# Old Hammond — News from Nowhere character guide > Old Hammond in News from Nowhere by William Morris. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Hammond, kinsman Hammond the Elder **First appearance:** 0007-viii-an-old-friend ## Snapshot A garrulous elder scholar who has outlived the revolution he chronicles, he lectures the narrator on how the old world fell. ## Who they are Hammond is the book's resident historian, a man whose love of talk has outgrown his audience of restless youngsters. He grumbles at the young and takes comfort in old novels, yet his memory holds the whole arc from capitalism to commonwealth. He matters because his long expository conversations give the narrator, and the reader, the historical scaffolding on which the utopia rests. ## Relationships ### [Clara](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/clara) _family_ Clara is Old Hammond's granddaughter, showing affectionate respect and familial closeness. ### [Friend Walter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/friend_walter) _friendship_ Friend Walter and Old Hammond are old friends who share memories and discuss history together. ### [Clara](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/clara) _family_ Clara is Old Hammond's granddaughter, showing affectionate respect and familial closeness. ### [Clara](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/clara) _family_ Clara is Old Hammond's granddaughter, showing affectionate respect and familial closeness. ### [Friend Walter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/friend_walter) _friendship_ Friend Walter and Old Hammond are old friends who share memories and discuss history together. ### [Friend Walter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/friend_walter) _friendship_ Friend Walter and Old Hammond are old friends who share memories and discuss history together. ## In the story ### [VII: Trafalgar Square](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/vii-trafalgar-square) The old man accompanying them, who questions the narrator's account of the 1887 protest and mentions a book called James' Social Democratic History. ### [An Old Friend](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/viii-an-old-friend) Dick's great-grandfather, who lives at the British Museum and is described as a custodian of books. ### [IX: Concerning Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/ix-concerning-love) The elderly host who explains the modern views on love and relationships, and facilitates the reunion of Dick and Clara. ### [X: Question and Answers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/x-question-and-answers) Old Hammond provides detailed answers about the disappearance of industrial districts, the revival of villages, the transformation of Oxford, and the clearing of London slums, expressing joy in the present happiness. ### [XI: Concerning Government](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xi-concerning-government) Old Hammond explains that the old government was merely the machinery of tyranny, and that in the free society, no such government exists; the whole people is the parliament. ### [XII: Concerning the Arrangement of Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xii-concerning-the-arrangement-of-life) Old Hammond explains the abolition of civil and criminal law, the roots of crime in private property, and the society's reliance on habit and goodwill. ### [XIII: Concerning Politics](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xiii-concerning-politics) Old Hammond answers the Guest's question about politics, stating that they have none. ### [XIV: How Matters Are Managed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xiv-how-matters-are-managed) Old Hammond explains the communal decision-making process through Motes, defends the system against charges of tyranny, and dismisses the old political rivalries as artificial and unnecessary. ### [XV: On the Lack of Incentive to Labour in a Communist Society](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xv-on-the-lack-of-incentive-to-labour-in-a-communist-society) Old Hammond provides a detailed explanation of how work has become pleasurable, contrasting the new system with the exploitative practices of the nineteenth century. ### [XVI: Dinner in the Hall of the Bloomsbury Market](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xvi-dinner-in-the-hall-of-the-bloomsbury-market) Old Hammond explains the nature of art and imagination, and expresses joy at having regained a childlike perspective on life. ### [How the Change Came](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xvii-how-the-change-came) Narrates the history of the social change, explaining the failures of State Socialism and the rise of worker organization. ### [XVIII: The Beginning of the New Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xviii-the-beginning-of-the-new-life) Old Hammond narrates the story of the Great Change, describing the civil war, the destruction of wealth, and the emergence of art as a necessary part of labor. ### [XIX: The Drive Back to Hammersmith](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/chapters/xix-the-drive-back-to-hammersmith) Wise and slightly ominous, hints that the Guest may return to his own people with a message, and warns of a temporary happiness. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters/old_hammond - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/news_from_nowhere_se/characters