glance.

Life as a Marine
His life changed further when he reached Doncaster. There, he crossed paths with a recruiting party, which took immediate notice of him. By sundown that day, Noah had been persuaded to enlist. The path to his agreement was, of course, smoothed by copious amounts of ale, though in the cold light of dawn the following morning, he found he did not much regret his decision. He was to be a Marine and that was better than being a stable boy. There were five other men who had accepted the King's shilling and after their initial inspections by a surgeon and the magistrate, the new recruits were marched south to Plymouth.

Noah's training was interrupted by orders to go aboard HMS Nymphe, 38, which was fitting out for sea. His first taste of action came months later, when the frigate, in company with HMS San Fiorenzo, 36, captured two French ships off Brest. Soon after returning to England with their prizes, both ships became entangled with the mutiny at the Nore. Aboard Nymphe, Noah found himself privately agreeing with the seamen who mutined, though he was keenly aware that his duty as a Marine meant he had to resist them. It was easily the unhappiest time he had ever known aboard. Not even the reading lessons he and two other Marines received from the sailing master could completely alleviate the tension.

In the mutiny's aftermath, a new captain and complement of lieutenants joined Nymphe. Conditions improved but ever afterward until he left the frigate, Noah felt a faint sense of unease. Nymphe's reputation, to him, would never be the same. He left her to join HMS Brilliant, 28, after being promoted to corporal. His time with Brilliant was well-spent. A prize was taken and he received further reading and writing lessons, this time from the ship's surgeon. Noah left Brilliant and the Marines two years later, when peace was declared. He lived for a while in Plymouth before deciding he didn't care for living above the tavern he'd been working in. The lessons he'd gotten from Brilliant 's surgeon had not just involved reading and writing. He'd also learned quite a bit about the sawbones' trade.

Becoming a surgeon
He had saved his prize money, as well as much of his pay, and now put that savings to use. A little bit of asking around eventually led him to an anatomy school run by a local surgeon. The price of admission was steep but Noah came to regard the cost as worthwhile. He trained for a few weeks with that surgeon before applying to the Sick and Hurt Board for a warrant. After what seemed an interminable wait, he received an invitation to sit an examination in London. He set off at once on the first stage coach he could get a seat on. Upon reaching London, Noah presented himself and his papers to Somerset House, where he was duly quizzed and interviewed. He was eventually sent away to await the board's decision.

In due course he received a return summons, whereupon he was presented with his coveted warrant, as well as orders to go aboard HMS Amethyst, 36, which was on the North Sea station. Travelling north could be done by coach or cutter. Noah chose the former, reckoning it would be faster. As it turned out, a broken axle suffered just short of Tadcaster and a storm north of Newcastle added two days to the journey and nearly caused him to miss his new ship's sailing. The roasting he received from Captain Spranger for being so late lingered in his memory for days. It was hardly an auspicious start to his new career.

Matters improved somewhat on a professional level, but Noah struggled to fit in socially. The ship's officers were all gentlemen and recognised that he was not. While none of them were outrightly uncivil, the gulf between them and him was plain. He got on with the crew only a little better, for they too were aware he was 'different'. It was very difficult for him to remain professionally detached from the men, whose ways and language he understood and had once shared. This awkward position was his for the following two years when, to everyone's relief, he received orders to take up a post at Haslar Hospital. The year and a half he spent there was a welcome respite from sea duty, though of course it couldn't last. Another set of orders came, once again directing him to join a ship. She was another frigate, HMS Terpsichore, 32. The only problem was that his new ship was on active service on the Portuguese coast.

Noah gathered his belongings and took passage aboard a messenger sloop. The voyage took two weeks and ended with his arrival at Porto. This time he found that he had missed Terpsichore's sailing and the messenger sloop was obliged to carry him down the coast in search of the frigate. A week's hunting eventually ended in success and Noah was ferried across to his new home without incident. Or, for that matter, fanfare. He hopes to fare better on this cruise, with this crew, than he did previously, but only time will tell.

Appearance and Personality
Noah's long dark hair, worn unfashionably in a queue, and weathered face give him a roguish look. His nose mars an otherwise unremarkable face, as it is slightly crooked, the result of being broken at least once in the past. A thin scar traces its way along the edge of his right cheek near the bottom of his ear, but this is harder to see. The plainness of his features has long been an asset to him, even if he might wish on occasion to be better-looking.

His upbringing was decidedly unprivileged and it shows in his mannerisms. Maintaining a degree of civility around gentlemen is a continual challenge for him. He is determined to forge a good reputation for himself and do well by the men and officers who are under his care. A lack of social connections and standing present a formidable obstacle but he is fortunate to have a sound medical education to draw on.

The largest obstacle to his success as a surgeon is not the fact that he is not of decent birth but that he is far more at ease with the men than the officers. Even his best efforts to keep a professional distance between them and himself often fail. His very nature acts against him in this field and the result is that he often comes across to the men as awkward or even unfriendly. The situation is little better when he is in the gunroom, a place in which he feels somewhat like an intruder.