Franklin Wolverton Randall
Frank Randall
Full name: Franklin Wolverton Randall
Born:
Died: 1966
Parents: Jonathan Randall & Nora Sheffield
Siblings: None
Wife: Claire Beauchamp
Children: Brianna
Occupation: History Professor/Historian, specialising in Jacobite history (DIA, chapter 47)
Physical Characteristics: A lithe, spare build, hazel eyes and dark hair (Outlander, chapter 3), the build of a tennis player with the grace of a natural athlete and 5'10" tall (Outlander, chapter 16) Frank has long, slender, aristocratic looking hands which are nearly hairless (Outlander, chapter 15) He has a strong and delicate profile, sensitive lips and a chiselled nose and jaw. Frank is a handsome man (V, chapter 19)
Frank is probably the most tragic character in the books. Happily married to Claire before she fell through the stones and far less happily, but honourably married to Claire for almost 20 years after she returned through the stones. A wonderful father to Claire & Jamie's daughter Brianna, whom he raised as his own. Frank believed that his g-g-g-g-g-g grandfather was Jack Randall, but in fact it was Alex Randall. Claire believes that Frank felt that taking care of Brianna was his destiny (V, chapter 7)
Significant Moments:
1938/1939: Married Claire Beauchamp (Outlander/Cross Stitch, chapter 1)
1939: Officer Training and the Intelligence Unit at MI6 (Outlander, chapter 1)
1939-1945: Doing secret war stuff and saw Claire only 3 times (Outlander, chapter 1)
1941:
Works for MI6, the British secret intelligence service, whose employees are colloquially referred to as 'funny buggers'. Approaches Jerry MacKenzie to recruit him for a top secret mission to Eastern Europe. Frank informs Jerry that the mission is to Poland and he has been selected because he speaks a few words of Polish. Jerry and three other pilots are to fly low over four Nazi concentration camps and take photos with cameras mounted on their wings. Before embarking on the mission Jerry is to be sent to Northumberland to practice the manoeuvres. Jerry crash lands his plane during this training and is never seen again (Leaf)
1943:
Frank delivers a medal that has been posthumously awarded to Jerry MacKenzie to his wife Marjorie. Marjorie reacts very badly to this, becomes very emotional and blames Frank for Jerry's death. Frank stays and listens to her and tells her how brave Jerry was (Leaf)
1945/1946:
Claire disappears during their second honeymoon in Inverness (Outlander/Cross Stitch, chapter 2)
1948:
Claire reappears at Craigh na Dun, filthy, in poor physical health and pregnant (DIA, chapter 5) Frank gets a call from the hospital in Inverness where Claire has been taken and drives through the night to get there. Claire immediately tells Frank she is pregnant, thinking he will leave then and she can be alone with her memories of Jamie. But Frank has already been told by the medical staff and is prepared for the news. He asks Claire to tell him what happened, and she does so (V, chapter 3)
Of course he doesn't believe her and reacts by picking up a vase and smashing it on the floor (DIA, chapter 5) Frank reacts to Claire's story with anger and suspicion. He grabs her arm and snarls at her that she will tell him where she's been and what she's been doing. Claire tells him about meeting Jack Randall and marrying Jamie and gives him Jamie's full name when he asks. Claire says that she knows Frank won't want to have anything to do with her and tells him to go away but he says to her gently that he's not going anywhere. Frank notices Claire's silver wedding ring and tries to take it off her finger, but Claire becomes upset and refuses to let him have it. The doctors sedate her and lead Frank away, but he vows that he will know the truth (V, chapter 3)
The doctors think Claire is suffering from delusion and trauma (DIA, chapter 5) Frank is burning with questions but the doctors advise him against questioning Claire because of her fragile mental state (DIA, chapter 5) Frank has Claire vetted by a psychiatrist (V, chapter 3)
Frank asks the Reverend Wakefield to research Jonathan Randall and James Fraser. The Reverend discovers that Jack Randall is buried at St. Kilda. Frank and Claire move back to London a couple of weeks after her return once Claire has recovered enough (DIA, chapter 4)
Claire tells Frank she will give him a divorce and he can return to the life he had begun to build up during her disappearance, but he refuses to abandon Claire and her unborn child. Frank is offered a position at Harvard and he and Claire move to Boston where no-one knows them and they can make a clean start (V, chapter 3) Frank and Claire and irritable and terrified as Brianna's birth approaches, not knowing how it will affect their relationship. Claire's pregnancy is high-risk and she and Frank do not share a bed, sleeping in twin beds, they do not kiss, and Frank always dresses in the bathroom or closet so Claire does not see him naked (V, chapter 3)
