A Popular Schoolgirl · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in A Popular Schoolgirl by Angela Brazil.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Ingred Saxon
major
Also known as Hereward, Ingred, And Ingred, Ingred Saxon, Miss Ingred Saxon, Ingred and Hereward, poor Ingred, Glad Ingred, Poor Ingred, VII Hockey Ingred
Ingred is the kind of girl a form elects unanimously and then pushes toward the rostrum, cheeks aglow and dark eyes shining, promising to air every grievance at the School Council. Her talent for music and her quick, warm loyalties draw people to her, but they also make her vulnerable to the one wound she never expected: another girl living in Rotherwood, the house her family lost. That collision of new friendship and old hurt is what turns her school year from a triumph into a test.
Bess Haselford
major
Also known as Bess Haselford, Haselford, little Bess, Poor Bess
Bess arrives at the College looking like a Reynolds child angel, lost and forlorn until Ingred takes her under her wing. Beneath the shyness is real nerve: at the Abbey recital she fixes her eyes on the west window and plays as if the music were praise rather than performance. Her family's tenancy of Rotherwood places her, without her knowing it, at the exact center of Ingred's private grief, and that quiet collision shapes the whole middle of the book.
Quenrede Saxon
supporting
Also known as Quenrede, pretty Quenrede, Pretty Quenrede, Tonight Quenrede, XIII Quenrede, Miss Quenrede Saxon
Pretty Quenrede has left the College and discovered that emancipation is mostly boredom: a weekly art class, half-hearted practice, and no career that appeals. She misses the form's ready-made purpose and covers the loss with an air of being a young lady at leisure. Her restlessness mirrors the household's wider unease at Wynchcote, and her teasing of Ingred keeps the sisters' rivalry affectionate and sharp.
Verity Richmond
supporting
Also known as Verity Richmond, Verity, naughty Verity
Verity is the friend who notices the verger has slipped off to tea and proposes they explore the parts of the Abbey no congregation ever sees. She scrambles after the Nuns' Ambulatory and the seventeenth-century peephole with cheerful irreverence, dragging a game Ingred along. Her mischief gives the book its best adventure and shows how friendship at the College works: dares offered, dares accepted, consequences shared.
Nora Clifford
supporting
Also known as Nora Clifford, Nora, Nellie
When the Fifth needs a concert, Nora is the one stacking exercise books into a makeshift seat and ordering Ingred to fire away and stop twittering nonsense. She is practical where Ingred is dreamy, and her blunt encouragement is what gets her friend through the performance. Her steady presence among the form's planners makes her the kind of ally a new warden needs when the Sixth comes knocking.
Fil Trevor
supporting
Also known as Fil Trevor, Fil
Fil endures the music master's grim politeness with open resentment, declaring she would rather hear comic opera any day than his cantatas. Her rebellion is small and funny, but it marks the line between girls who perform for approval and girls who play for pleasure. She is also the first to size up Bess Haselford on the new girl's Monday morning, and her verdicts carry weight in the form's gossip.
Lispeth Scott
supporting
Also known as Lispeth Scott, Lispeth
Lispeth moves through the hostel's tennis-and-cricket season as one of the group, more interested in the term's sporting ambitions than in her sister Quenrede's tangled prospects. Her lisp gives her a distinctive place in the form's chatter, and she reads the small dramas of courtship and friendship with wry amusement. She matters as part of the texture of school life — the companionable background against which Ingred's larger struggles play out.
Miss Burd
supporting
Also known as Miss Burd
Miss Burd presides over the College with a reputation for strictness tempered by fairness, the authority to whom sprained ankles and broken rules alike are referred. Her decisions set the boundaries the girls test, and her approval or displeasure carries real weight in the form's social world. She matters because the school's order — and the girls' sense of what is permitted — depends on her steady, unsentimental governance.
Miss Strong
supporting
Also known as Miss Strong, Undoubtedly Miss Strong, Miss Strong—alone—among the
Miss Strong presides over Form Va with a temper as prickly as her pupils', capable of making the Age of Elizabeth thrilling one day and a dry catalogue the next. When Ingred is caught fondling desk mascots, Miss Strong's five-order-mark sentence and public rebuke reveal a mistress who will not tolerate cheek, however petty the offense. She matters because her rigid discipline forces Ingred — and the reader — to reckon with the school's unyielding code of conduct.
Dr. Linton
minor
Also known as Dr. Linton
A local doctor and father of Kenneth.
Egbert
minor
Also known as Egbert, old Egbert
An elderly servant or gardener at the Saxon home.
Beatrice Jackson
minor
Also known as Beatrice Jackson, Beatrice
A schoolgirl who interacts with Ingred and friends.
Mr. Saxon
minor
Also known as Mr. Saxon
Father of Ingred and Quenrede.
Mother
minor
Also known as Mother, Kind Mother Nature, Nature
Ingred and Quenrede's mother, a nurturing presence.
Athelstane
minor
Also known as Athelstane, Fortunately Athelstane
A historical figure referenced, possibly a family ancestor.
