Framley Parsonage · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Framley Parsonage by Anthony Trollope.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Lucy Robarts
major
Also known as Lucy, Miss Robarts, Aunt Lucy, poor Lucy
Lucy lives at Framley parsonage as a dependent sister, poor enough that even the pony-carriage must be sold, yet she spends her own dwindling money to keep a promise about the Crawley children. When Lady Lufton's note arrives, her hand trembles and she reads omens in the handwriting before she can bring herself to open it — she is a woman whose whole future may hinge on a single letter, and she knows it. Her habit of putting other people's crises ahead of her own heart is exactly what makes her dangerous to the social order Lady Lufton has so carefully arranged.
Mark Robarts
major
Also known as young Mark Robarts, Mark, the Rev. Mark Robarts, Mr. Robarts
At twenty-five Mark Robarts has everything a clergyman could want: a living at Framley, a loving wife with a few thousand pounds, and Lady Lufton's formidable protection. Trollope is careful to say he is neither cherub nor devil — merely a man whose training has left him agreeable, ambitious, and insufficiently braced against flattery. When grander company than his own beckons, his desire to be liked by fashionable men becomes the crack through which real trouble enters the parsonage.
Lady Lufton
major
Also known as Lufton, Dear Lady Lufton, old Lady Lufton
Lady Lufton holds Framley Court for life while her son roams Scotland and Leicestershire, and she fills the vacuum with good works: schools, a new church, and a vicar she chose and polished herself. Her kindness is genuine and her control is total, which makes her a benevolent force and an immovable obstacle at once. When her protégé's interests and her own plans for her son begin to diverge, her disapproval becomes the weather that everyone in the parish must live under.
Nathaniel Sowerby
major
Also known as Sowerby, Mr. Sowerby, Nat
Sowerby of Chaldicotes moves through the world by borrowing against expectations and smiling his way past consequences, with his devoted sister Harriet as the only ally who never abandons him. He is courting Miss Dunstable less from love than from arithmetic, and his campaign to win her is conducted with the same cheerful calculation he applies to everything. To Mark Robarts he offers the glamour of a wider world — and the bills that come with it, which is precisely how Trollope lets a country vicar's troubles begin.
Lord Lufton
major
Also known as young Lord Lufton, Lufton, Ludovic Lufton
Young Lord Lufton owns Framley but lives with his mother only when it suits him, keeping a shooting-lodge, London rooms, and a string of horses while the local gentry mutter about his truant ways. He is good-natured, energetic, and unbothered by the expectations that weigh on everyone around him, including the mother who would like to see far more of him. His friendship with Mark Robarts and his eventual romantic choices set the household at Framley Court against itself in ways his easy temper never anticipates.
Fanny Robarts
major
Also known as Fanny, Mrs. Robarts, Dear Fanny
Fanny Monsell came to the vicarage with a few thousand pounds, enough to furnish it in proper clerical comfort and insure her husband's life, and she has been its practical anchor ever since. She is the sister-in-law Lucy confides in, the wife who sees Mark's weaknesses more clearly than she will admit, and the woman whose quiet competence Lady Lufton's grander schemes tend to overlook. As Mark's obligations multiply, Fanny's steadiness becomes the measure of what he stands to lose.
Griselda Grantly
supporting
Also known as Griselda, Miss Grantly, the Grantly
Griselda Grantly is the archdeacon's daughter, raised by a mother who made her a flawless aristocratic article and now watches her take her place among the great. Her beauty is classical and her manner impeccable, but her composure reads to some as a want of feeling — a lack her own mother half-recognizes in a quiet room after the wedding. In the Framley drawing-rooms she becomes the standard against which Lucy Robarts measures herself, and the prize over which Lord Lufton's attentions quietly hover.
Mrs. Proudie
supporting
Also known as Mrs. Proudie, the matutinal Mrs. Proudie
Mrs. Proudie is the real power in the palace at Barchester, a woman whose nod or cold recognition can make or unmake a clergyman's standing in the close. Where others let a scandalous newspaper article fade, she nurses it, and her displeasure follows Mark Robarts long after the county has moved on to the excitement of an election. Her rivalry with Lady Lufton over whose clergyman shall be properly managed shapes the clerical politics of the whole story.
Miss Dunstable
supporting
Also known as Miss Dunstable, the rich Miss Dunstable
Miss Dunstable's money makes her the most courted woman in Barsetshire, yet she has loved none of the men of rank and fashion who have offered for her, and she has said she could only marry a man indifferent to her fortune. Her friendship with the plain country doctor, Dr. Thorne, puzzles his niece and amuses London, since the lady is past forty and the gentleman past fifty. When she purchases Chaldicotes and throws herself into the election fight, she becomes a decisive force in the county's affairs.
Harold Smith
supporting
Also known as Mr. Harold Smith, Smith, Harold
Harold Smith moves through the novel as a man of self-importance, forever lecturing and forever certain of his own consequence, and his elevation to the cabinet briefly makes his whole circle hold their heads high. His elation is comic and revealing: he cannot quite decide whether cabinet ministers are gods or men, and he is content to sit silent at first among the Olympians. His political fortunes and his connection to Sowerby entangle him in the electioneering turmoil that sweeps through Barsetshire.
