Our American Cousin · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Our American Cousin by Tom Taylor.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Asa Trenchard
major
Also known as Asa Trenchard Wal, Wal, Asa Trenchard Why, Asa Trenchard Aside, Enter Asa Trenchard, Asa Trenchard Small potatoes, Asa Trenchard Oh, Asa Trenchard Miss Mary, Asa Trenchard Old Mark Trenchard, Mark Trenchard, old Mark Trenchard, poor old Mark Trenchard, Asa Trenchard Nary slapjack, Asa Trenchard Nary, Asa Trenchard Nary red, Asa Trenchard Eh, Asa Trenchard Miss Georgina, Asa Trenchard All wight, Asa Trenchard Assistance, Asa Trenchard Outside
A drawling Vermont cousin who inherits an English fortune and, with rough-hewn decency, quietly hands it to the girl who deserves it.
Lord Dundreary
major
Also known as Dundreary, Enter Lord Dundreary, Lord Dundreary Yeth, Lord Dundreary Pork, Lord Dundreary Well, Lord Dundreary No, that Lord Dundreary, Lord Dundreary Spoiled, Lord Dundreary Business, Lord Dundreary That lovely Georgina, Lord Dundreary Illustrious exile, Lord Dundreary Dear Mr. Trenchard, Lord Dundreary Birds, Lord Dundreary Oh, Lord Dundreary Miss Florence, Lord Dundreary Good gracious, Pulls Lord Dundreary, Lord Dundreary Sir, Lord Dundreary Screams, extreme R. Lord Dundreary
A lisping, whisker-blessed English lord who mistakes syllabubs for cherubims and turns every drawing-room errand into a small catastrophe.
Florence Trenchard
major
Also known as Miss Florence, Miss Florence Trenchard, Florence Trenchard, Florence, Miss Trenchard, dear Florence, Florence Trenchard A what, Florence Trenchard Laughing, Enter Florence Trenchard, Florence Trenchard Papa, Florence Trenchard Good gracious, Florence Trenchard Hiding, Florence Trenchard Dear papa, Florence Trenchard Show Mr. Trenchard, Florence Trenchard Soft, Miss. Florence Trenchard, Miss., Florence Trenchard Lord Dundreary, Florence Trenchard Wings, Florence Trenchard Good Heavens
Sir Edward's sharp-eyed daughter, quick to see through fortune hunters and quicker to champion the cousin she means to see happy.
Mary Meredith
major
Also known as poor Meredith, Mary Meredith, Mrs. Mountchessington, Mary, Mrs. Mountchessington Aside, Miss Mary, Miss Mary Meredith, Mrs. Mountchessington Miss Mary Meredith, Mrs. Mountchessington Rising, Mary Starting Aside, Mary Asa Trenchard, Mary The legatee, Mary Make, Mary Rough - spun , honest - hearted Asa Trenchard, Mary Poor Grandfather, Mary Mr. Trenchard, Sir Edward Trenchard Mary
The penniless orphan of Trenchard Manor whose gentle patience hides a claim to the estate she never dreamed of making.
Sir Edward Trenchard
major
Also known as Mr. Vernon, Sir Edward Trenchard, Sir Edward, the late Sir Edward, Edward Trenchard, Sir Edward Trenchard Mr. Vernon, dear brother Ned, Ned, Sir Edward Trenchard Florence, Edward Trenchard Florence, Sir Edward Trenchard Saved, Edward Trenchard Well, Sir Edward Trenchard Nay Mr. Coyle, the Trenchard, Sir Edward Trenchard Heavens, Sir Edward Trenchard , Mrs. Mountchessington, Sir Edward Trenchard Bailiffs, Edward Trenchard Bailiffs, Sir Edward Trenchard Mr. Murcott
The baronet of Trenchard Manor, mortgaged to the hilt and weighing whether to sell his daughter to save his name.
Mr. Binny
supporting
Also known as Mr. Binny Cram full, Mr. Binny, Mr. Binny Ab—what sir, Mr. Binny Mr. Coyle, Mr. Binny Halways himpudent, Mr. Buddicombe, Mr. Buddicombe The, Binny, Binny Mr. Buddicombe, Enter Mr. Binny, John Wickens, Mr. Binny John Wickens, Wickens, Enter John Wickens, Exit Mr. Binny, Mr. Binny Taking valise, Hits Mr. Binny, To Mr. Binny, Mr. Puffy, Puffy
Mr. Binny keeps the Trenchard household running in name if not in practice, appearing at doorways to announce arrivals and descending to the wine cellar to pour for his betters. In the vaults he drinks alongside Mr. Coyle and Abel Murcott, insisting between stumbles that he always acts as becomes a gentleman, then returns with a tray just in time to be knocked flat. His running collisions with Asa's blunt American energy make him the household's barometer for how badly the old order is rattling.
Georgina Mountchessington
supporting
Also known as Lord Dundreary That lovely Georgina, Georgina, Lord Dundreary Illustrious exile, Miss Georgina Mountchessington, Miss Georgina, Asa Trenchard Miss Georgina
Georgina moves through the Trenchard drawing room as the family's most bankable asset, her beauty deployed by her mother in a campaign for a wealthy match. Lord Dundreary circles her with muddled gallantry, drawn by her fortune as much as her face, while she keeps her own calculations quiet behind a lovely smile. Her presence sharpens the play's marriage market, making every letter, arrival, and inheritance feel like a bid placed on her future.
