Lady Edith Crawley



Edith Crawley (played by Laura Carmichael) is the second daughter to Lord and Lady Grantham, born in 1894, sister of Ladies Mary and Sybil Crawley. Edith is resentful of Mary because the elder sister is more beautiful. Their rivalry is further fuelled by the fact that Edith genuinely loved the dead heir, Patrick, but no one took her feelings seriously. After initially trying to woo Matthew Crawley, she begins a relationship with Sir Anthony Strallen. Towards the end of series one he is on the verge of asking for her hand, but changes his mind when Mary implies Edith was simply leading him on for her own amusement. Anthony Strallen was Edith's last chance at making a successful marriage, and Mary intentionally intervened in revenge, because Edith had written a letter to the Turkish Embassy in London informing them about the exact nature of their attaché's death in Mary's bed.

She was the first of the Crawley family to learn how to drive an automobile, taking lessons from the chauffeur Branson. Upon the outbreak of the First World War Edith uses her driving skills to work on a local farm driving tractors and even gets a kiss from the local farmer, who is married. Along with the rest of the family, she is confused when a severely wounded veteran claiming to be her beloved Patrick comes to Downton and is the only one who believes it is he before he leaves after being rejected by the rest of the family. After the war in 1919 Anthony Strallen returns, but with one lame arm. Edith makes it clear again she wishes to have a relationship with him but he gently turns her down, stating he is old and injured and she is young. She finally accepts they will not be together.

Relationships

Patrick Crawley Patrick Crawley was the heir to Downton Abbey, until, in 1912, he supposedly died on the Titanic. Edith was in love with him, but she never had a chance because he and Lady Mary were engaged. When he died, Edith was distraught and told Mary to be ashamed of herself for not being upset when he died. Several years later, however, a man (Patrick Gordon) turned up and claimed to be Patrick Crawley, saying he had suffered from Amnesia until recently, when he was caught in a big explosion. Edith was the only one who belived him, When he left Downton Abbey, Edith was very sad and told Sybil that they drove him away and it was their fault he was gone.

Matthew Crawley
Matthew Crawley is the current heir to Downton Abbey, but he has had two uncertain points in the series when he might have lost everything. In Season One, Cora got pregnant, and had it been a boy, Matthew would no longer be the heir, but then she miscarried with the help of Mrs. O'Brien. In Season Two, a man claimed to be Patrick Crawley, and if true, he would have displaced Matthew as heir. Anyway, to the point, Edith seemed to like him, and some say it was only to try and make Mary jealous, but some say that she really did like him. She tried and failed to enter into a romantic relationship with him, because, as he put it, she was "barking up the wrong tree."