Cumbrian Trilogy

The Cumbrian Trilogy comprises three novels by Melvyn Bragg, published between 1969 and 1980.

The story is set predominantly in Thurston (Bragg's name for Wigton), from the 1920s to the 1970s, and follows the lives of John Tallentire, his son Joseph, and his grandson Douglas. These three characters are central to the novels The Hired Man, A Place in England, and Kingdom Come, respectively.

As the family saga unfolds, Bragg sets the constant family characteristics of the protagonists against the flow of historical change.

Tallentire family tree

Harry = (wife)
  (son) = (wife)
    Isaac
    Seth = (wife)
      Helen = George
        Lester (illegitimate) = Emma (de facto)
          Harry
        Aileen = Harry (see below)
    Thomas
    John = Emily
      Sarah
      Alice
      Harry (killed in WWI)
      May
      Joseph = Betty
        Douglas = Mary
          Anne (died young)
          John
        Harry (adopted) = Aileen (see above)
          (daughter)
    = Avril (John's 2nd wife)
      Mary
      Frank (killed in World War II)
      Donald (killed in World War II)
      Anne
      Robert