Editing Harry Flashman (section)

==Flashman's origins==
Fraser gave Flashman a lifespan from 1822 to 1915 and a birth-date of 5 May. He also provided Flashman's first and middle names, as Hughes's novel had given Flashman only one, using the names to make an ironic allusion to [[Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey]].  Paget was one of the heroes of [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]], who [[cuckold]]ed the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]]'s brother [[Henry Wellesley, 1st Baron Cowley|Henry Wellesley]] and later—in one of the period's more celebrated scandals—married [[Charlotte Paget, Marchioness of Anglesey|Lady Anglesey]], after Wellesley had divorced her for adultery.<ref>[[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] ''et al''., Arthur Aspinall, ed., ''The Later Correspondence of George III'' ([[Cambridge University Press]], 1962), [https://books.google.com/books?id=q-w8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA293 p. 293]</ref>

In ''[[Flashman (novel)|Flashman]]'', Flashman says that his great-grandfather, Jack Flashman, made the family fortune in America, trading in rum, [[slavery|slaves]] and "[[piracy]] too, I shouldn't wonder". Despite their wealth, the Flashmans "were never the thing"; Flashman quotes the diarist [[Henry William Greville|Henry Greville's]] comment that "the coarse streak showed through, generation after generation, like dung beneath a rosebush". Harry Flashman's equally fictional father, Henry Buckley Flashman, appears in ''[[Black Ajax]]'' (1997). Buckley, a bold young officer in the British cavalry, is said to have been wounded in action at [[Battle of Talavera|Talavera]] in 1809, and then to have gained access to "society" by sponsoring [[Bare-knuckle boxing|bare-knuckle boxer]] [[Tom Molineaux]] (the first black man to contend for a championship). The character subsequently marries Flashman's mother Lady Alicia Paget, a fictional relation of the real [[Marquess of Anglesey]]. Buckley, it is related, also served as a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) but was "sent to the knacker's yard at [[Reform Act 1832|Reform]]". Beside politics, the older Flashman character has interests including drinking, [[fox hunting]] (riding to hounds), and women.