When Brianna is born, Claire tries to get Frank to leave them but he won't (DIA, chapter 5) When Brianna is handed to Frank for the first time after her birth he is smitten and within a week he is hers, body and soul. Claire and Frank continue not to touch each other and the only conversation they have is about domestic arrangements (V, chapter 3)
Frank makes Claire promise that she won't tell Brianna that he is not her real father as long as he is alive (DIA, chapter 5)
1949:
When three month old Brianna sneezes when Frank kisses her, Claire laughs for the first time in nearly a year. The resulting awareness between Claire and Frank arouses Frank, but he has to go to work and can't act on it. Frank has invited the Dean and his wife for dinner that night, but when he arrives home he finds Claire looking dishevelled. Acting like a male chauvinist pig, Frank berates Claire for not fixing up her appearance, telling her it's not like she has anything else to do all day. Claire, who has a day from hell, loses the plot completely, thrusts Brianna into Frank's arms, smashes the bottle of wine Frank has bought and runs out of the house just as the Dean and his wife arrive (V, chapter 3)
Frank deals with the Dean and his wife, puts a sleeping Brianna to bed and asks the neighbour to keep an ear out for her. He then goes in search of Claire and finds her observing the act of Perpetual Adoration at the church of St. Finbar. When Claire has finished her observance they both return home. Claire breastfeeds Brianna who falls asleep after only feeding from one side. When Claire picks up the breast pump to express the other breast, Frank takes it from her and suckles her and they make love (V, chapter 3)
1955:
When Brianna starts school Claire goes to Medical School to become a doctor despite Frank not wanting her to (V, chapter 7) Frank suggests to Claire that if she is bored she can volunteer to write letters for the inmates of the nursing home (V, chapter 18)
1957:
Claire is late home from Medical School one day, a not uncommon occurrence. The babysitter gets fed up and leaves the house, leaving seven year old Brianna alone. After waiting about an hour Brianna goes out in search of Claire and is hit by a car but fortunately is not badly hurt. Claire is devastated and tearfully decides that she must quit her medical training, but Frank unexpectedly tells her not to. He says that she has a rare passion for knowing who she is and what she must do. Frank says that he will take care of Brianna. She can go to the university after school and play in his office until he has finished for the day. When Claire asks him why he would do this when he's not keen on her being a doctor, he replies that he doesn't think he can stop Claire but if he helps out he can minimise the damage to Brianna (V, chapter 7)
1966:
Frank is due to take sabbatical leave from Harvard University in February. He plans to take a series of short trips through the northeastern US, and then go on to England for six months. A month before he's due to leave, Frank and Claire are snuggled up in bed together when Frank casually mentions that he's decided to go to England first and that he's taking Brianna with him. Claire can't understand why Frank can't wait for herself and Brianna to join him in the summer after Brianna finishes her final semester and graduates (V, chapter 19)
Frank then tells Claire - "I'm going now. For good. Without you." Claire keeps her composure and coldly asks Frank if his latest mistress is putting pressure on him. Frank gets very angry and replies that he thought he'd been most discreet. Claire says she's counted six mistresses over the last decade but this one must be very special (V, chapter 19)
Claire then tells Frank that Brianna won't want to go so close to graduating, but Frank says she can go to an English boarding school. He informs Claire that he's going to take up a position at Cambridge University and he is not going to leave his daughter behind but Claire can come and visit whenever she likes (V, chapter 19)
Claire understandably reacts rather badly to this decree and they start to argue over how much parental supervision Bree needs at almost 18 years of age. When Claire tells Frank that he can't keep Bree swaddled in cotton wool, he shoots back at Claire that it's better to have Bree swaddled in cotton wool than 'fucking a black man' like her mother. (V, chapter 19)
Claire reacts with outrage to the accusation that she is having an affair with Joe Abernathy, especially as she believes that Frank is about to leave her to go and live with his latest in a long line of mistresses. Frank tells her that everyone thinks that she and Joe are having an affair because they spend so much time together, and Claire's friendship with Joe means that Bree is exposed to black people and danger (V, chapter 19)
