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Charles, Winston Cochroft, born January 1887,
son of Cameron and Amelia Cochroft. Cameron, and Amelia Cochroft were both upstanding pillars of Arkham community, until their sudden and untimely deaths in August 1915. Cameron Cochroft, a renowned medical practitioner in Arkham, was a true servant to the profession and to his community. He was loved by the rich as well as the poor, more so by the latter due to his generous and unselfish nature towards those less fortunate. Every Wednesday of the week, he made the trip down to lower Arkham to treat the poor, mostly at his own expense. Although there was never really any money to pay for his services, he was rewarded in many other ways. For one, he was never short of labour when a crisis demanded it on his estate and there was always some or other grateful widow delivering a cake or some sort of baked delight as a gesture of gratitude. Amelia Cochroft, a Romanian of noble birth, fervently supported her husband in his work through organising fundraisers and charity balls. |
Both are said to have died from a deadly, unknown virus. Their son Charles, at that time was away earning his professorship in Chemistry and Archaeology at Oxford University and is somewhat of a mystery to the locals, having spent most of his life away from Arkham, earning an expensive, private education. Nobody really knows much about him, as he is a very private person. He returned briefly to Arkham for the funeral and to oversee to unfinished matters of his father's, and now his by heritage, vast estate. A week after the funeral, the 28 year old Charles returned to Oxford to complete his education. At the beginning of the following year, the newly crowned Professor Cochroft, was contracted by the Romanian government to excavate a site near the village of Goulash, in southern Romania. The excavation claimed two years of his life. In December 1917, his work was rewarded when he excavated the decapitated remains of Vlad Dracul, otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler, as well as the merciless ruler's battle armour, sword and signet ring, from a hidden tomb in the hills of Goulash. The remains of the Walachian lord was previously believed to have been secretly buried at Snagov Abbey, from where it later mysteriously disappeared. The finding of the tomb made him famous in Romania, where Vlad Dracul is still revered as a folk hero. By retrieving the long lost remains of a legendary hero, Charles became a hero himself and being half-Romanian was proclaimed "Treasure to the people of Romania." His reputation began to grow and soon he became the hottest topic in the archaeological world.
After his excavations in Romania, Charles returned to Arkham for several months. In that time he stayed at Cochroft Cottage, with Nell, the middle aged family housekeeper, and not at Cochroft manor the family estate, as would have been expected. The latter is run by a skeleton staff, with James Peabody the butler and Tom Hacket the foreman, being the most noteworthy. Tom, a good-natured fellow, oversees the Cochroft farmlands and cattle stock and is a close friend of Charles. A frequent visitor to town, Tom is a likeable man. By order of Charles Cochroft, Tom regularly delivers fresh vegetables and meat to the underprivileged of Arkham. James Peabody on the other hand, is a very stiff lipped, aristocratic man in his late middle ages. He oversees Cochroft manor and keeps Charles informed of matters regarding the estate while he is abroad doing research, or excavating.
After taking a well earned rest, Charles left for Turkey where he was to co-ordinate the search for the fabled Ark of Noah, in a joint Turkish, and American venture. As project leader of the expedition, Charles was once again in the limelight. With vast amounts of financial backing and enough manpower, he soon had a base camp up and running on the heights of Ararat's snow covered peaks. A cable car transported men to the summit, while equipment was jacked up with a monstrous winch. A daily excavation of the glacier, where the Ark was believed to be frozen under, was both dangerous and taxing on both body and soul. Ararat is covered with snow right through the year, accounting for near polar conditions, with the biggest culprits being the high altitude and extreme wind chill factor.
In November, 1920 the team had their first breakthrough, when their tunnel to the heart of the glacier struck organic matter. Closer inspection revealed that the matter was a thick wooden beam. The next stage of the project was to widen the tunnel to a cave in the area of the find. As the grotto grew larger within the icy tomb, the team uncovered more of what looked like the intact hull of a large boat. At that point the team was confident of recovering the Ark in near perfect condition, but these hopes were dashes three months later when further excavations revealed that the forward section of the boat had been crushed under the weight of the glacier. Nonetheless, the team was able to penetrate the intact section of the boat and found various pieces of ancient pottery and furniture inside, all frozen solid and marvellously preserved. The boat was built in layers and contained many cubicle compartments, where traces of frozen animal droppings and fur were found. Various species of animals were identified by these means, most of them non domestic, like lama, rhino and panda to name but a few. Further excavation and testing is still taking place, but many scientists, archaeologists, historians and religious leaders agree that the finding can be none other than Noah's Ark. There is no logical explanation as to how a boat of such proportions could have found it's way to the summit of Turkey's highest mountain other than having run aground during the receding stages of a vast flood. The findings after being publisized, sent shock waves through the world, forcing many to review their beliefs in regard to earth's history. Religious groups were in ecstacy and scientists in uproar as they fumbled for explanations as to the findings a boat that seemingly matched the measurements of the Ark of Genesis, exactly.
With the limelight once again fixed squarely on him and having done his immediate part, Charles handed the project over to some of his lesser colleagues, so as to do a brief tour of the world's most noteworthy educational icons, whereafter he returned to Arkham. At present he is still in Arkham, residing at Cochroft Cottage, where he is taking a much-needed rest from his demanding work schedule. The social groups in Arkham is once again hounding the aloof and mysterious Professor, presenting him with invitation upon invitation to either speak at "their" institutional gatherings, or join their ranks as an honourary member. As yet he has neither accepted not rejected any of the offers. Charles Cochroft, also a gifted chemical scientist, has received countless accolades for his revolutionary techniques in artefact preservation and restoration. Rumour has it that he is currently validating research that could uncover a long, lost gold statue of Nebuchadnezzar, a Babylonian king, who sought to be worshipped as a god amongst his people by having a 81 foot high and almost 8 foot wide, gold statue of himself erected on the plain of Dora for all to bow down to.