Unnamed Father of Edward, Judith, Carl and Quentin Collins also known as Geoffrey Collins was the next in line patriarch to the Collins estate from the 1830s till his death in the 1880s. Not much is known about this Collins family member, he never appeared in the series or assigned a name. This article looks at the various clues at to his place within the family.
Geoffrey Collins[]
A possible name for this character is 'Geoffrey Collins', which originates from the fanwork, The Collins Story written by Kathy Resch. Resch is better known as the author of a several self-published episode guides about the series known as Dark Shadows Concordance. For the purposes of simplicity, in an already complex narrative, this Collins family member is referred to as 'Geoffrey' for the remainder of this article, although it should not be taken as a definitive name for the character.
1897[]
Geoffrey was the father of Edward Collins, Judith Collins, Quentin Collins (1897) and Carl Collins. Geoffrey's children referred to Edith Collins as 'Grand-ma-ma' (701), placing her as a likely contender for Geoffrey's mother. Edith's was matriarch of the Collins family from the time of her husband's death in 1863 (705) until her own death in 1897. Edith's husband was not named during this time, although her husband's father was named 'Daniel' (706). Upon Edith's death, control of the Collinwood estate was passed on to Judith (713), suggesting that Geoffrey and any siblings he may have had were all now dead. The most significant clue as to Geoffrey's character was given by Judith in which she described him as a very strict and god fearing man, again the implication being that Geoffrey was dead (764). Edith's continued survival into old age meant Geoffrey never inherited control of the Collinwood estate for himself.
1840[]
A younger Edith Collins appeared during the year 1840; her husband was Gabriel Collins; and Gabriel's elder brother was Quentin Collins (1840) (not to be confused with the Quentin seen in 1897), who was next in line to inherit the family fortune from their father, Daniel Collins (1111). Gabriel and Edith's children (plural) are mentioned who are away at boarding school (1119), Geoffrey is likely to be one of these.
At this time, the Collins family was set upon by the spirit of a warlock named Judah Zachery. Although dead, the Head of Judah Zachery contained the warlock's malevolent spirit, and whoever took possession of the head became Judah's unwilling slave (1117). The head passed through several hands but ultimately came into the possession of a seaman named Gerard Stiles, a friend of Quentin's (1139). Judah took complete possession of Gerard (1142) and used the younger man's personality and charm to insinuate his way into the Collins family fortune, firstly by framing the current heir, Quentin, for witchcraft (1156); then by convincing a senile Daniel to make him (Gerard) the new heir to the Collins estate (1159); and lastly by manipulating Gabriel to cause Daniel's death under the belief that he would be the heir after Quentin was found guilty and beheaded for witchcraft (1160).
Following these events, Edith was killed by her husband Gabriel (1186); Gabriel himself then dies shortly thereafter having fallen from the roof of Collinwood (1191). Judah's scheme ended in total failure with the destruction of the head, and all charges against Quentin were dropped, thus making him the new master of the Collins estate (1198). This means the next in line would either have been his wife Daphne Harridge or his son Tad Collins. This turn of events, with Quentin in place of Gabriel, contradicts the events as previously established during the year 1897, making Geoffrey and his offspring's claim to the family fortune somewhat tenuous.
Paradox ruminations[]
An explanation around the seeming incompatibility between the histories of 1897 and 1840 is that Tad Collins, being an only child, died without producing an heir, which made Geoffrey next in line for the family fortune. This in turn puts the status quo of Collins family as seen during the year 1897 back on course, Edith Collins' absence being the only significant difference. However, with Geoffrey in control of Collinwood estate, it is possible he lived on until 1897 year in Edith's place to pass the fortune on to his daughter Judith Collins. These differences created in the history can be explained away as a changed timeline resulting from the journeys back through time made by Barnabas Collins, who first experiences the events of 1897 before those of 1840. On both occasions Barnabas arrives from the present day with the explicit intention of making changes to the past in order to avert future catastrophes, that of 1969 in the first instance (700), and that of 1970 the second time around (1117).