Augusta Mountchessington
supporting
Also known as Miss Augusta, Augusta Enthusiastically, Augusta, Enter Augusta, Miss Gusty, Miss Gusta, Augusta What, Augusta , L. 1 E., Augusta , L. 1 E. Mrs. Mountchessington, Augusta Delighted
Augusta sits beside her mother in the drawing room, coached to flatter the newly arrived American heir with talk of Sam Slick and Indian dresses. She performs breathless wonder at Asa's supposed frontier life, but her asides betray exhaustion with the whole genteel performance. Her transparent insincerity gives the play one of its sharpest running jokes and exposes how much of the household's politeness is simply salesmanship.
Mrs. Mountchessington
supporting
Also known as Mrs. Mountchessington, Mrs. Mountchessington Old Mark Trenchard, Mrs. Mountchessington Soft, Mrs. Mountchessington Hush, Mrs. Mountchestnut
Mrs. Mountchessington steers her daughters through the Trenchard drawing room like a field commander, instructing Augusta to study Bancroft and Sam Slick before greeting the American visitor. She greets Asa's every blunt remark with smooth approval, even when he is openly mocking her, and dismisses his rudeness as some elegant American idiom. Her relentless matchmaking turns the household's social rituals into a contest of appetites, and her schemes give Asa's plain speaking something worth puncturing.
Captain De Boots
supporting
Also known as Capt . De Boots, Harry Vernon, De Boots, Harry, Harry Vernon, Capt, Capt . De Boots Soft, Mr. De Boots, Captain De Boots, Harry Vernon Soft, Lieutenant Vernon
Captain De Boots moves through the family's morning gatherings with a newspaper in hand and a mild apology always ready, more interested in old Soloman's crop than in the romantic weather around him. He belongs to the comfortable set of officers and gentlemen who orbit Florence and Harry, present at every letter-reading and archery party without ever steering the plot. His easy, unremarkable sociability gives the play its texture of ordinary English life against which the American cousin's arrival looks so strange.
Abel Murcott
supporting
Also known as Abel Murcott Mr. Coyle, Abel Murcott As frank, Murcott, Abel, Abel Murcott Key, Abel—his, Abel Murcott Florence, Abel Murcott , R. 1 E. Sir Edward Trenchard
Abel Murcott works in Mr. Coyle's office and knows exactly how the steward's accounts have been cooked, which makes him both a liability and a weapon. In the wine cellar he lifts the keys from his unconscious master's pocket, then refuses to take the watch for fear of being called a thief, showing a scruple that survives his drinking. When Asa forces Coyle to resign, Abel is named his successor, and his pledge at the first pump he comes to turns the play's revenge into something close to redemption.
Mr. Trenchard
supporting
Also known as Lord Dundreary Dear Mr. Trenchard, Mr. Trenchard, Oh Mr. Trenchard, Trenchard, Florence Trenchard Show Mr. Trenchard, Mrs. Mountchessington Mr. Trenchard
Mr. Trenchard belongs to the moneyed, letter-reading circle at Trenchard Manor, where Florence hands out the morning post and marriages are negotiated like treaties. His stake in the inheritance dispute keeps him hovering at the edge of Sir Edward's authority, a rival whose claims the household can neither fully welcome nor dismiss. That unresolved pull between blood and property gives the early comedy its bite, since every guest's fortune—and every match—depends on how his claim is finally weighed.
Hi
minor
Also known as Hi
A minor character, possibly a servant, with brief dialogue.
Ma
minor
Also known as Ma
A minor character, possibly a servant or family member, briefly mentioned.
Mr. Coyle
supporting
Also known as Abel Murcott Mr. Coyle, Abel Murcott, Mr. Coyle, Abel Murcott As frank, Murcott, Mr. Coyle To Abel Murcott, Mr. Binny Cram full, Coyle, Mr. Coyle Pshaw, Mr. Coyle Burglars, Mr. Coyle Well, old Mr. Coyle, that darned old Mr. Coyle, R. Mr. Coyle, R. 1 E. Mr. Binny Mr. Coyle, this Mr. Coyle, Mr. Coyle Bitterly, Enter Mr. Binny , L. 3 E. Mr. Binny
The family solicitor, smooth as his own paperwork, who keeps the Trenchards' secrets and their debts in the same locked drawer.
Skillet
minor
Also known as Mary Augusta Georgina Sharpe Skillet, Skillet, Sharpe, Sharpe Nor, Mrs. Skillet
Servant in the Mountchessington household, involved in minor comic exchanges.
Mr. Puffy
minor
Also known as Mr. Puffy, Puffy, Mr. Puffy . Mr. Binny
A tradesman or local character who interacts with Binny and the household.
Mr. Tommy Hawk
minor
Also known as Mr. Tommy Hawk, this Mr. Thomas Hawk
A minor character mentioned in passing, possibly a servant or visitor.
Bailiffs
minor
Also known as Bailiffs
Officials who arrive to enforce debts against Sir Edward Trenchard.
Sam Slick
minor
Also known as Sam Slick, Sam
A Yankee character mentioned as a type, possibly a brief allusion.
Brass
minor
Also known as Brass
A servant or minor functionary in the Trenchard household.
Handmarth
minor
Also known as Handmarth
A minor character, possibly a servant or tradesman, briefly mentioned.
Robert
minor
Also known as Robert
A servant or minor character with a few lines in the play.
Mrs. Richard Coyle
minor
Also known as Mrs. Richard Coyle, Richard Coyle, Frederick
Wife of Richard Coyle, mentioned in relation to family matters.
