Lady Desdemona Rowle (née Malfoy) (14 June, 1672 - 11 April, 1751) was a pure-blood witch, the seventh child of thirteen born to Saturnius Malfoy, the 10th Duke of Wiltshire, and Ambrosia Malfoy (nèe Sidney), Duchess of Wiltshire. She was born in Marlborough at Malfoy Manor. She had one brother and eleven sisters.
She had a twin sister, Cosette, who did not survive childhood. She married Theophilius Rowle in 1690, and had three children with him over the course of ten years. They were Damocles, Alphonse, and Helga.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Lady Desdemona Malfoy was born on 14 June, 1672, to Ambrosia Sidney, Duchess of Wiltshire, in Malfoy Manor, Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, alongside her twin sister, Cosette. Her father was Saturnius Malfoy, 10th Duke of Wiltshire. At the time of her birth, Desdemona had six older sisters, Aurelia, Hermia, Portia, Drusilla, Ophelia, and Aquila.
Over the course of her childhood, Drusilla's mother, Ambrosia, had six more children. Many of them, including Desdemona's older sisters Ophelia, Aquila, and younger sisters Cosette, and Saturnina, died young. Desdemona and her sisters' births were considered great disappointments by Saturnius Malfoy, who longed for a male heir.
When she was seven years old, her twin sister, Cosette, died of dragon pox.
Hogwarts years[]
Desdemona was the sixth Malfoy daughter to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her older sister, Aurelia, was sent to court and never to school, which some historians find odd. Nevertheless, Desdemona began her education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in September 1683. She was sorted into Slytherin House on 1 September, 1683.
Later life[]
After Desdemona left Hogwarts, she became betrothed to Theophilius Rowle, a member of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Rowle, another prominent pure-blood familiy in the Wizarding World. They married in 1690, when Desdemona was eighteen years old.
Over the course of ten years, Desdemona gave birth to three children with Rowle: They were Damocles, Alphonse, and Helga. She died on 11 April, 1751, at the age of 78, near Devil's Dyke, West Sussex, England.
Etymology[]
Desdemona is universally remembered as William Shakespeare's “ill-fated” wife in his great tragedy “The Tragedy of Othello, A Moor in Venice” (c. 1602). The name comes from the Greek “dysdaimon” (δυσδαιμων) which means, appropriately, “ill-starred”.