When I began writing Richard Berkeley's Bride, I knew I had some research to do, but I had no idea quite how much. I'd planned to call my hero Richard Hutson, for instance. As you can see above, however, there really was a guy by that name who lived at that same time. Hm-m. Not a great plan here. So I decided to give him the name of someone who had never lived--at least as far as I can tell. He had to have a name of someone who might have, however. After very little deliberation, Richard Berkeley became his name.
Ditto with my heroine's father. I initially named him Lord William Campbell. I made him the third son of the Fourth Duke of Argyll and the last Royal Governor of South Carolina. Guess what. There really was a Lord William Campbell who was the third son of the Fourth Duke of Argyll and what's even more coincidental, he was the last Royal Governor of South Carolina. How's that for coincidence?
A name change was in store. I wanted someone entirely fictional. So he became Lord Edward Campbell, the second son of the 4th Duke of Argyll. That position actually belonged to Lord Henry Campbell who died at Lauffeldt in February, 1747. But I made Lord Edward a year older--I can do that. I'm an historical romance author. I write fiction. I love it! Hahaha.
A name change was in store. I wanted someone entirely fictional. So he became Lord Edward Campbell, the second son of the 4th Duke of Argyll. That position actually belonged to Lord Henry Campbell who died at Lauffeldt in February, 1747. But I made Lord Edward a year older--I can do that. I'm an historical romance author. I write fiction. I love it! Hahaha.
Ordinarily, I like encountering coincidences. Really. Not so when I'm trying to find names for characters. When I first met my heroine, her name was Louisa. Louisa Campbell. Interesting. There really was a Louisa Campbell and she really was the daughter of Lord William Campbell. A name change was in store. I named her Julia, but try as I might, I just couldn't like the name as well as I liked Louisa. I wanted a name that could be changed and given to a man, as in Louis...or Jules...or Alexander. Hm-m. Yes--I could like Alexandra. I really could, so Alexandra became my heroine's name.
Speaking of coincidence, I'd named Lord William's plantation The Oaks. Guess what? There really was a plantation named The Oaks, though it wasn't placed where I'd placed the one now belonging to Lord Edward, along the Ashley River, upriver from Middleton Place Plantation. The Oaks was never owned by Lord William. It belonged to the Izard family--the family he married into. His son William lived there at one time. True. All true. So the plantation was renamed Oakhurst...and became the setting for my three Dreams of Oakhurst novels, Richard Berkeley's Bride, Dreams Within Dreams and Patriot's Dreams. I hope you like them!
By the way, I've told you about the Fourth Duke of Argyll. Would you like to see his picture? Of course you would! He's shown in his ducal robes here. This painting is by Thomas Gainesborough.