Character guide

Charteris

major

Also known as Mine, he, himself

Charteris edits The Glow Worm at his own expense, and it outsells the official school magazine because he always knows the news first. He is the one who tells the Babe, with relish, that Dacre is going to be married, and he cannot resist needling a friend who minds his own business. His journalistic instinct for a story makes him both the House's best-informed schemer and the natural engine of its scandals.

Dunstable

major

Also known as Mr. P. A. Dunstable, P. A. Dunstable, Linton

Caught poaching in Mr. Watson's wood, Dunstable faces Mr. Day with a frankness that is almost disarming, admitting the offence without excuse. His quiet remark at the door about the autograph shows a boy who notices what others miss and cannot quite resist the last word. That blend of blunt honesty and impudent timing marks him as a schoolboy who takes his lumps but keeps his own score.

Pillingshot

major

Also known as young Pillingshot, cad Pillingshot

When Evans's missing sovereign becomes a case, Scott appoints Pillingshot the detective and hands him a notebook and a set of clues. Pillingshot's contribution is to gape, admit he doesn't know, and reluctantly examine the scene of the robbery before reporting no clues at all. His haplessness is the joke and the engine of the story, a small comedy of a boy promoted far beyond his competence.

P. St. H. Harrison

supporting

Also known as Harrison

Harrison arrives at Merevale's nursing a grievance against the fellow-traveller who got the better of him, and he sets about revenge with cheerful cunning. He convinces the unknown that Venables's study is his own, then waits for the Head of the House to return and find a stranger wrecking his belongings. His scheme is audacious and short-sighted, and it makes him the story's resident plotter, a boy who risks everything for the pleasure of scoring off a rival.

Smith

supporting

Also known as Scott, Great Scott

Scott turns a missing sovereign into a proper investigation, complete with notebooks, timelines, and a reluctant subordinate in Pillingshot. He questions Evans with mock-legal precision, pinning down times and cricket bags, then dispatches his detective to examine the scene. His energy and self-appointed authority drive the story's comic inquiry, even as the actual solution eludes everyone involved.

G. Montgomery Chapple

supporting

Also known as Montgomery, Chapple

Chapple belongs to the junior day-room world where muffins are filched and Evans's lost sovereign becomes the talk of the House. He is part of the audience for Scott's detective scheme and Pillingshot's hapless investigation, a boy whose mannerisms and reactions colour the daily life of the school. His role is to be present, to react, and to remind the reader that these dramas unfold among a whole society of boys.

Frederick Wackerbath Bradshaw

supporting

Also known as Bradshaw, the talented Frederick, the wretched Bradshaw

Bradshaw moves through St. Austin's as the boy who can talk his way out of anything, a talent that both fascinates and exasperates his classmates. When he works off a private explanation to Mellish in under five minutes, the two emerge like long-lost brothers, leaving his friends desperate to extract the secret and Prater's sudden summons to the Headmaster hinting that even Bradshaw's eloquence has limits. His gift for fiction makes him the axis around which the school's scrapes and mysteries turn.

The Babe

supporting

Also known as Babe

The Babe endures Miss Beezley's merciless literary interrogations — Browning, Sordello, and the Pied Piper — with choking blushes and hollow laughter, while his carving of a chicken becomes a public ordeal. Yet he is no mere victim: he runs with Charteris, keeps training discipline, and quietly absorbs the social codes of Merevale. His earnestness and vulnerability make him the reader's tender entry point into the school's comic hierarchies.

Tony Graham

supporting

Also known as Graham, Poor old Tony

Tony Graham is the dependable presence whose being 'crocked' forces Charteris and the Babe to reorganize the side and reconsider their own commitments. His absence from the pitch becomes a kind of moral pressure on those around him, especially the reluctant Charteris, who is prodded into a training run partly to fill the gap. Graham's steady, unglamorous reliability anchors the early sporting arc.

