Whitby & Co.
The Whitbys are working class halfbloods and have been printers for several generations. Their mother died in 1879, and their father just in 1893 – so now Tess runs the printshop and tries to keep a handle on her sisters. All names/ages/jobs/faces are all pretty flexible.
B.~1875 | WCHB | PB: AIMEE LOU WOOD
How do you solve a problem like Mia? Mia has never been very good at magic, so her few years at school were hard for her. Since coming home, she has obtained a low-level job, possibly in a shop, and in her spare time uses her artistic flair to help create prettily patterned stationary/card/invitation designs on the little letterpress in the printshop. Prone to daydreaming, she fancies herself an actress, and everyone thinks she would have done very well as a debutante in another life – secretly, she has been known to borrow cast-off ballgowns as her seamstress friend repairs them and sneak into the occasional society party. (Well, if she's designed the invites...) She thinks all her problems would probably be solved by marrying rich.
B.~1879 | WCHB | PB: RHEA NORWOOD
The baby of the family, everyone hopes Amber will have an easier ride of life. Tess and the others have pushed the benefits of education upon her, which may have gone one of two ways while she is at school – she is either precocious and hoping for a scholarship to see her through to NEWTs, or growing rebellious against her sisters’ ambitions for her, and more inclined to be a troublemaker and follow her own pursuits. Quidditch, maybe? Something far-fetched that won't pay.
B.~1860-1865 | WCHB | PB: LUCIEN LAVISCOUNT
He’s her head printer, but sometimes Tess feels like Fabian just wants to watch her fail. An experienced printer, he has been working for their shop for years; and though Tess manages the place now, it probably wouldn’t run without him. As her father’s right-hand-man, he may have privately hoped to take over the place in his stead. They used to get along better and he’s still genial with other people, but nowadays Tess finds him difficult, and they tend to butt heads. (He disapproves of her more political publishing decisions, saying the shop can’t afford to lose all its custom to controversy – and she hates when their longstanding customers defer to him and not her.) And she keeps expecting him to, but he hasn’t left Whitby & Co. yet.
B.~1873-1877 | WCHB | PB: STEPHEN SANCHEZ
Printer’s apprentice and once-delivery boy, Sam got the job young, having not much schooling and needing an escape from his less-than-ideal family circumstances. Cheerful and mischievous, he has become an honorary brother to them all and always puts on a brave face, no matter the situation. He helps Tess, “Fabian” and “Declan” process print orders and is still in charge of transporting the bigger loads to the post office to be sent out, and likes experimenting with new materials and inking processes. When things get really rough at home, he can always count on the printshop to take him in.
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