Mrs. Saxon
minor
Also known as Mrs. Saxon
Ingred's mother, often called Mother.
Francie Hall
minor
Also known as Francie, Francie Hall
A schoolgirl and friend of the main characters.
Linda Slater
minor
Also known as Linda Slater, Linda, Belle
A schoolgirl with a reputation for vanity.
Father
minor
Also known as Father
Ingred's father, Mr. Saxon.
Dad
minor
Also known as Dad
Informal term for Ingred's father.
Blossom Webster
minor
Also known as Blossom Webster, Blossom
A schoolgirl with a cheerful personality.
Kitty Saunders
minor
Also known as Kitty Saunders, Kitty
A schoolgirl, part of the wider student body.
Old Mother Hubbard
minor
Also known as Old Mother Hubbard, Mother
A nursery rhyme character referenced in the story.
Evie Irving
minor
Also known as Evie Irving, Evie, Eve
A schoolgirl, friend of the main characters.
Mr. Haselford
minor
Also known as Mr. Haselford, Mr. Haselford the elder, Old Mr. Haselford
Bess's father, a local gentleman.
Derry
minor
Also known as Derry
A young boy, possibly a relative or neighbor.
Janie Potter
minor
Also known as Janie Potter, Janie
A schoolgirl and friend of the main characters.
Doris Barnes
minor
Also known as Doris, Doreen, Dorrie Barnes, Dorrie
A schoolgirl, sometimes called Dorrie.
Mr. Broughten
minor
Also known as Mr. Broughten, Broughten
A teacher or master at the school.
Queenie
minor
Also known as Queenie
A schoolgirl, possibly a nickname.
Mr. Hardcastle
minor
Also known as Mr. Hardcastle, Old Mr. Hardcastle
A local resident, possibly a parent.
Avis Marlowe
minor
Also known as Avis, Avis Marlowe
A schoolgirl with a dramatic flair.
Mrs. Best
minor
Also known as Mrs. Best
A teacher or matron at the school.
Minx
minor
Also known as Minx
A nickname for a mischievous girl.
Franklin
minor
Also known as Franklin
A servant or worker at the school or home.
Kenneth Linton
minor
Also known as Little Kenneth Linton, Kenneth, little Kenneth
Dr. Linton's young son, a minor character.
Rachel Grant
minor
Also known as Rachel Grant, Rachel, Poor old Rachel
An older woman, possibly a servant or neighbor.
Miss Giles
minor
Also known as Miss Giles
A teacher at the school.
Sir James Hilton
minor
Also known as Sir James Hilton, Sir James, James, Hilton
A local dignitary or historical figure.
Mrs. Desmond
minor
Also known as Mrs. Desmond
A mother of schoolgirls, possibly a local resident.
King Alfred
minor
Also known as King Alfred
Historical king referenced in the story.
Mrs. Jackson
minor
Also known as Mrs. Jackson
Mother of Beatrice Jackson.
Susie Wakefield
minor
Also known as Susie, Susie Wakefield
A schoolgirl, part of the student body.
Althea Riley
minor
Also known as Althea, Althea Riley
A schoolgirl with a poetic name.
Veronica Hall
minor
Also known as Veronica Hall, Veronica
A schoolgirl, possibly Francie's sister.
Miss Bertrand
minor
Also known as Miss Bertrand, Bert
A teacher at the school.
Joanna Powers
minor
Also known as Joanna Powers, Jo
A schoolgirl, friend of the main characters.
Jess Howard
minor
Also known as Jess, Jessica, Jess Howard
A schoolgirl, part of the wider circle.
Mrs. Haselford
minor
Also known as Mrs. Haselford, delicate Mrs. Haselford
Bess's mother, a delicate woman.
Filomena
minor
Also known as Dainty little Filomena, Filomena
A young girl, possibly a relative of Fil Trevor.
Nurse Warner
minor
Also known as Nurse Warner, Nurse
A nurse at the school or in the community.
Sam
minor
Also known as Sam
A servant or worker, possibly a gardener.
Dr. Broadfield
minor
Also known as old Dr. Broadfield, Dr. Broadfield
An older doctor in the area.
Violet
minor
Also known as Violet
A schoolgirl, possibly a minor character.
Doreen Hayward
minor
Also known as Doreen Hayward, Doreen
A schoolgirl, distinct from Dorrie Barnes.
Meg Mason
minor
Also known as Meg Mason, Magsie, Margaret
A schoolgirl, possibly a friend of the main group.
Miss Godwin
minor
Also known as Miss Godwin
A teacher at the school.
Aline West
minor
Also known as Aline West, Aline
A schoolgirl, part of the student body.
Cicely Denham
minor
Also known as Cicely Denham, Cicely
A schoolgirl, possibly a prefect.
Miss Willough
minor
Also known as Miss Willough
A teacher at the school.
Mademoiselle
minor
Also known as Mademoiselle
A French teacher at the school.
Miss Perry
minor
Also known as Miss Perry
A teacher at the school.
Miss Clough
minor
Also known as Miss Clough
A teacher at the school.
