Change

Science fiction is about change, sometimes about "the Change," and thus about life. We have all experienced social and technological change in a lifetime. Poul Anderson's time travelers and immortals see more of it. Traditionally in England, accents differed and mattered. Decades ago, one of my father's colleagues, a fully qualified and successful mining engineer, spoke with a noticeable and pronounced regional accent. My father commented, "George will not get any further in our company until he is prepared to do something about his elocution. This is something that people are just not prepared to recognize!" I disliked that remark when I heard it. Nowadays, equal opportunities job interviewing ensures that each candidate is considered only in terms of his qualifications and suitability for the advertised vacancy.

I was reminded of this when a new SM Stirling character, Lady Philippa Balwyn-Abercrombie, spoke with:

"...an accent that exuded arrogant self-confidence even to people who didn't know the background..."
-SM Stirling, Prince Of Outcasts (New York, 2017), Chapter Eleven, p. 224.

History and historical fiction are also about change. Stirling summarizes the Balwyn-Abercrombie family history:

from William the Conqueror's time;
barons;
crusaders;
Cavaliers;
enclosers of commons;
colonial plunderers;
flint-hearted oppressors of the poor;
honorary members of corporate boards;
general n'er-do-wells;
"...she was some sort of distant cousin of the current King-Emperor." (ibid.)

I googled the surname but what came up was this character. See here.