Agnes Grey · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Agnes Grey
major
Also known as Miss Grey, Grey, Dear Miss Grey, Agnes
Agnes enters the world of paid employment with quiet resolve, determined to earn her own way rather than remain a burden on her family. She is thoughtful, observant, and morally serious, but her sensitivity makes her vulnerable to the casual cruelty of employers who treat her as furniture. Her habit of measuring herself against others' expectations — and her growing attraction to a man she can only admire from a distance — shapes the story's central tension between duty and desire.
Rosalie Murray
major
Also known as Rosalie, Miss Rosalie, Rosalie Murray
Rosalie is the elder Murray daughter, raised to see her looks as currency and her admirers as trophies. She confides in Agnes with theatrical vanity, recounting her conquests and demanding admiration, yet her charm is real enough to make her cruelty casual rather than calculated. Her determination to marry for wealth and status — whatever the cost to her own happiness — drives the novel's critique of a society that trains women to trade themselves.
Matilda Murray
supporting
Also known as Matilda, Miss Matilda, Miss Murray, Miss Matilda Murray, the Misses Murray, the amiable Miss Murray, the thoughtless Miss Murray, Matilda Murray
Matilda is loud, coarse, and gloriously unbothered by propriety, carrying a hunting whip and swearing like a groom. Her mother's belated campaign to reform her manners turns the household into a battleground, with Agnes caught in the crossfire. Though less central than Rosalie, Matilda exposes the family's indulgence and neglect, and her rough vitality throws the artificiality of her sister's world into sharp relief.
Edward Weston
major
Also known as Mr. Weston, the beautiful Mr. Weston, Maister Weston, Maister Weston—Maister Weston, Edward
Mr. Weston is a clergyman of modest means whose earnest simplicity and genuine care for his parishioners set him apart from the pompous Mr. Hatfield. Agnes observes him with growing admiration, drawn to his unaffected goodness and the respect he commands without seeking it. His presence offers the novel its moral center — a reminder that worth is measured by character rather than rank — and his departure from Horton leaves Agnes grappling with feelings she can scarcely name.
Mr. Hatfield
supporting
Also known as Hatfield, Maister Hatfield
Mr. Hatfield is a man of the cloth whose vanity rivals Rosalie's own, striding through the parish with a sense of his own consequence and a taste for flattery. He pursues Rosalie with calculated attention, but his resentment of Mr. Weston's popularity among the common people reveals a petty jealousy beneath his dignified bearing. His eventual marriage to an elderly spinster for her fortune confirms what Agnes suspects early: that his religion is chiefly self-worship.
Mary Ann
supporting
Also known as Mary, Mary Ann, Miss Mary Ann
Mary Ann is the elder Grey sister, married and settled, who offers Agnes practical counsel and a sympathetic ear when the hardships of her position threaten to overwhelm her. She represents the quiet domestic alternative to Agnes's chosen independence — a life of modest comfort and family affection. Her steady presence reminds Agnes, and the reader, that she is not entirely alone in a world that often treats her as invisible.
Mr. Bloomfield
supporting
Also known as Mr. Bloomfield, Master Tom Bloomfield, Tom, Master Tom, Master Bloomfield
Mr. Bloomfield presides over Wellwood House, where his children interrupt guests, rifle pockets, and know no shame, while his wife expects Agnes to impose order that neither parent supplies. He is less a tyrant than an absence, a father whose neglect lets Tom and Mary Ann become the trial that defines Agnes's first post. When the Bloomfields dismiss her for the children's want of improvement, the injustice sharpens her resolve and sets the pattern of blame she will meet again.
Nancy Brown
supporting
Also known as Brown, Nancy Brown, Nancy, poor Nancy Brown, old Nancy
Nancy Brown lives in poverty near Horton Lodge, and her cottage is a refuge Agnes visits whenever she can slip away from her pupils. Their talks give Agnes room to reflect on faith, hardship, and the loneliness of governess life, and it is on the road home from Nancy that she keeps meeting Mr. Weston. Nancy's simple piety and gratitude quietly measure the coldness of the Murray household, and her friendship keeps Agnes's better self alive through the middle of the book.
Lady Ashby
minor
Also known as Lady Ashby of Ashby Park, Lady Ashby, old Lady Ashby
Rosalie's mother-in-law, a proud and domineering aristocrat.
Mrs. Bloomfield
minor
Also known as Mrs. Bloomfield, The senior Mrs. Bloomfield, old Mrs. Bloomfield
The weak, ineffectual mother of the Bloomfield children.
Thomas Ashby
supporting
Also known as Thomas Ashby, Sir Thomas, Sir Thomas Ashby, Sir, that odious Sir Thomas, Thomas
Sir Thomas Ashby is the baronet Rosalie marries for title and fortune, only to find herself hurried off to his estate and kept there under the watch of his mother, Lady Ashby. His offence at her admirers and her spending, and his willingness to let his mother rule the house, make him less a husband than a sentence. He embodies the price of Rosalie's vanity, and his marriage shows Agnes what a match made for rank rather than love actually costs.
Mr. Robson
minor
Also known as Mr. Robson, uncle Robson, Robson
The coarse, drunken uncle of the Bloomfield children.
Fanny
minor
Also known as Fanny, little Fanny
A young servant at the Murray household.
Mark Wood
minor
Also known as Mark Wood, Poor Mark
A poor, sickly cottager visited by Agnes and Weston.
Richard Grey
minor
Also known as Richard Grey, Grey, Richard
Agnes's father, a poor clergyman who loses his fortune.
The Misses Green
minor
Also known as Misses Green, the two Misses Green
Two sisters, acquaintances of the Murray family.
Mrs. Grey
minor
Also known as Mrs. Grey
Agnes's loving and sensible mother.
Mr. Richardson
minor
Also known as Mr. Richardson, Richardson
A clergyman who assists Agnes in finding a teaching position.
Snap
minor
Also known as poor Snap, Snap
The Bloomfield family's abused dog.
Henry Meltham
minor
Also known as Henry Meltham, Harry Meltham
A young gentleman who flirts with Rosalie.
Charles
minor
Also known as Charles, Master Charles
One of the Bloomfield children, a spoiled and troublesome boy.
Mr. Murray
minor
Also known as Mr. Murray, Mrs. Murray, alias Master Murray, Mr. and Mrs. Murray, Master Murray
The squire of Horton Lodge, father of Rosalie and Matilda.
Mr. Green
minor
Also known as young Mr. Green, Green, Mr. Green
A wealthy young gentleman courted by Rosalie.
Betty Holmes
minor
Also known as Betty, old Betty Holmes
An old servant at the Grey parsonage.
Hannah Rogers
minor
Also known as Hannah Rogers
A cottager who helps nurse Mark Wood.
Thomas Jackson
minor
Also known as Thomas Jackson
A poor laborer and cottager.
Sir Hugh Meltham
minor
Also known as Hugh Meltham, Sir Hugh, Sir Hugh Meltham
A local baronet and father of Henry Meltham.
Lord F—
minor
Also known as Lord F⸺, F⸺
A nobleman mentioned as a potential suitor for Rosalie.
Miss Bloomfield
minor
Also known as Miss Bloomfield
The eldest Bloomfield daughter, a quiet child.
Lady Meltham
minor
Also known as Lady Meltham, young Meltham
Mother of Henry Meltham, a local aristocrat.