Frank reasserts his statement that he is taking Brianna to England, saying he doesn't need Claire's permission to take his daughter with him as Bree is still a minor. Claire gets very angry at Frank saying that Bree is his daughter. She tells Frank that Bree is her daughter and she won't let Frank take her anywhere (V, chapter 19)
When Frank says that Claire can't stop him, she tells him that he can divorce her if he likes, but if he tries to take Bree then Claire will use the fact of his adultery against him to gain custody. While Frank stands there in shock, Claire informs him that she had told his mistresses that she would give Frank up in a minute if he asked, but he never had. Frank attempts to regain his composure and says to Claire that he wouldn't have thought she minded as she never made a move to stop him. When Claire incredulously asks Frank what she was supposed to do, he tells her that she could have acted as though it mattered (V, chapter 19)
Claire says it did matter, but Frank says it didn't matter enough. He then asks Claire if Bree looks like Jamie and when she says yes, he curses her for having a face that shows everything she feels and thinks. Claire tells Frank that she did love him once, and when she tried to make him leave and he wouldn't go she tried to love him again (V, chapter 19)
Frank says he couldn't leave Claire when she was pregnant as that would have been the action of a cad, and once Brianna was born he couldn't give her up. He reveals that he had found out a few years ago that he is sterile and could never father a child. He knew Brianna would be the only child he would ever have but he also knew that every time Claire looked at her she was reminded of Jamie (V, chapter 19)
Frank wonders aloud if Claire could have forgotten Jamie if Brianna hadn't resembled him so strongly and Claire says No. This shocks Frank so much that he pulls his clothes on over his pyjamas, walks out of the house and drives off in the car, leaving Claire shaking by the bed (V, chapter 19)
The streets are icy and snow is falling. Frank's car slides on black ice and crashes and Frank dies. His body is delivered to the hospital where Claire works, and Claire sees him shortly after his arrival (V, chapter 19)
Full name: Franklin Wolverton Randall
Born:
Died: 1966
Parents: Jonathan Randall & Nora Sheffield
Siblings: None
Wife: Claire Beauchamp
Children: Brianna
Occupation: History Professor/Historian, specialising in Jacobite history (DIA, chapter 47)
Physical Characteristics: A lithe, spare build, hazel eyes and dark hair (Outlander, chapter 3), the build of a tennis player with the grace of a natural athlete and 5'10" tall (Outlander, chapter 16) Frank has long, slender, aristocratic looking hands which are nearly hairless (Outlander, chapter 15) He has a strong and delicate profile, sensitive lips and a chiselled nose and jaw. Frank is a handsome man (V, chapter 19)
Frank is probably the most tragic character in the books. Happily married to Claire before she fell through the stones and far less happily, but honourably married to Claire for almost 20 years after she returned through the stones. A wonderful father to Claire & Jamie's daughter Brianna, whom he raised as his own. Frank believed that his g-g-g-g-g-g grandfather was Jack Randall, but in fact it was Alex Randall. Claire believes that Frank felt that taking care of Brianna was his destiny (V, chapter 7)
Significant Moments:
1938/1939: Married Claire Beauchamp (Outlander/Cross Stitch, chapter 1)
1939: Officer Training and the Intelligence Unit at MI6 (Outlander, chapter 1)
1939-1945: Doing secret war stuff and saw Claire only 3 times (Outlander, chapter 1)
1941:
Works for MI6, the British secret intelligence service, whose employees are colloquially referred to as 'funny buggers'. Approaches Jerry MacKenzie to recruit him for a top secret mission to Eastern Europe. Frank informs Jerry that the mission is to Poland and he has been selected because he speaks a few words of Polish. Jerry and three other pilots are to fly low over four Nazi concentration camps and take photos with cameras mounted on their wings. Before embarking on the mission Jerry is to be sent to Northumberland to practice the manoeuvres. Jerry crash lands his plane during this training and is never seen again (Leaf)
1943:
Frank delivers a medal that has been posthumously awarded to Jerry MacKenzie to his wife Marjorie. Marjorie reacts very badly to this, becomes very emotional and blames Frank for Jerry's death. Frank stays and listens to her and tells her how brave Jerry was (Leaf)
1945/1946:
