Lord Byron Hastings

[Lord Byron Hastings]

THIS THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JACKSON MONROE HASTING also known as LORD BYRON [/color][/font]

[/color]Jackson is a quiet guy which a lot of people tend to mistake for being broody. After people get to know him though, he found to be quite protective and friendly, and the typical 'English gentleman' towards any female he comes across. He makes friends easily and would do almost anything to protect those he considers his friends or 'family', although he would prefer to avoid conflict as much as possible. He considers himself more of a 'lover' than a 'fighter', which if you have the rare chance to read his poetry--which is kept hidden away in his leather-bound journal in his back pocket when he's not writing in it--you would come upon that conclusion for yourself. His nickname Lord Byron was given to him because of his constant scribbling in his journal and his natural way with words. Tucked away in his back pocket, beside his journal, is a folded and worn picture of his parents, and around his neck on a leather cord hangs a ring containing his family crest on it; the only things he has left of his past life.

Jackson has honey-brown, wavy, shaggy hair that--when a newsie cap or fedora is not on his head--has a tendency to hang in his face. He has green eyes and a hit of facial hair when he doesn't bother to shave. Standing at 5'9", he is tall and although he looks lanky, is quite muscular. He is often seen wearing brown or dark gray pants, a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows, a vest (sometimes buttoned, sometimes not), some type of hat, and occasionally a tie tied loosely around his neck (depending on his mood).

Jackson was born the only child to Harlon Winston and Moira Catherine Hastings, in Sussex England, on December 21st, 1880. His father, Harlon, was the overseer of one of the largest horse ranching estates in England and his mother, Moira, was a well liked and well-known lady in town. Until he was old enough to help his father on the ranch, he stayed home with his mother. She taught him to be a gentleman-- learning to dance, to have proper manners, and how to properly treat a lady. At night before bed, she would read to him poetry she used to write when she was a young lady. When he was 7, Jackson began to write his own poems. He'd write of his love for his mother or about the horses his father would work with. At the age of 8, he started working on the ranch with his father, learning everything he could. He was a hard worker too for someone his age, but he always found himself getting into trouble now and again because his father would catch him sitting in the hayloft writing new poems...

A few weeks after his 11th birthday, Jackson's mother passed away from an unknown sickness she had caught taking care of a neighboring family. Because he was so distraught from the death of his wife and having to raise a son on his own, Harlon Hastings quit his job and moved to Dublin, Ireland to live with his wife's family--his own having died a long before Jackson was born. Harlon worked for his father-in-law, plowing fields and such...

Three years later, after getting back onto his feet and finding a job in Galway, Harlon took his son Jackson and moved out of his in-laws house and in the manor with the O'Shea's--a father, Declan O'Shea and his two children, 13 year old Ashleigh and 9 year old Aiden. The Hastings and the O'Shea became very close. Two years after the Hasting settled in with the O'Shea's, a wealthy English man moved into Galway looking for land to buy. He set his sights on the O'Shea farm and was so very adamant about buying the farm that he threatened Declan and Harlon--after their several refusals-- telling them he would do anything to get what he wanted. Several nights later, while the family was eating dinner their barn was set on fire, and several large men started breaking windows in the house to break in. Declan and Harlon, sent Jackson, Ashleigh, and Aiden to sneak out the backdoor and hide in the woods behind the house, while they dealt with the men. As they were escaping out the back, Jackson and Ashleigh heard gun shots in the front room. They ran and hid in the woods all night long. In the morning, they returned to the house and found, Declan and Harlon shot dead in the dining room. Ashleigh broke into her father's safe and took the money hidden there for food, boarding, and passage for a ship, they buried their father's, and left. Ashleigh bought the three of them tickets on a boat and they headed for America...

When they arrived in NYC, (Jackson-16, Ashleigh-15, and Aiden-11) they ended up sleeping on the streets and in alley's for a couple weeks--living off what money they had--until Jackson found him and Aiden jobs as Newsies and Ashleigh found a job as a laundress. The three of them ended up living in several abandoned houses for months at a time. After a few months, Ashleigh quit her job as laundress--for reasons unknown to Jackson--and joined Jackson and Aiden as a newsie and soon after, Jackson was able to find them permanent lodging in the Bronx--Jackson and Aiden in the boy's lodging house and Ashleigh in the girl's. Here, Jackson is able to start a new life with his new 'family', all while continuing to lookout for Aiden and to make Ashleigh feel safe (for whatever reason she is leery of men).
[/ul]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ashley, Internet search, Pallet & Shamrock