Working at Dudmaston Hall, Henry Thomas Crowe - a young 19th.Century gamekeeper - discovers that his father, Benjamin, had been adopted. Benjamin's natural mother was Henry's great aunt who had had an affair with a captain in the British Army. Yet, it is not until Henry is married, with six children of his own, that the truth about Benjamin's father begins to emerge. It is a story which intrigues Henry, even though his brothers warned him no good would come of his meddling. Sadly (if not predictably), as Henry's life moves-on, it becomes beset by misfortune after misfortune. But, this is not Henry's fault, nor anything to do with his family's past - and, of course, it has got nothing to do with seagulls. Even so, someone has got to take responsibility, if Mrs Crowe and the children are to be kept out of the workhouse.