The Winthrop Barony was once well-respected (if not necessarily influential) among the peerage of England, but it had fallen on hard times due to mismanagement of the family's funds by Alexander's father, the Baron of Winthrop. Before Alexander was even born, the Baron had spent a good deal of money in the gambling halls and brothels of London, bringing both disgrace and debt onto the family. And when he drank himself to death when Alexander was only three, it was up to Alex's mother (and a handful of loyal servants) to raise him into a fine young man.

Alexander, for his part, turned out to be a brilliant young man, who had an unusual facility for machines and clockwork. Alexander's mother worked hard to ensure her son would have the best education possible, and he did her proud, entering Oxford at the young age of 16, and completing his doctoral thesis at 22. He has grabbed the attention of both the noble class and the academic elite, but, following his own peculiar whims, he decided to join the QEQO instead of settling into a more comfortable position befitting his station.

Alexander's biggest strength is his biggest weakness: namely, that he always marches to the beat of his own drum. He seems almost oblivious to the thoughts of people around him, and he has a bad tendency to take people at face value, even when he clearly shouldn't. He's also as subtle as a brick through a stained glass window, and roughly as iconoclastic. It is thus unsurprising that, despite his intelligence and accomplishments, his mother has had difficulty finding a spouse for the young Baron. He hates to disappoint his mother, but he can no more stop his pursuit of the greater mysteries than he could stop breathing. At least, that's how he sees things.