In Barefoot on the Cobbles’ divide between ‘us and them’, that is characteristic of early twentieth century society, Mr Caird is unequivocally one of ‘them’. As such, he is distanced from Clovelly’s villagers, acting as a buffer between them and the Lady of the Manor, Mrs Hamlyn.

George Charles Caird was agent to the Clovelly estate. He was born in Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland, in 1865, the son of George Scott Caird and his wife Christian née Sharpe. His father was a solicitor and procurator fiscal, so Caird grew up in a comfortably off household in Evan Street, Fetteresso. By 1901, Mr Caird was working as a factor’s clerk in Roxboroughshire and here he met his wife, Hellen Hall Thomson, who was living with her uncle at Huntlaw Farm in Minto. Together they moved to Clovelly where their only child, Hellen Christian Drawhill Caird, was born in 1904. They lived firstly at Slerra, Upper Clovelly and then in the village, at number 21 but Mr Caird’s role probably prevented them from being regarded as villagers. Mr Caird died in 1922; his widow and daughter remained at 21 Clovelly until the second world war, when his wife died and his daughter married.

‘Mr Caird called to present Mrs Hamlyn’s good wishes and to enquire after Daisy. Remembering the last time he had visited, Polly was reluctant to invite him in. Only the thought that other people might overhear what he had to say persuaded her to grudgingly open the door wider and usher the dapper little man inside. He brushed down his immaculate, tweed plus-fours and rested the stout stick that he always carried against the chimney breast. The stick was an affectation, rather than a necessary aid; Mr Caird was fit for his fifty years.’

Barefoot on the Cobbles will be published on 17 November 2018. More information about the novel can be found here. Copies will be available at various events in the weeks following the launch or can be pre-ordered from Blue Poppy Publishing or the author.