Benjamin Thaddeus West (I4295)

An issue with families is that sometimes they name children after one of the parents’ siblings and we run into confusion in a family saga such as the Hidden Angels Series. The modern tradition, although not always observed, is that if a man names a son for himself, the son is labeled “Junior” and the father “Senior.” If a man names his son after his brother, in other words a collateral line of descent, the nephew is labeled with a “II,” pronounced “the second.” While this is not always so today, such consistency of form was even less common in the Eighteenth Century. For instance, if a nephew were named for a deceased uncle, he may not use a number at all. He would just go by the exact same name as his uncle with no easy distinction unless someone diligently were to check his birth year and so forth.

Such is the case with Benjamin Thaddeus West. In the West family, there are no less than four Benjamin Thaddeus Wests. Two of them use the naked name, and the other two who are first cousins, both append a “II,” since they were named for their uncle, who was named in turn for his uncle, so he could also have used the Roman numeral II, too. Thus, in discussing them, I shall use the numbers assigned to them by the genealogy program that I use for tracking them all.

Benjamin Thaddeus West (I4295) was the eldest son and heir to Tobias Matthew West, Sr. (I3), eldest son of Matthew West (I1). Tobias followed his father as the Prince-Elector of Franconia in the Holy Roman Empire, even though he never went there and left it in the hands of his brother and regent, James Charles West, Sr. (I188). Benjamin was originally known by his grandfather’s subsidiary title, the Earl of Tortuga. He went on his Grand Tour to Italy, and that is where he changed history. He married Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, who was the heir to Massa and Carrara. He died four years later after having four children. His eldest son then became the heir to Massa and Carrara. Of course, he was also the heir to his grandfather Tobias and great-grandfather Matthew. This Benjamin Thaddeus West never appears in the books directly. He is referenced in the first book when his brother, Tobias Matthew West, Jr., is using his grandfather’s courtesy title of Earl of Tortuga. By that time, he was in Italy, married, and having children. He had quietly renounced the right to his grandfather’s British titles, since he did not figure to leave Italy. However, his grandfather’s titles as a Prince of the HRE and then a Prince-Elector were created after his death and he and his children never renounced those, so his eldest son will follow his grandfather Tobias as Prince-Elector of Franconia in the fourth volume of the series.

He is not to be confused with his nephew, Benjamin Thaddeus West (I14), the son of Ezekiel Robert West (I8), who is also the Angel Hermes and is known as “Benny.” Benny has already appeared in the second volume, Angels Revolting, and will be a fairly major character throughout the series.