Jacob Chadwick

Jacob Robert Chadwick (b. 26th September 1976) has been a resident of North Grove from 1976 - 1994 and from 2006 - 2009 and 2014.

He is the son of Dale Chadwick and Aisha Begum, the husband of Penny Chadwick and the father of Darren Isaac and Evie.

Childhood
Jacob was born into poverty at North Grove General Hospital to teenage parents Dale Chadwick and Aisha Begum. His mother was born to immigrant parents from India and his father was a victim of the Care Home System.

His younger sister Evie was born in 1977 and in 1978 his father Dale left. Jacob or his mother haven't heard from him since.

Growing up in poverty and with hardly any help from the state, Jacob was bullied relentlessly in school. His mother could only speak basic English and racial slurs were thrown at Jacob and his family for years. Even in his little sister was bullied which enraged Jacob.

Jacob was never close to his maternal grandparents who had moved more North into Lancashire. They occasionally went but his grandparents resented the fact that she wasn't a practicing Muslim.

Teenage Years
Jacob began to teach himself to fight after the advice from Vic Peters, the landlord of the local pub. He was one of the few who gave him and his family refuge against the other families and Jacob always held Vic to his heart.

This led Jacob to a more personal introduction to Sean Jones who had also began to teach himself to fight. The two got along fairly well but it was a tense friendship after Jacob managed to beat Sean in one of his first serious fights.

Jacob also began to catch the eye of Laura Green and they began to date briefly from 1989. Jacob enjoyed being in her company as he felt that she was genuine and helped look after Evie who was in her year at school.

By 1991, Jacob and Laura had ended things but they remained friends for the sake of Evie. Laura was too much of a free spirit for Jacob who was always serious.

Jacob's mother had been piling the pressure onto Jacob to help with the bills and so he picked up three jobs which kept hi busy after high school and after college. It was because of this extra time away from home that he didn't notice his sister hanging around with a bad crowd of people.

Evie was essentially being groomed but Jacob didn't notice until it was too late. On 8th August 1992, Evie went missing. Jacob believed she was at Laura's and didn't even bother to look for her until the day after when he saw Laura and she admitted to not having seen Evie in a few weeks.

Looking around for her, he even managed to get his mother out of the house to look for her. Despite the community getting together and the police, nobody managed to find her. The disappearance of his only real friend was driving Jacob into a depressed frenzy. Although the community initially helped, he felt like it wasn't enough and he began to self-destruct.

For two years, he hardly spoke to his mother who he felt didn't do enough and he didn't stop looking. He drove everyone away from him, including Laura until all he did was look for his little sister.

On 7th March 1994, Jacob received a knock on his door which changed his life. Dylan Watson (Laura's younger brother) and his friend Nick Green were walking Dylan's dog when they came across a body in some woods about seven miles out of North Grove. The body belonged to that of Jacob's little sister Evie Chadwick.

The news rocked the country but it did something else to Jacob.

Adulthood
Jacob had been saving up from the jobs he had taken and by the time he had turned 18 years old, he had saved up enough money for a plane ticket to Amsterdam and enough to get him through the summer months to travel through Europe.

He felt suffocated living in the small town and left.

He travelled to every continent (bar Antarctica) and met some interesting people as he escaped the loss of his sister and worked to keep going.

In 2002, he settled down in Perth, Australia. He managed to get a job in bar and worked to earn his keep. The couple had five children including Penny and Simon who were a few years younger than Jacob but he got along with them well and he enjoyed the weather and the people.

In May 2006, his mother became severely ill after taking a tumble down some stairs. Jacob panicked and knew he needed to fly back to North Grove but didn't know how to do it considering he still associated the place with his bullies and his deceased sister. Penny and her brother Simon decided they were going to go with him to give him some support.

On the journey home, Jacob and Penny started to admit their feelings for each other but Jacob felt like he couldn't act on them as Penny was eight years his junior and he felt like he would be taking away her chance to have a life. She dismissed the claims and said they would make it work.

Coming back to North Grove, Jacob suffered terribly as he saw everything that reminded him of her. He bumped into Laura who just smiled at him and wished him well and then he saw his mother. She had been diagnosed with cervical cancer.

He knew he needed to support his mum so he told Penny and Simon that he was staying in North Grove for the near future. Penny promised that she would be back and after the month of their stay. By November 2006, Penny and Simon had returned on more permanent visa.

In 2007, Penny became unexpectedly pregnant which meant she had to stay in England longer than she initially planned. She wanted to be with Jacob but she was missing her home and suggested they bring his mother to Australia where she would still be able to get treatment.

Jacob asked his mum who flat out refused. She had never been to see her grandparents in India and she didn't plan on going to Australia either. She didn't like to go far from North Grove and becoming even more ill, Jacob knew it would have been a bad idea as well.

His mother eventually got better and their son Darren was born in late 2007. The Chadwick' stayed in North Grove for two more years but in 2009, decided to move back to Australia. Penny's brother Simon stayed behind in North Grove after finding love with Harry Oakley.

Life Back In Australia
Jacob loved living in Australia and he felt better knowing that Simon would look out for his mother in case the cancer came back or if anything else happened.

Penny and his relationship also got better and stronger and in 2010, they married in a quiet ceremony on the beach. In 2012, they welcomed another child Isaac.

Jacob enjoyed having his family around him and he felt more at ease but it didn't mean he wasn't missing his mother. Simon got her using Skype so she could see her grandchildren but he did feel guilty that she hadn't yet been able to see Isaac in the flesh.

In 2014, the four of them planned to visit North Grove again in the spring for a month.

The Hostage Situation
His family had gone into Manchester to do a bit of shopping so Jacob figured he would go to the Grey Lion Pub and have a few pints while he waited. His mother had gone with them so he had nothing better to do.

It was unfortunate timing however, as the pub quickly became embroiled in a siege. He didn't know any of the people involved apart from Ivy Holt who was now Ivy Jones and Terry Fox.

Jacob stayed quiet and when the guns went off, he helped to keep the pressure on the wounds while they tried to negotiate a way to get them out of the building as he knew his basic First Aid through training courses he had been on while travelling.

After The Hostage Situation
Jacob was visibly shook as the death of Lizzie Redding made him think about his little sister again. He felt like he was to blame for a little girl being taken away from her mother. He felt like he could have done more and he felt her death on his conscience.

Penny felt awful for what he had been through and tried to help him but in the middle of the night he would wake up in cold sweats. Even when they returned to Australia, he just couldn't forget what had happened. He began to see a therapist but he couldn't ''forget. ''

It took months but Jacob began to feel a bit better again and in 2016, Penny announced her third pregnancy. On 1st January 2017, she gave birth to a daughter Evie with whom Jacob attached a strong connection straight away.

Family
Mother: Aisha Begum

Father: Dale Chadwick

Sister: Eveline Chadwick

Wife: Penny Chadwick (nee. Walters)

Sons: Darren and Isaac

Daughter: Evie

Brother-In-Law: Simon Oakley

Grandparents: Shabnaaz and Halal Begum