J. S. M. Babington

supporting

Also known as Babington, Mr. J. S. M. Babington, Master Babington

Babington is the virtuoso of the form's beloved round game — the staged accident, the eloquent defence, the cloud of witnesses — until Mr. Seymour's pleasant 'you lack finesse' punctures the whole performance. Ordered to work Hall and Knight examples on a half-holiday, he feels his artistic reputation shatter, and a letter from a medical cousin adds a further complication. His collision with the new order dramatizes the book's quiet theme of tradition meeting change.

Thomas B. A. Shearne

supporting

Also known as Thomas, Tom, Shearne, Truthful Thomas

Thomas arrives at Eckleton with pink cheeks and almost indecently golden hair, the very image of a Ministering Child, and Master Burge cannot resist testing him. But when Thomas sits on the thrown Bradley Arnold, then fires it back into Burge's waistcoat, the junior day-room learns that the meek face hides a cool hand. His cheerful letters home — denying blanket-tossing and gin-running — reveal a boy quietly, comically self-possessed.

Welch

minor

A schoolboy who participates in the various school activities and discussions.

Richard Venables

supporting

Also known as Venables, The elder Venables

Venables presides over the study where Evans's missing quid becomes a case, assigning the baffled Pillingshot the role of detective and feeding him clues with mock-serious relish. His interrogation of Evans — cricket bags, the wash, the hours between ten and seven-thirty — shows a mind that enjoys the game of deduction more than the crime. He embodies the older-boy culture of playful mentorship that shapes the younger set's adventures.

Mrs. Spencer

minor

Also known as Spencer

A matronly figure at the school who interacts with the boys.

Clephane

minor

A schoolboy who appears in various school scenes and conversations.

Mr. Mellish

minor

Also known as Mellish

A master at the school, often dealing with discipline.

Mr. Reginald Seymour

minor

Also known as Reginald, Mr. Seymour, Seymour

A master at the school, involved in teaching and school events.

Payne

minor

A schoolboy who has a notable episode of improving his behavior.

The Headmaster

supporting

Also known as the headmaster, The headmaster, the Headmaster, The Headmaster

He never appears in person, yet his preferences govern the school's daily life: masters quote his aversion to local disputes as though it were statute. That offstage pressure creates the quiet tension running beneath ordinary school discipline, where a housemaster's punishment may owe as much to the headmaster's peace of mind as to any boy's offence. His invisible standard of conduct is what makes small transgressions matter, and what the stories' comedy of authority quietly measures itself against.

Uncle John

minor

Also known as John, the great Uncle John

A relative of one of the boys who visits the school and causes a stir.

Evans

minor

Also known as Whereupon Evans

A schoolboy who appears in various scenes and conversations.

Grey

minor

A schoolboy mentioned in the context of school activities.

Charles Augustus Walkinshaw

minor

Also known as Walkinshaw, Charles

A schoolboy with a formal name, appearing in school scenes.

Mr. Montagu Watson

minor

Also known as Watson, Mr. Watson, Montagu, Montagu Watson

A master at the school, known for his artistic pretensions.

Biffen

minor

A schoolboy who appears in the narrative of school life.

John Jackson

minor

Also known as Jackson

A schoolboy who is part of the school's social fabric.

Mr. Day

minor

Also known as old Day, Day

A master at the school, often mentioned in school contexts.

Mr. Merevale

minor

Also known as Merevale

A master at the school, involved in teaching.

Tom Brown

minor

Also known as Brown, Tom, the Tom Brown of part one, young Brown

A character from a book within the book, discussed by the boys.

Mr. Prater

minor

Also known as Prater

A master at the school, involved in school discipline.

J. Linton

minor

Also known as Mr. C. J. Linton, Linton

A schoolboy or master, appearing in school contexts.

Major-General Sir Everard Venables

minor

Also known as Everard Venables, Sir Everard Venables, General Sir Everard Venables

A distinguished military figure and relative of a schoolboy.

Mr. Secretary Morrison

minor

Also known as Mr. Morrison, Morrison

A master or official at the school.

Dorothy IV

minor

Also known as Dorothy

A character from a story or play within the book.

The Doctor

minor

Also known as the doctor, the Doctor

A medical doctor who attends to the boys.

