Sir John Lashawn 
| |
 | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sir John Lashawn |
| Full name | Sir John Herbert Philip Henry Lashawn |
| Sex |  Male
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| Born | April 16th, 1838, Jakarta, Indonesia |
| Deceased | May 3rd, 1941,  Clymene
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| Spouse | Betty Davis |
| Home | Lashawn Farm |
| Functions | Founding Father Farmer |
| Languages | English |
| Religious stance |
Protestant |
The farm of Good sir John in 1940
A quick sketch Betty made of John in 1901 in his militairy uniform
Good sir John's uniform, on display on the Lashawn Farm-museum
Sir John Lashawn (1838-1941) was one of the (unofficial) Founding Fathers of Lovia. He was born into a British family of noble background in Jakarta where he lived with his parents for four years. He has several nicknames of which Good sir John and The Gentleman are best known. John Lashawn was a very well educated and clever man and together with his beloved and respectable wife Betty he owned Lashawn Farm on Asian Island. He went down in history as Lovia's first and most prominent farmer, and a genuine pioneer.
Biography[]
Childhood[]
John Lashawn was born in 1838 in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (later Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia). His parents were Henry and Mary Lashawn; Henry was a British colonial officer with ambassadorial duties in the Dutch colony. When John was four years old, his father died and he and his mother returned to Britain. His mother remarried in 1846, to the also widowed William Beaconsfield, and Lashawn was brought up with Beaconsfield's five children in Bristol. John was noted for being the instigator of most of their childhood adventures. He had a reasonably happy childhood, though he had a rather distant relationship with his mother and stepfather, being brought up mostly by nannies.
When he reached the age of 18, his stepfather arranged for him to study at Oxford, but he proved unsuited for an academic life and after a year he left and returned home.
In the United States[]
John Lashawn was an adventurous man who wanted to be like Lord Byron in his younger years; always longing for an impossible love and impossible challenge, the embodiment of the classic Byronic hero. In 1858 he left his home in Bristol and moved to the United States. He purchased land and became a miner digging for gold. When he found his gold and made his fortune, John Lashawn purchased an even bigger piece of land and began a farm. He owned several hundreds of cows and was a wealthy man. In 1861, Good sir John married his childhood sweetheart Betty Davis who he met in Bristol in 1853. He had her come all the way over to the United States, to California were he lived.
It was in the middle of the American civil war in 1863 that John and Betty decided to leave the USA for Lovia. They waited however ten years to go through with this plan. Together with his fellow travelers - who became known as the Founding Fathers of Lovia - they boarded the Francis II in 1873.
In Lovia[]
Once in Lovia, John and Betty felt immediately as if they had always belonged there. Used to hardship and trouble, they build a small house in Sofasi, all made out of wood. There the couple made a living as farmers: honest, hardworking and pleasant people, the first King of Lovia befriended with them. He would have long conversations with John, and the queen and Betty Davis apparently became friends also, as written evidence and letters suggest. The King and John would discuss matters of politics, and many of the founding fathers would visit the farm on a regular basis; the moral values of the modern Lovians where greatly influenced by these meetings. Some historians, such as George Bradly-Lashawn say 'Modern Lovia as we know it was born on the farm of Sir John and his beloved Betty'. Sir John was an advocate of a Lovian army despite the fact Arthur never wanted Lovia to have one. Later on, John would join the police force of Sofasi, according to Betty 'so that he could still wear his uniform'.
From 1885-1890, the young Theodore Smith, sr. helped out on the farm of the Lashawns. He and the old couple became close friends and kept contact for the remainder of their lives. Sir John Lashawn employed people of all races, classes and religions on his farm. He was Lovia's first and most prominent farmer and also a pioneer in many ways. He was a supporter for women's rights, having always respected and listened to his wife Betty, and he raised his children with these liberal and modern views and values. In many ways he was a unique man for the era he lived in. As the most senior (and longest living) of all Founding Fathers, both King Arthur I and King Arthur II would pay sir John visits. He would serve his monarchs with advice when they asked for it, and they would exchange long letters of friendship. When Queen Lucy attended the throne in 1938, Sir John, blind, deaf and nearly senile, was present at her coronation. It would be his final public appearance: after this, he would retreat to his farm and never leave it again.
Later life and death[]
After Betty died in 1936 Sir John felt very lonely. He needed people to take care of him, and was unable to work on the farm anymore. He walked with a cane and used a wheelchair about 90% of the time, yet he refused to be taken to a retirement home despite his family begging him to go there. His grandson Jim Petrovich and his wife, a middle aged childless couple, eventually moved in with Good sir John. They took care of him, fed him and would walk with him around the island. From 1938-1940, they also helped him to write his memoirs. In it, he praised his fellow Founding Fathers and the three monarchs under which he had lived. He also wrote he had high expectations for 'the brilliant young Prince Lucas, truly a bright and promising young man'. Also in his memoirs, sir John was highly critical of Lovia's foreign policy and certain politicians he disliked. The memoirs, published in 1941, several months before John's death, were reasonably well received by the public.
When Sir John died in 1941 he was one of the last of the Founding Fathers to die (only his good friend George Eisenhower lasted longer). Lashawn outlived most other passengers of the Francis II and also outlived five of his nine children. He was given a state funeral and buried in Noble City, against Sir John's wishes since he wanted to be cremated and had his ashes scattered across international waters.
Family[]
John Lashawn and Betty Davis had a very happy marriage. It lasted from 1861 to Betty's death in 1936. The couple had nine children.
- John Lashawn x Betty Davis
- Henry Philips Lashawn (1862-1951)
- Mary Diane Henderson (1864-1937)
- Donald Lashawn (1866-1942)
- Malia Petrovich (1869-1908)
- Ferdinand Lashawn (1871-1873)
- Jim Lashawn (1872-1929)
- Belinda Fletcher (1873-1953)
- Jacob Lashawn (1875-1911)
- Marcus Lashawn (1876-1965)