Biographical Sketch
Amelia Peabody is first introduced in the novel Crocodile on the Sandbank, set in 1884. She is the spinster daughter of a reclusive scholar, who left her to deal with practical issues such as shopping and administering the household while he spent time in his office. He nurtured her scholarly interest, while the rest of her immediate family dismissed them both. Following his death, Peabody's devotion to her father is rewarded with her being named sole beneficiary of his substantial fortune of over £500,000 (over £30 million in 2006 values). Partly in order to escape the attention of numerous would-be suitors and relatives begging for money, she embarks on a tour of classical sites, beginning in Italy and moving on to Egypt with the eventual aim of visiting Palestine. While in Rome, she meets her future friend and companion, Evelyn Barton Forbes (later also to become her sister-in-law). In Egypt, the pair encounters the Emerson brothers, Radcliffe and Walter. Evelyn later marries Walter, and Amelia marries Radcliffe, accepting his proposal by teasing that it was the only way that she could engage in Egyptology without causing a scandal.
Radcliffe is known by his surname, "Emerson", as he hates his first name, which was his mother's maiden name (as he also has no fond feelings for his mother). He refers to Amelia by her first name only when he is annoyed with her.
Peabody's first (and only) child, Walter, was born in 1887. Although it is stated that she was medically unable to have more children, the cause is never fully explained. Walter quickly became known as "Ramses", after Emerson remarked that he was "swarthy as an Egyptian and arrogant as a pharaoh."
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