The Westcotes

In the early 1800s the Westcotes of Bayfield stand as a portrait of the English country gentleman—steady, respectable, and comfortably entrenched in village life. Their lineage, traced back to a seventeenth‑century founder who built a modest fortune through banking, has cultivated a reputation for modest ambition, solid manners, and a quiet sense of duty to their neighbours. The narrative opens with a vivid description of their ancestral home, the bustling bank on Axcester High Street, and the genteel rituals that define their everyday world.

At the heart of the family are the two brothers, Endymion and Narcissus, whose names hint at both tradition and a touch of whimsy. Endymion, the elder, carries the weight of local authority—justice of the peace, school governor, and overseer of the poor—while his younger sibling mirrors his sense of responsibility in more subtle ways. Their interactions, set against the backdrop of a community that both reveres and relies on them, invite listeners to explore the delicate balance between inherited privilege and the genuine desire to serve.