Who is William Henry Beauchamp in Outlander: Blood of my Blood? The Easter egg for the main series, explained

William Henry Beauchamp is the secret baptismal name Julia Moriston gives her newborn son in Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1, Episode 7, planting a direct link to Claire’s Beauchamp line and a provocative nod to Jamie Fraser’s late brother, William. In a tense Kirk sequence, Lord Lovat stages a public Protestant baptism to claim the infant as his heir, then forges the marriage and birth entries. Outside, Brian Fraser quietly blesses the child “William Henry Beauchamp,” preserving the Beauchamp lineage in private.

The hour folds that reveal into Jacobite manoeuvring at House Nairne, a Redcoat raid, and a final beat in which Julia discovers letters proving Henry Beauchamp is nearby, keeping the lovers’ two-century-crossed plot alive. The Starz prequel, showrun by Matthew B. Roberts and starring Harriet Slater (Ellen), Jamie Roy (Brian), Hermione Corfield (Julia), Jeremy Irvine (Henry), and Tony Curran (Lord Lovat), premiered August 8, 2025, and uses Episode 7’s hidden name to seed multi-timeline theories for the flagship Outlander.

Who is William Henry Beauchamp in Blood of My Blood?

He is Julia Moriston and Henry Beauchamp’s baby, publicly baptized as Simon Fraser of Lovat’s heir, but privately blessed as William Henry Beauchamp by Brian Fraser outside the church. The episode shows Lovat bribing a reverend to backdate the marriage and birth, then silencing him, while Julia safeguards the child’s true identity during that understated blessing. In the same stretch, Murtagh clocks Brian outside the kirk, Lovat crows over his “legitimacy” play, and the plot pivots from domestic scandal to clan politics. Mrs. Fitz demanded,

“Hide it well,...And we willna speak of it again”

after discovering Fraser tartan among Ellen’s belongings, a line that underlines how fragile secrets are in this world. Episode 7 keeps William Henry Beauchamp central even as it widens scope: Brian and Ellen’s feelings flare in public during the House Nairne chaos. Back at Leoch, Colum orders a virginity test after letters impugn Ellen’s “virtue”. And Henry tries to bolt for the stones before Arch Bug intercepts him. Recap likewise foregrounds the clandestine naming while detailing Lovat’s forged records and the murder that covers them.

The Easter egg explained: How “William” bridges to Outlander

For longtime viewers, “William” carries weight. In Outlander’s backstory, Brian and Ellen Fraser have a son named William who dies young of smallpox. Episode 7 posits a lore-friendly riddle: why would Brian and Ellen later name a child William if William Henry Beauchamp is still alive? Sources lay out the theories the episode invites: tribute naming, misreported death, or a covert guardianship that protects Julia’s child amid clan realpolitik, while cautioning that nothing is confirmed canon.

The hour also threads emotional identifiers that circle back to Claire. Julia soothes the baby with a seaside ditty she once used for Claire, a subtle bridge between timelines. Sources explicitly frame the private blessing, “William Henry Beauchamp”, as the episode’s key Easter egg, an inflexion point likely to echo across the remaining episodes. Simon Fraser later told Brian,

“I’m proud of you.”

It's a chilling reaction that doubles as proof of Lovat’s manipulation and the danger that forced the hidden naming in the first place.

Episode 7’s setup: Forged records, Jacobites, and a letter that points to Henry

The William Henry Beauchamp reveal is braided through a run of crisply staged scenes. Julia and Davina quietly dose Lovat with chasteberry to blunt his advances. Inside the kirk, Lovat gloats through a sparse Protestant baptism before ordering the minister’s register “adjusted”. Outside, Brian completes the Highland blessing for William Henry Beauchamp. Julia later discovers Clan Grant correspondence on Lovat’s desk. She recognizes Henry’s handwriting and alias, realizing he is close, fuel for the season’s cross-century romance.

At House Nairne, Ellen finds Dougal pledging coin to Rob Roy as Redcoats storm in. Brian fires into the floor to create a diversion. In the scramble, Ellen and Brian embrace in full view, and Dougal wrenches them apart. Dougal roared,

“Get your hands off my sister!”

before hauling Ellen away. Later, Colum snarled,

“By god, you better pray you pass,”

when the Grants demanded a virginity test. Those lines capture how public pressure boxes the Frasers and MacKenzies, while William Henry Beauchamp becomes the quiet lever that could reconfigure family lines.

The hour sprinkles other sharp beats and lines. Malcolm Grant throws down clan law at the start,

“No one steals from us and gets away with it,”

while Lovat, humiliated on his wedding night, still blusters about waking “the Old Fox from his hole”. Each moment tightens the vise around Julia, Brian, and Ellen, making the secret naming of William Henry Beauchamp the episode’s stabilizing truth.

Conclusion: In Outlander: Blood of My Blood Episode 7, William Henry Beauchamp is both a baby and a breadcrumb, an Easter egg that binds Claire’s lineage to the prequel and a narrative hinge that could recalibrate what the Outlander saga says about names, heirs, and who raises whom.

Stay tuned for more updates.