Mr. Hughes

minor

Also known as Hughes

A master or visitor at the school.

Dear Archie

minor

A character addressed in a letter or conversation.

Hunters Dunstable

minor

Also known as Dunstable

A relative or associate of the Dunstable family.

Mrs. James Anthony

minor

Also known as Jim

A female character, possibly a relative of a schoolboy.

Thomas Beauchamp Algernon

minor

Also known as Tom, Thomas

A schoolboy with a long name, often involved in school life.

W. G. Phipps

minor

Also known as Phipps

A schoolboy who participates in school events and discussions.

Mr. MacArthur

minor

Also known as MacArthur

A master at the school, involved in teaching and discipline.

Henfrey

minor

A schoolboy who is part of the school community.

Mr. Dacre

minor

Also known as Dacre

A master at the school, involved in school affairs.

Mr. Appleby

minor

Also known as Appleby

A master at the school, appearing in various scenes.

Reynolds of the Remove

minor

Also known as Reynolds

A schoolboy from a specific form, involved in school life.

Captain Kettle

minor

A character from a story within the book, referenced by the boys.

Merrett

minor

Also known as the baffled Merrett, That beast Merrett, that man Merrett

A schoolboy who is often the subject of conflict or annoyance.

Miss Florence Beezley

minor

Also known as Miss Beezley, no Miss Beezley, a Miss Beezley

A female character who interacts with the schoolboys.

Trentham

minor

Also known as née Miss Trentham, the practical Trentham

A female character, possibly a relative of a schoolboy.

Prescott

minor

A schoolboy who appears in the narrative.

Barrett

minor

A schoolboy who is part of the school community.

Kendal

minor

A schoolboy who is part of the school's social scene.

Mr. Shields

minor

Also known as Shields

A master at the school, central to a cricket cup story.

Gorrick

minor

A schoolboy who appears in various school scenes.

Mr. C. F. Spencer

minor

Also known as C. F. Spencer, Spencer, Mr. Spencer

A master at the school, involved in teaching.

Mr. Perceval

minor

A master at the school, involved in school affairs.

Dick Turpin

minor

Also known as Dick

A historical highwayman referenced by the boys in conversation.

Mansfield

minor

A schoolboy who appears in the narrative.

Thucydides

minor

Also known as Conscience, Conscience Thucydides

A personification of conscience, used as a character in the narrative.

Dr. Adamson

minor

Also known as Adamson

A doctor who appears in the story.

Kennedy

minor

A schoolboy who is part of the school community.

Bowden

minor

A schoolboy who appears in school scenes.

Mr. Oliver Ring

minor

Also known as Mr. Ring, Ring

A master at the school, involved in teaching.

Charles Vanderpoop

minor

Also known as Charles

A character from a story or play within the book.

Mrs. Cook

minor

Also known as Cook

A cook at the school, providing meals for the boys.

Professor Burkett-Smith

minor

Also known as Burkett-Smith

A professor or master at the school.

Smythe

minor

A schoolboy who appears in the narrative.

M. Gerard

minor

Also known as Gerard

A French master or character at the school.

Dear Dick

minor

A character addressed in a letter or conversation.

Brooke

minor

A schoolboy who appears in school scenes.

Trent

minor

A schoolboy who is part of the school community.

Mr. Yorke

minor

Also known as Yorke

A master at the school, involved in teaching.

Mr. John Dalgliesh

minor

Also known as John Dalgliesh, John

A character who writes a letter or is mentioned in correspondence.

Mr. Langridge

minor

Also known as Langridge

A master at the school, involved in school affairs.

Berkeley

minor

A schoolboy who appears in the narrative.

Mace

minor

A schoolboy who is part of the school community.

Sherlock Holmes

minor

Also known as Holmes

The famous detective, referenced by the boys in conversation.

The Head

minor

Also known as the Head

Another term for the headmaster of the school.

Mr. Dexter

minor

Also known as Dexter

A master at the school, involved in teaching.

Master P. Burge

minor

Also known as Master Burge, Burge

A schoolboy who appears in school scenes.