Uncle of Eleanor, master of Bailey Manor, war veteran, and retired adventurer, Thomas Harrison Bailey III is a man of remarkable timber. Born in 1867 in Bath, Thomas was immersed in wealth in privilege. His family was fabulously wealthy, owning a number of coal mines, shipyards, and other businesses around the world. Thomas, however, cared little for the money and reputation of his family.

At an early age, Thomas discovered his love for exploration. His father took him on safari in Africa, on business trips to India, and encouraged his son to learn everything he could about the world. This was, to his father at least, a way of learning the things he would need when he took over the family business. Thomas, on the other hand, took this as an invitation to expand beyond his provincial background.

As a young man, barely 18, Thomas ran away from home. He slipped out in the night leaving a note for his mother begging her to forgive him. He needed to forge his own path, he said, and he could not do that in the shadow of his father. For the next two and a half decades, Thomas Bailey traveled the world, seeking lost treasures and ancient relics. He made a name for himself as an archaeologist, and eventually returned to his family home in England.

His mother and father, he discovered, had died a few years earlier. Thomas’s younger brother, Alexander, had taken over the family business, and was himself a father, having just had a bright young daughter named Eleanor, named for Thomas and Alexander’s paternal grandmother. The two brothers reconciled, Thomas quite happy to leave the family fortunes in Alexander’s hands.

Thomas accepted a commission in the British Royal Expeditionary Force, and was soon sent to Europe as a commander during the Bosnian crisis in 1908. As the conflict escalated, Thomas rose in rank, eventually reaching the rank of Colonel, and led troops in France and Belgium during the Great War. He was wounded by shrapnel in the Battle of Amiens in August of 1918, and sent home with a permanent limp in his right hip.

From 1918 to 1921 Thomas mostly spent his time writing. He published five works, all semi-autobiographical accounts of his adventures. The last book, “The Last Roar of the Lion”, told of his experiences in the Great War and was highly praised by critics. In 1922, using only his own fortune and none of the Bailey family inheritance, he moved to America and built his manor home on Long Island. He specifically built the large home to house his collection of souvenirs from his adventures.

In 1924 tragedy struck. Alexander and his wife, Lara, were killed in a terrible accident. Thomas became the sole heir of the Bailey fortune, and also became the adoptive father of his thirteen year old niece, Eleanor. Shouldering the responsibility of sudden fatherhood, Thomas did his best to continue to raise Eleanor. The two soon took to each other swimmingly, with Thomas telling the girl tales of adventure and excitement, and encouraging her voracious intellect.

Now on the edge of his seventh decade, Thomas Harrison Bailey III has settled into a life of study, writing, and cozy retirement. He still maintains a network of contacts around the world, corresponding with them by mail or telephone. He is still very gregarious and friendly with everyone who visits his home, and has been very understanding of Eleanor’s eccentricities, including her relationship with her friend, Iris.