# Captain Brown — Cranford character guide

> Captain Brown in Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Captain, The Captain, poor dear Captain Brown

**First appearance:** 0001-ii-the-captain

## Snapshot

A threadbare, cheerful retired captain who reads Mr. Boz in the street and wins over Cranford with masculine common sense and a flannel waistcoat for a cow.

## Who they are

Captain Brown arrives in Cranford poor and unashamed, scandalizing the ladies by speaking of poverty without disgrace and by preferring Mr. Boz to Dr. Johnson. His practical advice—dressing Miss Betsy Barker's scalded Alderney in grey flannel—gradually earns him an extraordinary place as authority among the very women who once snubbed him. His devotion to his ailing daughter and his quiet endurance of worry give the comedy its first note of real pathos.

## In the story

### [Our Society](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/chapters/i-our-society)

A half-pay captain who moves to Cranford, speaks openly of poverty, and gradually earns the ladies' esteem through his practical advice and friendly demeanor.

### [II: The Captain](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/chapters/ii-the-captain)

Shows infinite kindness, makes a wooden fire-shovel for Miss Jenkyns, and is killed by a train.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/characters/captain_brown
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/cranford_se/characters