Tom Branson (Allen Leech) and his beautiful little girl, Sybbie (Fifi Hart) in a formal picture...
Tom Branson was a central character on the series, Downton Abbey. He was played for most of the series run, as well as the two feature films that was based on the series, by actor Allen Leech.
From Chauffeur to Gentry[]
A native of Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland (an area located outside of Dublin), Tom Branson was first introduced to Downton Abbey in the first series (season) as the Crawley family's chauffeur.
He was also a very strident socialist, who was not very accepting of the gentry and their stranglehold on the world.
We are introduced to him in the fourth episode of the first series. He became the new Chauffeur after the previous one, Taylor, would move on and open up a tea shop. While employed there, he would fall in love with Lady Sybil Crawley, whom he discovered was just as political as he was.
After he tried to go off to war (he was refused to be drafted because of a heart murmur), he would finally get Sybil to accept his proposal of marriage. They would elope to Gretna Green (today which would be illegal, as that ended in the 1940s), with only her sisters to witness. A man named Starke would replace Tom as the family's chauffeur.
He and Sybil would return for Lady Mary Crawley and Matthew Crawley's marriage. He would be named best man after Larry Grey, a spiteful former suitor of Sybil's, tried to spike his drink with a drug that made him drunk.
Tom and Sybbie[]
And in a picture, where they share a playful moment, showing the love that Tom has for Sybbie.
Soon, he would become the father of a daughter, Sybil Branson II. Soon after her birth, her mother would die of Eclampsia. This would thrust Tom into becoming both mother and father to his newborn baby daughter (a rarity in those days).
He threw himself into it with a vengeance, as he was the only parent Sybbie had. It was clear to everyone that he adored his daughter and to him, the sun rose and set on her. He cherished the times that he and Sybbie could walk the grounds of the abbey and spend time together as father and daughter.
In a way, which would sometimes aggravate Sybbie's nanny, he would sometimes try to sneak into the nursery and kiss his little girl good morning, reminding him of when his mother would do the same to him and Kieran.
He would work hard to teach Sybbie about her Irish heritage (she was half-British, from Sybil's side of the family and half Irish from Tom's side), when she grew up.
Tom's life after Sybil[]
A broken-hearted Tom (Allen Leech) getting comfort from Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) as he is trying to cope with being alone after Sybil's death.
Tom would be the target of a crush by conniving housemaid later Lady's maid, Edna Braithwaite, but her scheme would not come to anything, as she would be sacked by Mrs. Hughes, one of Tom's friends from his days as a chauffeur, after trying to trap him into marriage.
He would fall for a teacher named Sarah Bunting, who was a socialist .
His mother in-law, Cora Crawley was more amenable to him, and was more compassionate towards him. In fact, she reminded Edith that her mother knew about Tom and was more amenable to him marrying Sybil as the Levinson bloodline wasn't as blue as the Crawley's. She loved him the moment that he married into the family.
It was she who would coin the name "Sybbie" for her eldest granddaughter, explaining that it was similar but different, and she would bond close with her, as she was the most tangible link to her late youngest daughter.
As a christening gift from his late and beloved Sybil, Tom would be named the new Estate agent (the idea would be the brainwave of Violet Crawley) due to his practical knowledge of farming.
At the request of Sybil, Sybbie would be christened as a Catholic, like her father. Her godparents would be her aunt Mary, and her uncle Kieran.
After Sarah Bunting mercifully left Downton, he would later catch the eye of (and vice versa) of a woman named Laura Edmunds. They would meet at a racing event at Brooklands.
Laura was the editor of his sister in-law, Lady Edith Pelham's magazine, The Sketch. To Tom, he had come a long way from his beginnings as a outspoken and very socialistic chauffeur.
At first, he would have many problems of where he was, especially with the crafty Edna undermining him. But his friend, Mrs. Hughes, convinced him that he was the bridge between the upstairs family and the servants.
He went to Boston with Sybbie, but they eventually came back to life on Downton for the rest of their lives.
They would come to the wedding of Carson and Mrs. Hughes, and surprised everyone in the village with their appearance, and a happy and touching reunion between the family ensued.
Tom would eventually run a car business with his new brother in law, Henry Talbot.
In the first movie, Tom, normally not a great fan of the monarchy, ends up assisting the royal family in many ways during their visit.
First, he fends off an assassination attempt on the king by a spiteful Irish republican who was promptly arrested, then he offered some kind advice to Princess Mary, although he didn't realize at that point who she was.
He was also quite smitten with Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton), the lady's maid to Maud, Lady Bagshaw, Queen Mary's lady in waiting, but, unbeknownst to all, was her daughter.
At the grand dance, Lucy and Tom danced in the balcony outside to the waltz and it was clear they were in love. In fact, Violet schemed to bring them together, if only to bring Brampton back under the Crawley family banner.
In the second movie, Tom and Lucy finally marry with everyone both his upstairs and downstairs families in attendance.
His daughter, Sybbie, became very close to her (after not having had a mother figure most of her life) and Lucy grew to love her as well. They would give birth to another child, who is Sybbie's half sibling.
Tom and Lucy accompany the family to the South of France to a villa that would be bequeathed to Sybbie by her Granny Violet.
Violet wanted to make sure Sybbie would be on the same societal and financial footing as the rest of her great grandchildren.
Lucy, especially, wants to use Sybbie's new Villa as a gathering place for the family to visit every year, eventually becoming a family tradition.
Lucy and Tom are also in the room, along with the rest of the family when Violet passes away.
The final scene shows Tom and Lucy, along with Sybbie and their new baby as they enter Downton.
With a nod of approval from Carson, who had long since buried any animosity with Tom, the happy family is visiting and bonding with the others, both upstairs and the downstairs staff (notably, Anna, Bates, Daisy, Mrs. Hughes, and Mrs. Patmore), with a new and imposing painting of the late Violet dominating the hallway.