Who Is William Henry Beauchamp in Blood of My Blood? The Time-Travel Reveal Explained

William Henry Beauchamp is the infant son of Julia and Henry Beauchamp and the younger brother of Claire Fraser in Outlander: Blood of My Blood. He is born in the eighteenth century after his pregnant mother travels from the twentieth century through the stones at Craigh na Dun. Lord Lovat claims the child as his own and presents him under the name Simon Fraser of Lovat, but his biological parents are Julia and Henry. In Season 2 Episode 7, “Heart of the Highlands,” Maisri adds the biggest revelation yet: William has the gift of time travel, and Julia originally crossed the stones because she was carrying him within her.

That makes this baby more than the object of a struggle between adult characters. William connects Claire’s family, the supernatural rules of the stones, and Lovat’s obsession with a royal prophecy. But his ultimate fate remains unknown as of Episode 2.07, and the series has not definitively identified him as the child in every part of Maisri’s prophecy.

Spoiler warning: This explainer discusses Blood of My Blood through Season 2 Episode 7 and connects the prequel to previously aired Outlander. No unaired-episode spoilers follow.

Who Are William Beauchamp’s Parents?

His mother is Julia Moriston Beauchamp, played by Hermione Corfield, and his father is Henry Beauchamp, played by Jeremy Irvine. The two belong to Claire’s family in the twentieth century, but their separate journeys through Craigh na Dun bring them into Scotland’s eighteenth-century political conflict. Julia arrives while she is pregnant with William, and he is born after the crossing.

William is therefore Claire Beauchamp’s younger brother, even though the family has become separated across two centuries. Claire is the daughter Henry and Julia are desperate to find again, and Maisri gives Julia glimpses suggesting Claire is safe in the future under the care of a father figure—understood by viewers to be Uncle Lamb.

This is a family-tree question that understandably gets confusing: William’s birth occurs in the past relative to his parents’ own lifetime, and the people around him know far less about his actual origins than the audience does. Our Julia and Henry character guide explains the parents’ wider history, while the Blood of My Blood family tree tracks the relationships.

Why Is William Called Simon Fraser of Lovat?

Lord Lovat believes Julia’s baby belongs to him and treats the child as part of his Fraser political future. In Season 1, Julia privately gives her son the name William Henry Beauchamp, honoring his actual father. Lovat later claims the boy publicly through a baptism under the name Simon Fraser of Lovat.

Those two names represent competing ideas of identity. William Henry Beauchamp expresses the child’s actual parents and the life Julia wants to preserve; Simon Fraser of Lovat expresses Lovat’s attempt to claim the boy as a dynastic possession. The child has no ability to choose which identity the powerful adults around him will honor.

That’s why Maisri’s prophecy becomes so dangerous. Lovat believes the person he calls his son might become a king if he stands as the last of the Lovat line, and he begins behaving as if a conditional prediction gives him the right to destroy other people’s futures. His role in Ellen’s poisoning is an extension of that obsession, not proof that he understands the prophecy correctly. Read our Lord Lovat explainer for the political and historical context.

Is William Henry Beauchamp a Time Traveler?

According to Maisri in Season 2 Episode 7, yes. Julia tells Maisri that she crossed the stones despite being told she lacks the gift. Maisri says Julia’s son possesses the ability to pass through the veil of time and explains that Julia was able to cross because she was carrying a traveler inside her.

This directly answers one of the show’s most carefully planted clues. Earlier in Season 2, Maisri tells Julia that “the gift is not in ye.” At the time, it sounded like a confusing denial of something we had already watched Julia do. But William was inside Julia during her first successful crossing. Once he was born, she no longer physically carried his supernatural ability within her.

The idea initially seemed like an ingenious fan theory. Episode 7 moves it to a different evidentiary level: it is now Maisri’s explicit account of what happened. The series has not shown a new crossing to independently test the explanation, but the wording is no longer merely something fans inferred. Our updated Julia time-travel explainer traces the clues and explains what remains uncertain.

Does Julia Need a Gemstone to Time Travel?

Julia hopes that Henry’s newly acquired amethysts might give them a way back to Claire. Maisri tells her something devastating: gemstones may protect someone who was born a traveler, but they cannot create a gift that person doesn’t have. In other words, the problem isn’t simply whether Henry has collected enough stones.

This matters because Henry has just risked his life descending into a gorge to retrieve amethyst. It’s a perfectly understandable plan based on the travel knowledge the characters possess, and the expedition gives Arch and Murdina Bug a moving reason to participate. But Maisri’s revelation changes the premise of the plan. The gems do not solve Julia’s underlying problem.

The show is not offering a full scientific explanation of time travel. Questions remain about proximity, intention, gemstones, and whether very young children travel differently from adults. What Episode 7 explicitly establishes through Maisri is the distinction between having the gift and possessing an object that might help a gifted traveler.

If William Can Travel, Why Didn’t He Go Back with Henry?