Claire disappears during their second honeymoon in Inverness (Outlander/Cross Stitch, chapter 2)
1948:
Claire reappears at Craigh na Dun, filthy, in poor physical health and pregnant (DIA, chapter 5) Frank gets a call from the hospital in Inverness where Claire has been taken and drives through the night to get there. Claire immediately tells Frank she is pregnant, thinking he will leave then and she can be alone with her memories of Jamie. But Frank has already been told by the medical staff and is prepared for the news. He asks Claire to tell him what happened, and she does so (V, chapter 3)
Of course he doesn't believe her and reacts by picking up a vase and smashing it on the floor (DIA, chapter 5) Frank reacts to Claire's story with anger and suspicion. He grabs her arm and snarls at her that she will tell him where she's been and what she's been doing. Claire tells him about meeting Jack Randall and marrying Jamie and gives him Jamie's full name when he asks. Claire says that she knows Frank won't want to have anything to do with her and tells him to go away but he says to her gently that he's not going anywhere. Frank notices Claire's silver wedding ring and tries to take it off her finger, but Claire becomes upset and refuses to let him have it. The doctors sedate her and lead Frank away, but he vows that he will know the truth (V, chapter 3)
The doctors think Claire is suffering from delusion and trauma (DIA, chapter 5) Frank is burning with questions but the doctors advise him against questioning Claire because of her fragile mental state (DIA, chapter 5) Frank has Claire vetted by a psychiatrist (V, chapter 3)
Frank asks the Reverend Wakefield to research Jonathan Randall and James Fraser. The Reverend discovers that Jack Randall is buried at St. Kilda. Frank and Claire move back to London a couple of weeks after her return once Claire has recovered enough (DIA, chapter 4)
Claire tells Frank she will give him a divorce and he can return to the life he had begun to build up during her disappearance, but he refuses to abandon Claire and her unborn child. Frank is offered a position at Harvard and he and Claire move to Boston where no-one knows them and they can make a clean start (V, chapter 3) Frank and Claire and irritable and terrified as Brianna's birth approaches, not knowing how it will affect their relationship. Claire's pregnancy is high-risk and she and Frank do not share a bed, sleeping in twin beds, they do not kiss, and Frank always dresses in the bathroom or closet so Claire does not see him naked (V, chapter 3)
When Brianna is born, Claire tries to get Frank to leave them but he won't (DIA, chapter 5) When Brianna is handed to Frank for the first time after her birth he is smitten and within a week he is hers, body and soul. Claire and Frank continue not to touch each other and the only conversation they have is about domestic arrangements (V, chapter 3)
Frank makes Claire promise that she won't tell Brianna that he is not her real father as long as he is alive (DIA, chapter 5)
1949:
When three month old Brianna sneezes when Frank kisses her, Claire laughs for the first time in nearly a year. The resulting awareness between Claire and Frank arouses Frank, but he has to go to work and can't act on it. Frank has invited the Dean and his wife for dinner that night, but when he arrives home he finds Claire looking dishevelled. Acting like a male chauvinist pig, Frank berates Claire for not fixing up her appearance, telling her it's not like she has anything else to do all day. Claire, who has a day from hell, loses the plot completely, thrusts Brianna into Frank's arms, smashes the bottle of wine Frank has bought and runs out of the house just as the Dean and his wife arrive (V, chapter 3)
Frank deals with the Dean and his wife, puts a sleeping Brianna to bed and asks the neighbour to keep an ear out for her. He then goes in search of Claire and finds her observing the act of Perpetual Adoration at the church of St. Finbar. When Claire has finished her observance they both return home. Claire breastfeeds Brianna who falls asleep after only feeding from one side. When Claire picks up the breast pump to express the other breast, Frank takes it from her and suckles her and they make love (V, chapter 3)
1955:
When Brianna starts school Claire goes to Medical School to become a doctor despite Frank not wanting her to (V, chapter 7) Frank suggests to Claire that if she is bored she can volunteer to write letters for the inmates of the nursing home (V, chapter 18)
1957:
