Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The real Po Cornis followe vividly to the fortun hunky
With his washboard six-pack and brooding eyes, Aidan Turner has made Ross Poldark one of the hottest heroes in costume drama history.
And millions of fans – a few of them men – will tune in tomorrow to BBC One for the return of the hit period piece.
Series four promises more close encounters, with even the new doctor stripping to rival the captain’s charms.
But Cornish culture buffs, and fans of the books on which the drama is based, will be focusing on the history. Many will ask: “Who was the real Ross Poldark?”
Author Winston Graham, who died 15 years ago at 95, was inspired by real events and characters as he wrote his 12 romantic novels, starting in 1945.
He admitted Poldark’s facial scar and “physical characteristics” were based on a injured flying officer he met on a train during the Second World War — but he claimed there was never one real Ross.
Yet there is a historic Cornish character whose life bears striking similarities to the tricorn hatwearing hero. And rather worryingly for Aidan Turner fans, his selfless fate would be a dream storyline for TV scriptwriters looking for a shock finale.
His name was Thomas Hawkins, a wealthy 18thcentury mine-owner who cared for workers’ welfare, just like Poldark.
He married for love before he and wife Anne lost two children in tragic circumstances – while Ross and Demelza saw their baby Julia, die from diphtheria. He was also an MP – and viewers will remember that our hero has promised to go into politics to fight for justice.
Thomas’s descendant, Michael Galsworthy, who lives on the family’s 300year-old estate near Truro, certainly sees the similarities. And the author told him his characters were based on Cornish “gentry” akin to his