Mr. Crawley
supporting
Also known as Mr. Crawley, Crawley, poor Mr. Crawley
Mr. Crawley is a lean, meagre, taciturn clergyman whose poverty is as severe as his pride, riding silent beside Lady Lufton's servant to be consulted on Mark Robarts's foxhunting. He condemns the vice without softening it for his patron's comfort, and Lady Lufton must swallow her anger to keep his aid. His uncompromising conscience and his grinding want make him the moral counterweight to the comfortable clergy around him, and his family's struggle shadows the Framley story.
Mrs. Grantly
supporting
Also known as Mrs. Grantly, Dear Mrs. Grantly
Mrs. Grantly moves through Barsetshire society as a matron of weight and propriety, the wife of a clergyman more thought of than the bishop himself. She has a heart and a faith beneath the worldly weight pressed on her, and after Griselda's wedding she sits alone and wonders whether her daughter's flawless education left out something her own heart had sighed for. Her quiet remorse gives the novel's satire of matchmaking its tenderest edge.
Frank Gresham
supporting
Also known as Frank, young Gresham, Frank Gresham
Frank Gresham is the only son of a mortgaged squire whose family pride now depends on his making a rich match. His father's old humiliations in lawyers' offices hang over him as a warning, while his own heart pulls him toward Mary Thorne, a girl with no fortune at all. His struggle between duty to Greshamsbury and desire for Mary gives the novel its central romantic tension.
Dr. Thorne
supporting
Also known as Dr. Thorne, Dear Dr. Thorne, Dr.
Dr. Thorne moves easily between the great houses and the poor parishes, trusted by Lady Lufton and needed at Hogglestock. He is Mary's guardian and fiercest protector, and his refusal to explain her parentage makes him a puzzle to the county. His steady judgment and buried anxieties make him the moral hinge on which much of the plot turns.
Lord Dumbello
minor
Also known as Dumbello, the Lord Dumbello
Wealthy, silent nobleman who marries Griselda Grantly.
Mrs. Crawley
supporting
Also known as Mrs. Crawley, Poor Mrs. Crawley
Mrs. Crawley lives at Hogglestock in grinding poverty, raising children on a curate's pittance while her husband, Mr. Crawley, refuses charity as a matter of principle. Her quiet endurance and small domestic stratagems reveal the human cost of his unbending integrity. She matters because her suffering measures the gap between the county's comfort and its conscience.
Mr. Supplehouse
minor
Also known as Supplehouse, And Mr. Supplehouse
Slippery political journalist and ally of Sowerby.
Mr. Fothergill
minor
Also known as Fothergill
Agent for the Duke of Omnium, involved in local politics.
Tom Tozer
minor
Also known as Tozer, Tom Tozer, Mr. Tozer, ruffian Tozer
Rough bill collector pursuing Sowerby's debts.
Lady Meredith
minor
Also known as Lady Meredith
Sister of Lord Lufton, married to Sir George.
Lady Arabella Gresham
minor
Also known as Lady Arabella, Lady Arabella Gresham
Proud mother of Frank Gresham, concerned with status.
Mr. Jones
minor
Also known as Mr. Evan Jones, old Evan Jones, Jones
Local farmer or tradesman, occasionally mentioned.
Mrs. Arabin
minor
Also known as Mrs. Arabin
Wife of Dr. Arabin, a quiet presence in Barchester.
Dr. Grantly
supporting
Also known as Dr. Grantly, Archdeacon Grantly, Archdeacon
Dr. Grantly is a churchman of large income and larger expectations, son of a bishop and father of a beautiful daughter he means to place well. He moves through the novel's clerical politics with shrewdness and a keen eye for advantage, whether at Plumstead or in Mrs. Proudie's orbit. His ambitions for Griselda and his rivalry with the Proudies give the story its sharpest social comedy.
Mr. Harding
minor
Also known as dear old Mr. Harding
Retired clergyman, gentle and beloved by all.
John Robarts
minor
Also known as John
Brother of Mark Robarts, a naval officer.
Duke of Omnium
minor
Also known as the Duke of Omnium, Omnium
Wealthy, powerful nobleman, owner of Gatherum Castle.
Mary Thorne
minor
Also known as Mary, Mary Thorne
Dr. Thorne's niece, a gentle young woman.
Bob
minor
Also known as Robin postman, Robin, Bobby
Local postman who delivers letters around Framley.
Grace Crawley
minor
Also known as Grace, Grace Crawley, poor Grace
Daughter of Mr. Crawley, a sweet and modest girl.
Mr. Forrest
minor
Also known as Forrest
Local lawyer or businessman in Framley.
Mr. Green Walker
minor
Also known as Green Walker, Walker
Politician and associate of Harold Smith.
Dr. Arabin
minor
Also known as Arabin, Mr. Arabin
Clergyman and scholar, husband of Mrs. Arabin.
Fanny Monsell
minor
Also known as Fanny Monsell
Young woman courted by Lord Lufton early in the story.