Claire is late home from Medical School one day, a not uncommon occurrence. The babysitter gets fed up and leaves the house, leaving seven year old Brianna alone. After waiting about an hour Brianna goes out in search of Claire and is hit by a car but fortunately is not badly hurt. Claire is devastated and tearfully decides that she must quit her medical training, but Frank unexpectedly tells her not to. He says that she has a rare passion for knowing who she is and what she must do. Frank says that he will take care of Brianna. She can go to the university after school and play in his office until he has finished for the day. When Claire asks him why he would do this when he's not keen on her being a doctor, he replies that he doesn't think he can stop Claire but if he helps out he can minimise the damage to Brianna (V, chapter 7)
1966:
Frank is due to take sabbatical leave from Harvard University in February. He plans to take a series of short trips through the northeastern US, and then go on to England for six months. A month before he's due to leave, Frank and Claire are snuggled up in bed together when Frank casually mentions that he's decided to go to England first and that he's taking Brianna with him. Claire can't understand why Frank can't wait for herself and Brianna to join him in the summer after Brianna finishes her final semester and graduates (V, chapter 19)
Frank then tells Claire - "I'm going now. For good. Without you." Claire keeps her composure and coldly asks Frank if his latest mistress is putting pressure on him. Frank gets very angry and replies that he thought he'd been most discreet. Claire says she's counted six mistresses over the last decade but this one must be very special (V, chapter 19)
Claire then tells Frank that Brianna won't want to go so close to graduating, but Frank says she can go to an English boarding school. He informs Claire that he's going to take up a position at Cambridge University and he is not going to leave his daughter behind but Claire can come and visit whenever she likes (V, chapter 19)
Claire understandably reacts rather badly to this decree and they start to argue over how much parental supervision Bree needs at almost 18 years of age. When Claire tells Frank that he can't keep Bree swaddled in cotton wool, he shoots back at Claire that it's better to have Bree swaddled in cotton wool than 'fucking a black man' like her mother. (V, chapter 19)
Claire reacts with outrage to the accusation that she is having an affair with Joe Abernathy, especially as she believes that Frank is about to leave her to go and live with his latest in a long line of mistresses. Frank tells her that everyone thinks that she and Joe are having an affair because they spend so much time together, and Claire's friendship with Joe means that Bree is exposed to black people and danger (V, chapter 19)
Frank reasserts his statement that he is taking Brianna to England, saying he doesn't need Claire's permission to take his daughter with him as Bree is still a minor. Claire gets very angry at Frank saying that Bree is his daughter. She tells Frank that Bree is her daughter and she won't let Frank take her anywhere (V, chapter 19)
When Frank says that Claire can't stop him, she tells him that he can divorce her if he likes, but if he tries to take Bree then Claire will use the fact of his adultery against him to gain custody. While Frank stands there in shock, Claire informs him that she had told his mistresses that she would give Frank up in a minute if he asked, but he never had. Frank attempts to regain his composure and says to Claire that he wouldn't have thought she minded as she never made a move to stop him. When Claire incredulously asks Frank what she was supposed to do, he tells her that she could have acted as though it mattered (V, chapter 19)
Claire says it did matter, but Frank says it didn't matter enough. He then asks Claire if Bree looks like Jamie and when she says yes, he curses her for having a face that shows everything she feels and thinks. Claire tells Frank that she did love him once, and when she tried to make him leave and he wouldn't go she tried to love him again (V, chapter 19)
Frank says he couldn't leave Claire when she was pregnant as that would have been the action of a cad, and once Brianna was born he couldn't give her up. He reveals that he had found out a few years ago that he is sterile and could never father a child. He knew Brianna would be the only child he would ever have but he also knew that every time Claire looked at her she was reminded of Jamie (V, chapter 19)
Frank wonders aloud if Claire could have forgotten Jamie if Brianna hadn't resembled him so strongly and Claire says No. This shocks Frank so much that he pulls his clothes on over his pyjamas, walks out of the house and drives off in the car, leaving Claire shaking by the bed (V, chapter 19)
The streets are icy and snow is falling. Frank's car slides on black ice and crashes and Frank dies. His body is delivered to the hospital where Claire works, and Claire sees him shortly after his arrival (V, chapter 19)