That’s the big unresolved question. Earlier, Henry successfully returns to the twentieth century while Julia and the baby remain in the eighteenth. If Maisri is correct that William has the gift, then his presence at the stones was not sufficient to carry Julia back in the same way her pregnancy apparently enabled the first crossing.

We can imagine possible explanations. Perhaps being unborn and physically part of Julia worked differently from being a separate infant. Perhaps the conditions or intentions of the attempt mattered. Or perhaps there’s more to the mechanics than any of the characters, including Maisri, has explained. Episode 7 doesn’t settle that question, and we should not pretend it does.

The next character drama is potentially even more interesting than the rules. Julia has just learned that her husband and child may be able to leave the eighteenth century without her. Henry does not yet fully understand the new obstacle. That information could force a decision about whether the family attempts another crossing and what they’re willing to sacrifice to stay together.

Is William the Baby with Two Mothers and Three Fathers in Maisri’s Prophecy?

Possibly, but it is not confirmed. Maisri’s earlier prophecy includes a child associated with two mothers and three fathers, along with roses, a fox, a crown, and the condition that a purported son of Lovat would stand last of his line. Lovat assumes all of this refers to the baby he calls Simon and interprets the vision as a promise of kingship.

William Henry Beauchamp is a compelling candidate in the immediate story because he is the child everyone is trying to possess or protect. Henry is his biological father, Lovat claims to be his father, and Brian and Ellen could conceivably become important parental figures if William’s future takes him into their care. But those last relationships are not established, and they should not be reported as facts.

There is another complication: the original Outlander story includes William Ransom, whose complex biological, legal and adoptive parentage can fit the phrase “two mothers and three fathers” remarkably well. Maisri might be seeing several people, different generations or multiple parts of a political future. We’ve examined each possibility in the full prophecy explainer. What makes her warning interesting is not that the riddle has been neatly solved, but that Lovat is prepared to hurt people based on his preferred answer.

Is William Henry Beauchamp the Same William as Jamie Fraser’s Son?

No. The Outlander franchise has several important characters named William, which makes this especially confusing in search results and family-tree discussions.

William Henry Beauchamp is Julia and Henry’s baby and Claire’s younger brother. William Ransom is the son of Jamie Fraser and Geneva Dunsany in the original Outlander story. The Fraser family history also includes another William—the older brother of Jamie Fraser—who is a separate person. Similar names and overlapping generations are not evidence that these characters are secretly one and the same.

The simplest way to keep them apart is to ask which parents and time period the story is discussing. The child in Blood of My Blood under Lovat’s control is William Henry Beauchamp. The younger man with Jamie and Geneva’s complicated history is William Ransom.

What Happens to William Henry Beauchamp?

As of “Heart of the Highlands,” his fate is an open story question. Julia and Henry are working to reunite the family and escape through the stones, but Maisri’s explanation makes Julia’s return much more difficult. Lovat still sees the child as part of his supposed royal destiny, and that belief creates danger even if his interpretation of the prophecy is wrong.

We shouldn’t turn the existence of the original series into an invented ending for William. The prequel’s job is to show how these characters arrive at the known family circumstances, and the exact journey remains to be told. The most dramatic question isn’t only whether William can pass through time, but whether the adults who love him will be able to make a future together.

William Henry Beauchamp: Frequently Asked Questions

Who is William Henry Beauchamp in Blood of My Blood?

He is the infant son of Julia and Henry Beauchamp and Claire’s younger brother, born in the eighteenth century after Julia travels through the stones.

Is William actually Lord Lovat’s son?

No. Lovat publicly claims the child and gives him the identity Simon Fraser of Lovat, but Henry Beauchamp is his biological father.

Can William travel through the stones?

Maisri says yes in Season 2 Episode 7, explaining that Julia crossed because she was pregnant with a traveler. The episode has not shown William make a new independent crossing.

Why can’t Julia time travel if she already did once?

Maisri says Julia has no gift of her own. She could cross while pregnant because William was the traveler inside her.

Is William the child named in Maisri’s prophecy?

He is a strong story-context possibility, but the prophecy’s full meaning remains unconfirmed. Do not confuse him with William Ransom.

What happens to William at the end of Episode 7?

He is still in the eighteenth century with Julia, and the family is still looking for a viable route home. Maisri’s revelation complicates their plan.

Continue Exploring Blood of My Blood

Start with our Julia and Henry time-travel explainer for the mechanics and the original “gift is not in ye” clue. Then read the Maisri prophecy breakdown for the two mothers, three fathers and royal line, and our Episode 2.07 Knee-Jerk Reaction for why this revelation matters to the story’s craft. The family tree and Season 2 guide bring all the connected coverage together.

This Week’s Blood Of My Blood Coverage

• Explainer: How Did Brian Fraser Get Lallybroch in Blood of My Blood? The Hearthstone Explained
• Knee Jerk Reaction: KNEE-JERK REACTION | Blood of My Blood Season 2 Episode 7: “Heart of the Highlands” — When Plot Overtakes Drama