Quentin Lambert Beauchamp ("Uncle Lamb") was a 20th century historian and archaeologist, the uncle of Claire Fraser and brother of Henry Beauchamp. He raised Claire, with the help of his Persian manservant, Firouz,[4] following the death of his brother and brother's wife in 1923.
Personal History[]
Known at "Q" to his friends, "Dr. Beauchamp" among students and fellow scholars, and "Uncle Lamb" to his orphaned niece Claire, Quentin Beauchamp was an archaeologist who traveled the world in the course of his research, from South America to the Middle East.
He lived long enough to see Claire into her first marriage to Frank Randall. He was killed during the The Blitz, when the auditorium where he was lecturing at the British Museum was bombed.
Events of the Novels[]
Outlander[]
Claire recalls the day that her uncle drove her to a boarding school, where he had intended to deposit his niece before leaving for the Middle East. She refused to attend, and Uncle Lamb quickly relented, with the sole stipulation that she not play dolls with his Persian grave figurines. When she meets the young orphan Roger Wakefield, whose mother had been killed in London during the Blitz, Claire recalls that Uncle Lamb had also been a victim of the bombings.
Personality[]
“ | And recognizing something in me that he had himself in abundant measure, Uncle Lamb had shrugged, and on the decision of a heartbeat, had taken me forever from the world or order and routine, of sums, clean sheets, and daily baths, to follow him into vagabondage. | ” |
Quentin disliked personal conflict,[5] and believed children should be reasoned with like adults, rather than beaten, for misbehavior.[6]
Physical Appearance[]
Quentin remained "trim and taut" until the day he died at age seventy-five.[2]
Name[]
- Quentin is the French form of the Roman name Quintinus,[7] a Roman cognomen which was originally derived from Quintus,[8] meaning "fifth" in Latin.[9]
- Lambert is derived from the Germanic elements land "land" and beraht "bright".[10]
- Beauchamp (English (or Norman origin) and French) is a habitational name from any of several places in France, for example in Manche and Somme, that are named with Old French beu, bel 'fair', 'lovely' + champ(s) 'field', 'plain'. In English the surname is generally pronounced "Beecham".[11]
Trivia[]
- Quentin disliked hats on women.[5]
- In the Season Two episode "La Dame Blanche", Claire suggests the name Lambert, if they have a son, to honor her uncle who raised her. Jamie, however, does not find this a fitting name for a Scottish lad. In the book, it is Jamie who suggests naming the child after Claire's uncle, but Claire does not think she would want to "inflict" either of Uncle Lamb's names on an infant.[12]
TV Series[]
Scottish actor Prentis Hancock portrays Quentin Beauchamp in the STARZ Outlander television adaptation.
Appearances[]
- Sassenach (flashback)
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Dragonfly in Amber, chapter 31.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Voyager, chapter 19. "Uncle Lamb had remained trim and taut to the day of his death at seventy-five."
- ↑ Outlander, chapter 2. "...thinking of Uncle Lamb. He, too, had died in the Blitz..." The Blitz was the period between September 1940 and May 1941 of sustained strategic bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany during World War II.
- ↑ The Fiery Cross, chapter 22.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Outlander, chapter 1.
- ↑ Outlander, chapter 29.
- ↑ Behind the Name: Quentin - accessed 12 May 2016
- ↑ Behind the Name: Quintinus - accessed 12 May 2016
- ↑ Behind the Name: Quintus - access 12 May 2016
- ↑ Behind the Name: Lambert - access 12 May 2016
- ↑ Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press, via Ancestry.com
- ↑ Dragonfly in Amber, chapter 11.