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Sybil Branson
Sybil Branson portrayed by Jessica Brown Findley
Born	April, May or June, 1895
Died	Between April and August 1920, Yorkshire (aged 24) Downton Abbey
Spouse	Tom Branson
Father	Robert Crawley
Mother	Cora Crawley
Occupation	Nurse

Lady Sybil Cora Branson (née Crawley; born April, May or June 1895 — Between April and August 1920) is a character in Julian Fellowes drama series Downton Abbey. She is the youngest daughter of Robert and Cora Crawley, the Earl and Countess of Grantham, and the younger sister of Lady Mary and Lady Edith. Through her sister Mary, she was the sister-in-law of Matthew Crawley and the aunt of George Crawley. She would also be the maternal aunt to Marigold by her second eldest sister, Edith. Sybil was married to Tom Branson, with whom she had her one and only child, a daughter named after her, Sybil Branson.[2]

Personality

The house keeper, Mrs Hughes, described Sybil as "the sweetest spirit under this roof." Sybil is good natured, compassionate , and politically ambitious. It is generally viewed that she was liked by everyone, in spite of her differences in beliefs and interests.[3]Spirited and rebellious, she’s less concerned with her status and fights for what she believes in. Despite the rest of her family being conservative, Sybil was politically liberal and wanted to fight for women to have the vote. She was not afraid to get her hands dirty and during the war in the second season, she deturminedly trains to become a nurse and is successful.

Physical Appearance

"My beauty and my baby." —Cora saying her last words to Sybil on her death bed

Sybil is classically beautiful. She has dark brown, almost black hair. Her eyes are blue and her skin is fairly pale. She is around 5'5" in height.

Biography

Sybil was the youngest daughter of the Crawley family after her sisters Mary and Edith. She was the family rebel and a very politically conscious woman who considered the lives and feelings of the underprivileged. She was tutored by a governess and learned French, although she cared little for this education. As she said:

"No one ever learned anything from a governess except for French, and how to curtsy."

After receiving word that a friend of her's,Tom Bellasis, had died in the war, Sybil decided she wanted to be useful. It was her cousin Isobel Crawley who suggested Sybil become a nurse and suggested she should learn some basic skills. The cook, Mrs Patmore and her assistant Daisy taught Sybil how to cook and even showed her how to bake a cake. In 1917 Sybil was fully trained as a nurse and.

Tom Branson, the chauffer, and Sybil became bonded during the war, mostly due to their similar political interests. In 1918 Tom attempted to convince Sybil to run away from Downton with him but she told him he would only receive her answer when the war was over.

When the war ended, Sybil finally gave Tom her answer and said she would run away with him. With the help of the housemaid Anna, her sisters Mary and Edith tracked her down on her way to elope with Tom and convinced her to return to Downton with them. However, when Sybil announced she and Tom planned to marry and move to Ireland, her family was shocked. Despite Robert threatening to disinherit her, Sybil told him she would not give up Tom and finally, her father gave them his blessing. Sybil and Tom then moved to Ireland where they were later married. Only Mary and Edith attended the wedding, since her Cora was recovering from her illness, and her Lord Grantham and Violet made the decision not to attend. Not long after they were married, Sybil wrote to her family announcing her pregnancy. Lord Grantham commented

"wondered why she didn't ask to come for Christmas."

Sybil returned to Downton Abbey to give birth to her daughter. During labour, she showed symptoms of pre-eclampsia and was diagnosed with this by by Dr Clarkson but ignored by Robert and Sir Philip Tapsell who believed taking her to a public hospital would be too risky. Lady Sybil gave birth to a baby girl but after delivering the baby, Sybil began to have fits and spasms due to the eclampsia. Robert and Cora, Mary and Edith, and brother-in-law, were present at her bedside when she died. All at Downton were affected by her death.[4]

Relationships

Tom Branson, the chauffeur to the Crawley family encouraged Lady Sybil to get involved in politics, and because of their similar interests, their relationship eventually developed into a romantic one. They would later be married despite her family disapproving of the match. They went to live in Dublin, Ireland where Tom got a job as a journalist.Hired to be the Crawley family chauffeur, Tom Branson inspired Lady Sybil to get involved in political causes, and over time they developed a romantic relationship, later marrying despite the reservations of her family, and living in Dublin, Ireland where Tom gets a job as a journalist.

By Christmas 1919, Tom and Sybil were expecting their first child. It was in 1920 that they returned to Downton Abbey to visit the Crawley family and attend her sister Mary's wedding. Months later, Tom shocked the Crawley family when he arrived at Downton after fleeing Ireland without Sybil, leaving her to arrive the following day. Due to the trouble he had got himself in, Tom had been forbidden from returning to Ireland, so he and his wife began living at Downton. Sybil later gave birth to their first and only child, a daughter, but died shortly afterwards of eclampsia with Tom and her family at her side, leaving Tom, the Crawley family and their staff devastated. Tom named his daughter after his late wife and christened her Sybil.[5]

Quotes

• "No one ever learned anything from a governess except for French, and how to curtsy."

—Lady Sybil on women going to school and the inefficiency of governesses.

• "I'm interested! I'm political! I have opinions!"

—Episode 1.06

• "We can just lie back and look at the stars."

—to her husband

• "I don't know why we bother with corsets. Men don't wear them, and they look perfectly normal in their clothes."

—to her sister, Mary Crawley

• "I think it's terrific that people make their own lives. Especially women."

—to housemaid Gwen Dawson

• "I know what it is to work now. To have a full day, to be tired in a good way. I don't want to start dress fittings or paying calls or standing behind the guns."

—to her sister, Edith Crawley

• "I can't just stand by while they give their lives."

—to Isobel Crawley, expressing her need to do something.

• "It's doing nothing that's the enemy."

—to her sister, Edith Crawley

• "We need peace, and safety. Downton can offer us both."

—to her husband Tom Branson on why they should stay at Downton Abbey. [6]

Bibliography

. Downton Abbey Wiki. 2022. Sybil Branson. [online] Available at: <https://downtonabbey.fandom.com/wiki/Sybil_Branson> [Accessed 6 February 2022].

. Soap Opera Wiki. 2022. Lady Sybil Branson. [online] Available at: <https://soaps.fandom.com/wiki/Lady_Sybil_Branson> [Accessed 6 February 2022].

. Imdb.com. 2022. [online] Available at: <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606375/> [Accessed 6 February 2022].