Linette Kenway

Linette Kenway (née Hopkins) was a farmer from Cardiff, Wales, the wife of Bernard Kenway, and the mother of Edward Kenway. She was the grandmother of Edward's two children, Haytham Kenway and Jennifer Scott, as well as the great-grandmother of Haytham's son, Ratonhnhaké:ton. Through this line, she is an ancestor of Desmond and William Miles, Victor Flores Castillo, and Noa Kim.

Biography

Early life

Hailing from Cardiff, Linette fell in love with an Englishman from Manchester, Bernard Kenway, whom she married. The pair settled in Swansea and had a daughter together, though she would die during infancy. In 1693, they had another child, a boy, whom they named Edward James Kenway.

In 1703, Linette and her family moved to Hatherton, a village near Bristol, where they ran a small household keeping sheep. The family was respected by their neighbors, even if at the edge of adulthood, Edward was known for frequenting the taverns. Having basic skill in reading, Linette took care of the book-keeping while her husband took care of the farm and Edward was in charge of the trips to the city for the sales.

Initial troubles

At one point, in the Auld Shillelagh, Edward provoked the anger of Tom Cobleigh, his son and their associate when he fought them to keep Tom from raping Rose, the maidservant of Caroline Scott whom the three had gotten drunk. Two days later, the group slaughtered two of the Kenways' sheep and placed the carcasses in front of the Kenway house, where they were discovered by Linette.

When Edward won the heart of an already engaged Caroline Scott, Linette and Bernard were present at their wedding and witnessed Emmett Scott disowning his own daughter for her misalliance. They gave shelter to the young couple at their home, but Edward's ambitions would continue to cause tension. Eventually, Caroline, disappointed in her husband's plans of becoming a privateer, left the Kenway farmstead for her father's house. This broke Linette's heart, as she had become fond of the young woman and saw her as the daughter she had lost.

In late 1712, a group of hooded men were sent by Caroline's father to burn down the Kenway farmstead. This occurred while Linette and Bernard were sleeping inside and when Edward was in Bristol, setting out for his life as a privateer. Due to his departure being delayed, Edward ventured back to Hatherton and witnessed the men at his farm, but despite his attempts to defend his home, the group pinned him to the ground and beat him before leaving. Afterward, Edward alerted his parents to the fire, but the outcome was dire: the fire had killed all the livestock. It was due to this that Bernard disowned his son, and before Linette could say anything, Edward left.

Later life

Following the attack on their farm, the Kenways descended into poverty, forcing Linette to work in the Auld Shillelagh. In December 1717, Bernard died of pleurisy and Linette sent a letter to her son informing him of his father's death, while worrying about the rumors which announced that Edward had became a pirate. Years later, having heard that Caroline had died of smallpox, she tried to go to the funeral, but the Scotts forbade her from entering the cemetery.

Linette saw her son again in 1723, when Edward came back to Bristol with her granddaughter, Jennifer. Edward came to see his exhausted mother in the tavern where she was working, with the intention of taking care of her now that he had money, and he informed her of his intentions to kill the Templars who had ordered the burning of his parents' farm – Emmett Scott, Aubrey Hague, and Wilson. Horrified by the killer he had become during his time in the West Indies and by his plans to commit more murders, she disowned him too like her husband before her, calling Edward "no-son-of-mine" in front of everyone in the Auld Shillelagh. Linette then threatened Edward to get out of the Auld Shillelagh before she would call the guards.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Initiates (first mentioned)
• Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (indirect mention only)
• Assassin's Creed: Black Flag (first appearance)