Barbara Lightwood (née Pangborn) was the wife of Benedict Lightwood, and the mother of Gideon, Gabriel, and Tatiana Lightwood.
History[]
At one point, Barbara contracted the demon pox disease from her husband, Benedict. Horrified and ashamed, Barbara committed suicide by slitting her wrists. To cover up the true nature of her suicide, Benedict told everyone that she died of grief after her brother Silas's suicide, but the key to the truth remained in the report of her death in the Silent City.
Despite having died while her children were still young, her eldest, Gideon, who was five at the time of her death, missed her and longed for her. Gabriel, on the other hand, barely remembered her; however, this did not stop him from believing his father's story and partly blaming the Fairchild family, particularly Granville Fairchild, a good friend of Silas who was accused by Benedict as the one who indirectly led to Silas' suicide, and, thus, Barbara's death.[2]
Gideon never fully believed or understood Benedict's story. Thus, when Jem Carstairs found out in 1878 that Barbara died with a shield-shaped rash on her left shoulder, a fact that was on the report of her death kept in the Silent City, Gideon was much more open to believing the truth than his younger siblings were. The truth had since become public knowledge, particularly after Benedict's own demise.[3]
Physical description[]
Prior to her death, Barbara is said to have been tall and slender, and had curling, sandy brown hair and green eyes—physical attributes her children inherited.
Appearances[]
- Vampires, Scones, and Edmund Herondale (mentioned only)
- Clockwork Prince (first mention)
- Clockwork Princess (mentioned only)
- The Midnight Heir (alluded to)
- Secrets of Blackthorn Hall (mentioned only)
Trivia[]
- Her granddaughter, Gideon's daughter Barbara Lightwood, was presumably named after her.[4]
- According to Edmund Herondale, Barbara hastily married Benedict because Edmund broke her heart.[5]
- Rather than have her ashes added to the Silent City as is customary of Shadowhunters, Barbara's ashes were collected in an urn that was kept in the Lightwood tombs in the countryside of London.
- Additionally, Benedict used the urn as a spell component to help hide his secrets in Chiswick House from prying eyes. After it fell and was chipped, Tatiana replaced the urn as part of the spell with Benedict's mourning brooch that contains locks of Barbara's hair.[6]