House Humphreys

House Humphreys

Family Profile
Title(s)	Duke of Andurien Duke of Xanthe Baron of Delburton Baron of Shiro III
Founded	ennobled ca. late 2200s
Affiliation	Duchy of Andurien, Free Worlds League

House Humphreys is one of the oldest interstellar families, with relatives on the TAS Pathfinder (the first manned vessel to use a jump drive to reach a world beyond the Terran solar system, jumping to New Earth in 2108 with a crew of fourteen).^[1] Although they played an important part in the formation of the Free Worlds League, House Humphreys have since become associated mostly with the Duchy of Andurien, known for their opposition to Free Worlds League rule.

History[edit]

Origins[edit]

Sir George Humphreys served several terms in the Alliance Senate as a representative for New Delos, where he came to know Tomás Allison and Charles Marik, and played a key role in the establishment of the Federation of Oriente. It would be his diplomatic skills that brokered a settlement between Marik and House Selaj that would result in the formation of the Free Worlds League where George Humphreys served as Speaker of Parliament until 2276.^[2]

George's son Richard was an equally skilled diplomat. His successful endeavors to incorporate neighboring realms into the Free Worlds League saw the family ennobled and granted estates on Kanata.^[2]

When the contentious Andurien worlds were incorporated into the Free Worlds League, House Humphreys were appointed governors and later dukes of the new province.^[2]

Star League era[edit]

The cordial relationship between House Marik and House Humphreys soured when, following the Third Andurien War between the Free Worlds League and the Capellan Confederation in the mid-twenty-sixth century, Albert Marik ceded the Andurien worlds to Terrence Liao as an incentive for House Liao to join the Star League; House Humphreys was left to rule a remnant of the Duchy of Andurien, centered on Kanata.^[2]

In the late twenty-sixth and early twenty-seventh centuries, Melissa Humphreys, Duchess of Xanthe and Andurien, governed the occupied Magistracy of Canopus for the Star League. She became a highly respected diplomat and administrator, and her good treatment of the Magistracy laid the groundwork for good relations between House Humphreys and House Centrella forthwith.^[2]

Early Succession Wars era[edit]

With the collapse of the Star League in the Amaris Civil War and Kerensky's Exodus, the Star League's peacekeeping efforts for the contentious Andurien worlds ended and tensions immediately flared up again. The Free Worlds League quickly retook Andurien.^[2]

Having reclaimed Andurien, the family seat of House Humphreys was moved to Xanthe III after the First Succession War (which ended in 2821).^[2]

Late Succession Wars era[edit]

A military coup in 2988 sought to unseat House Humphreys, and Duchess Morgaine Humphreys was killed. The coup failed because of the defiant resistance of Catherine Humphreys, her niece and heir.^[2]

Catherine Humphreys had been critical of House Marik and their leadership of the Free Worlds League for a long time. Their underperformance in the Fourth Succession War was the final straw and in 3030 the Duchy of Andurien under Catherine Humphreys famously seceded from the Free Worlds League, allied with the Magistracy of Canopus, and launched a joint assault on the Capellan Confederation that she wrongly perceived to be in its death throes. However, the Confederation proved too strong and the attack eventually faltered, while at the same time the secession galvanized the Free Worlds League into action. Having lost all their gains on the Capellan front, the Duchy of Andurien was itself attacked by the League in 3035. In 3039 Catherine was captured and the Duchy surrendered. The elderly duchess died in captivity before she could be put on trial.

While Catherine's son Richard Humphreys technically stood to inherit the title and rule over the Duchy of Andurien from his mother, the Duchy was ruled by a federally appointed governor following its reconquest by the Free Worlds League. House Humphreys kept a low profile in the following years. In 3048, Richard Humphreys' granddaughter and Dame Catherine's granddaughter Dalma Humphreys resumed House Humphreys' authority over the Duchy of Andurien.^[3]

Marian Hegemony Branch[edit]

As of 3051, Gordon Humphreys was the planetary governor of Islington in the Marian Hegemony. His daughter Lydia Humphreys, explicitly described as a "distant cousin" to House Humphreys of the Free Worlds League, was one of several mistresses to Caesar Sean O'Reilly. She gave birth to his son Trajan in 3051. Mother and son were subsequently installed in a sumptuously furnished wing of the Imperial Palace on Alphard, alongside at least two other mothers of the Imperator's other children. When Gordon Humphreys objected to his daughter being made a concubine, he was summoned to Alphard and executed.^[4] (Being a planetary governor suggests Gordon Humphreys and his family would have been of the patrician class in Hegemony society.)