Kenway Mansion

The Kenway Mansion was the estate of the Kenway family, located in Queen Anne's Square in London, England. The pirate-turned-Assassin Edward Kenway lived in the estate with his second wife Tessa, daughter Jennifer, and son Haytham for a decade following his return from the Caribbean, until his death in 1735. The mansion would subsequently be inherited by Tessa and then Jennifer, who lived there until her death in 1805.

In the 19th century, the estate was purchased by the British Rite of the Templar Order, who sought to uncover its secrets. In 1868, both the Templar Lucy Thorne and the Assassins Evie Frye and Henry Green discovered that a clue to the location of a Shroud of Eden hidden by Edward could be found within the mansion. The Assassins ultimately retrieved the clue first and escaped from their Templar assailants.

History[edit | edit source]

18th century[edit | edit source]

After he was pardoned by Robert Walpole, Edward Kenway and his daughter Jennifer moved to London.^[1] He purchased the manor on Queen Anne's Square with help from Tessa Stephenson-Oakley, whom he eventually married.^[2] Though no longer a pirate, Edward kept memorabilia of his life on the sea at the mansion, including a secret basement vault which concealed Assassin history and other mementos, such as the helm of his old ship, the Jackdaw.^[3]

In January 1725, while Edward was away on a mission to find Pieces of Eden in Southeast Asia, three British Assassins arrived at the mansion to speak with Tessa. They warned her about a plot threatening her husband's life,^[4] as Adéwalé had discovered that the Templars had knowingly lured Edward to Asia in the hopes of eliminating him.^[5] Tessa subsequently journeyed to Asia herself to find Edward and tell him about the plot, but unbeknownst to her, Jennifer had eavesdropped on Tessa's conversation with the Assassins and decided to follow her, stowing away on her ship.^[6]

On 4 December 1725, Tessa gave birth to her and Edward's son, Haytham, who was subsequently raised in the mansion by his parents and private tutors. Edward's past as a pirate distanced the family from their neighbors, and Haytham grew up a lonely child, unable to make any friends, while being unknowingly trained as an Assassin by Edward.^[2]

On 3 December 1735, the mansion was attacked by mercenaries under the employ of the British Templars' Grand Master, Reginald Birch, who sought Edward's journal, hidden in a secret compartment in the games room. During the assault, Edward was killed, Jennifer was kidnapped, and the house was set ablaze. Afterwards, Tessa allowed Birch to take legal guardianship of Haytham, unaware of Birch's role in the attack. She oversaw repairs to the mansion and passed away after suffering a fall in 1747.^[2]

Following Birch's death at the hands of Haytham, who had become a Templar himself, and Jennifer ten years later,^[2] Jennifer returned to Queen's Anne Square to live in the mansion as a spinster, only keeping a skeleton staff to maintain the place.^[7]

In April 1788, the French Templar Élise de la Serre and her maidservant Hélène infiltrated the mansion at the behest of Peter Carroll and his wife. Posing as "Yvonne Albertine" and her aide, the two women had been tasked to retrieve Haytham Kenway's letters, missives written to Jennifer during Haytham's time in the British Colonies that were kept somewhere in the house. During their visit, Jennifer took Élise to Hyde Park, where she told the young woman her family's history; in the meantime, Hélène used the opportunity to search the house for the letters, but was caught by the household staff.^[7]

Returning from the outing to the games room, Jennifer revealed that she had investigated "Yvonne" and concluded she did not exist. In addition, she informed Élise that the Carrolls had murdered Lucio Albertine and his mother some weeks earlier. Despite equal animosity towards the Assassins and the Templars for the indiscriminate violence wrought in their perpetual conflict, Jennifer believed Élise could learn from Haytham's words and ultimately decided to give her the letters, on the conditions that the Templars leave Jennifer alone for the remainder of her life, and that Élise would attempt to unite both factions.^[7]

19th century[edit | edit source]

Out of respect for Haytham, the Templars stayed away from the mansion, at least until the death of Jennifer in 1805, following which they quietly purchased the estate. Decades later, in 1868, the mansion was infiltrated by the Assassins Evie Frye and Henry Green, who were in search of clues to the whereabouts of Precursor artifacts, specifically a Shroud of Eden. Their investigation led them to uncover Edward's secret vault, but they were forced to abandon it to avoid being caught by the Templar Lucy Thorne.^[8]

In 1888, twenty years after Evie and her brother Jacob had weakened the British Templars' hold over London, Lady Olwyn Owers hosted a meeting at the Kenway Mansion to make an announcement regarding her efforts to save prostitutes in Whitechapel from their sinful ways. In her investigations into the actions of Jack the Ripper, Evie infiltrated the meeting, where she learned from Nellie that Lady Owers was providing information to Jack via her network of brothels, allowing the killer to rule the streets of London through fear.^[9]