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"At the moment I live between two worlds, Edward, able to see them both. And the world I see on my visits to the harbour is the world that is most real to me, Edward. The one that is most alive."
―Caroline's views against marrying Matthew Hague, 1711.[src]

Caroline Scott-Kenway (1691 – 1720) was born to the wealthy tea merchant Emmett Scott and his wife Elizabeth in Bristol, England. To the dismay of her father, Caroline gave up her life of comfort when she married Edward Kenway, a Welshman of modest means, in 1712.

However, her pregnancy, coupled with her husband's penchant for drink and delusions of grandeur of becoming a rich privateer, eventually led to their estrangement in 1713, with Caroline moving back in with her parents. She spent her next years in relative happiness with her daughter Jennifer, but fell prey to a disease in early 1720 and died that same year.

Biography[]

Early life[]

As the daughter of prosperous tea merchants, Caroline was raised in a privileged environment. She received a modest education, which she furthered by additional reading during her free time, and aided her mother in managing her father's affairs. As a result, she grew into a confident and level-headed young woman with more skill and intelligence than her situation allowed her to exercise.[1]

Romance with Edward[]

"The next move is yours to make, but if you make it, do so knowing this: any relationship between you and me would not have the blessing of my father, but it would have mine."
―Caroline to Edward, 1711.[src]
In Defense of Rose

Caroline and Edward's first encounter

In the summer of 1711, Caroline met Edward when she rode up to the scene of a fight between him and three men who had attempted to take advantage of a young woman named Rose, one of the Scott family's servants that had absconded from work. Due to her influence, the three men left bashfully, following which Caroline helped Edward up and thanked him for his assistance.[1] However, she rejected Edward's offer to meet again, as she had already been promised to Matthew Hague, the son of the wealthy East India Company executive Aubrey.[2]

Later, while visiting the docks of Bristol, Caroline was robbed by a young thief named Albert, though Wilson, a man in Hague's employ, quickly apprehended him and began to beat him up. At that point, Edward intervened, incapacitating Wilson with a knee to the groin before forcing Albert to apologize to Caroline. However, Wilson soon recovers and gains the upper hand against Edward before throwing him off the harbour. Nonetheless, impressed by the lengths he was willing to go to for the thief, she sought Edward out one night, throwing rocks at his window to get his attention.[2]

Aware of each other's feelings, the pair set out for a walk, during which Caroline explained that the thought of becoming Hague's wife, and all that that entailed, disgusted her. However, she knew that an affair with Edward would not only incur the wrath of Hague, but also that of her father. Still, the pair's love for each other drove them to enter into a relationship that they managed to keep secret for several months.[2]

ACI - At Home to Mister Scandal

Newly wed Caroline and Edward

One day, Caroline learned that Hague was to propose the next morning and told Edward, who promptly asked her to marry him instead, to which she consented. The following day, Caroline went to the harbor with Hague and his escorts, arriving at a schooner, the name of which was concealed. The man then proposed, revealing the vessel to be named Caroline.[2]

Flustered, Caroline rejected him in front of the crowd that had gathered, with Edward, who had followed them from a distance, revealing himself as her husband-to-be. The marriage took place in 1712, causing quite a fuss among the citizens of Bristol. Caroline's mother was nevertheless supportive, but her father showed resentment, denying his daughter her dowry.[1][2]

Marital troubles[]

Caroline: "I can't promise I'll come, Edward. If you leave on this... fool's errand... I-I cannot promise anything."
Edward: "Don't give up on me, Caroline! Not when I need your faith the most..."
—Caroline and Edward on the day of his departure, 1712.[src]

Forced to live in an outhouse on the farm of Edward's father, the pair tried to make the most of their situation. Although Edward's mother initially protested, Caroline began helping out on the farm and did so gladly. However, her husband saw it as a consequence of his failure to properly provide for her;[2] his grandiose dreams of being a privateer, as well as his habit of drinking, resurfaced. Caroline tried to dissuade him from these fanciful ideas, to no avail.[3]

AC4 Caroline Leaving

Caroline leaving for her parents' house

In the summer of 1712, Edward announced his intentions to sail to the West Indies in an effort to become rich, leaving Caroline distraught.[4] Due to her pregnancy, which she had kept hidden from her husband, she made the decision to move back in with her parents,[5] much to the dismay of Edward's father and mother, who loved her like the daughter they never had.[2]

On the day of his departure, Caroline was visited at her parents' house by Edward, who hoped to assuage his wife's worries. He promised he would send for her once he had become rich, but this did not persuade her, fearing Edward would hurt himself on this "fool's errand".[6]

Later life and death[]

"He wouldn't let her get the medicine she needed, not her or Mrs. Scott, the both of them ill. Mrs. Scott recovered but Mrs. Kenway never did."
―Rose on Caroline's illness, 1723.[src]

Caroline and Edward maintained correspondence, but it was far and fleeting, averaging once a year.[6] Some months after her husband's departure, Caroline gave birth to a girl, naming her Jennifer.[7] In the ensuing years, she lived a life of ups and downs. While her daughter, along with the support of her mother, brought her great joy, her father, ever resentful for Caroline's defiance, never treated her as a daughter again.[2]

In early 1720, Caroline, as well as her mother, contracted smallpox from her father, who himself had gotten infected with the disease while in London. For many months, she languished at home, desperate to get better, but unable to do so because her father refused to give her proper medical treatment. Caroline perished in late 1720 in her parents' home on Hawkins Lane,[2] with Edward not learning of her fate until two years after the fact; in the same letter he also learned of his daughter's existence.[8]

Legacy[]

"My daughter was raised by her mother, Caroline, until she passed away some years ago. Jenny prefers to use her surname to mine."
―Edward explaining Jennifer's decision to use her mother's surname instead of his, 1730s.[src]-[m]

The news of Caroline's passing saddened Edward and he arranged for Jennifer to be brought to the West Indies to meet her.[7] The two then sailed back to England to begin their new lives together, and during the voyage, Edward inquired about Caroline. After Jennifer revealed that her mother had told her how Edward had left to become a privateer shortly before her birth, he vowed to be a good father to Jennifer to make up for his absence.[9]

In 1723, following his return to Bristol, Edward was informed of Emmett's neglicence which had led to Caroline's death. After also learning about his Templar affiliations and the fact that he had orchestrated an attack on his parents' farm to prevent Caroline from returning there, Edward killed Emmett and most of his Templar associates, avenging Caroline's death.[2]

In her later life, Jennifer would opt to use her mother's surname, Scott, as opposed to her younger half-brother Haytham, who went by their father's surname Kenway. This was because Caroline had raised Jennifer for the majority of her youth in Edward's absence and she felt more attached to her than she did to Edward.[9]

Behind the scenes[]

Caroline Scott-Kenway is a character first mentioned in the 2012 novel Assassin's Creed: Forsaken, before making her on-screen debut in the 2013 video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, where she was voiced by the British actress Luisa Guerreiro.

The dress Caroline wears in concept art for Black Flag can be seen being worn by her daughter Jennifer in-game, both as a child and a young adult, albeit in different colors.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

References[]

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