Tom Towers
minor
Also known as the Jupiter, Thomas, Mr. Towers, Mr. Tom Towers
Powerful editor of the Jupiter newspaper.
Lord Brock
minor
Also known as Brock
Prime minister in the political background.
Justinia
minor
Also known as Justinia
Servant or maid in the Robarts household.
Puck
minor
Also known as Poor Puck, poor Puck
Mark Robarts' pony, beaten in a famous scene.
Sir George Meredith
minor
Also known as Meredith, Sir George
Husband of Lady Meredith, a baronet.
Captain Culpepper
minor
Also known as Culpepper
Military friend of Lord Lufton.
Buggins
minor
Also known as the respectable Buggins
Local tradesman or farmer in Framley.
Lady Scatcherd
minor
Also known as Lady Scatcherd
Widow of a baronet, mentioned in passing.
Mr. Curling
minor
Also known as Curling
Lawyer or agent involved in financial matters.
Sarah Thompson
minor
Also known as Sarah Thompson
Servant or minor character in the household.
Olivia Proudie
minor
Also known as Miss Olivia, Olivia, Olivia Proudie, Miss Olivia Proudie
Daughter of Bishop Proudie, a social climber.
Thomas Thorne
minor
Also known as Thomas Thorne
Relative of Dr. Thorne, a gentleman farmer.
Mr. Tickler
minor
Also known as poor Mr. Tickler
Minor character, possibly a tradesman.
Lord De Terrier
minor
Also known as De Terrier
Conservative politician in the government.
Blanche
minor
Also known as Blanche
Sister of Mark Robarts, mentioned briefly.
Miss Monsell
minor
Also known as this Miss Monsell
Sister of Fanny Monsell, a minor social figure.
Lord Petty Bag
minor
Also known as the Lord Petty Bag, Bag
Government office holder, a political figure.
Lady Hartletop
minor
Also known as Hartletop, the Hartletop
Aristocratic mother of Lord Dumbello.
Mrs. Podgens
minor
Also known as Podgens
Local woman with a baby, visited by Lady Lufton.
Lord Boanerges
minor
Also known as Lord Boanerges
Eccentric nobleman, a friend of Sowerby.
Mr. Slope
minor
Also known as that very Mr. Slope
Obsequious clergyman from Barchester, briefly mentioned.
Jemima
minor
Also known as Jemima cook
Cook in the Robarts household.
Jack Robarts
minor
Also known as Jack Robarts
Younger brother of Mark, a sailor.
Mrs. Tickler
minor
Also known as the future Mrs. Tickler, Tickler
Wife of Mr. Tickler, a minor character.
Dr. Robarts
minor
Also known as old Dr. Robarts
Father of Mark Robarts, a physician.
Davis
minor
Also known as Davis
Servant or groom in the Robarts stable.
Lady Dumbello
minor
Also known as Lady Dumbello
Wife of Lord Dumbello, a society figure.
Bishop Proudie
minor
Also known as Bishop Proudie, Dr. Proudie
Bishop of Barchester, dominated by his wife.
Jane
minor
Also known as Jane
Maid or servant in the Crawley household.
Mrs. Jones
minor
Also known as old Jones
Wife of Mr. Jones, a local woman.
Dandy
minor
Also known as Dandy
A horse owned by Lord Lufton.
Mrs. Thorne
minor
Also known as Mrs. Thorne
Wife of Dr. Thorne, a kind hostess.
Mr. Gumption
minor
Also known as old Mr. Gumption
Local apothecary or tradesman.
Hannah
minor
Also known as Hannah
Servant in the Lufton household.
Dr. Easyman
minor
Also known as Dr. Easyman
Physician called in for a medical consultation.
Old Mr. Gresham
minor
Also known as old Mr. Gresham of Greshamsbury
Father of Frank Gresham, a retired squire.
Dr. Stanhope
minor
Also known as Stanhope, old Stanhope, old Dr. Stanhope
Clergyman from Barchester, briefly mentioned.
Roger
minor
Also known as Roger
Servant or groom at Framley parsonage.
Grizzy
minor
Also known as Grizzy
Nickname for Griselda Grantly, used by family.
Ned
minor
Also known as Ned
Servant or stable boy at Framley.
Mrs. Pole
minor
Also known as Mrs. Pole
Widow or local woman, mentioned in passing.
Harriet
minor
Also known as Harriet
Servant in the Crawley household.
Susan Harding
minor
Also known as Susan
Daughter of Mr. Harding, married to Dr. Grantly.
Mr. Gagebee
minor
Also known as young Mr. Gagebee
Young man, possibly a suitor or clerk.
Mrs. Stubbs
minor
Also known as Stubbs
Local woman, possibly a shopkeeper.
Lady Julia Mac Mull
minor
Also known as Julia Mac Mull, Lady Julia
Former fiancée of Lord Lufton, briefly mentioned.
Mrs. Quiverful
minor
Also known as Mrs. Quiverful
Wife of a clergyman, mentioned in passing.
Gerald Robarts
minor
Also known as Gerald
Another brother of Mark Robarts.
