# Timothy Petrick — Short Fiction character guide

> Timothy Petrick in Short Fiction by Thomas Hardy.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Timothy, old Timothy Petrick, Petrick, old Timothy

**First appearance:** 0142-to-please-his-wife

## Snapshot

An old man whose pride in his family name is quietly undermined by a revelation he never anticipated.

## Who they are

Timothy Petrick belongs to the landed, name-conscious stratum of Hardy's rural society, where lineage is treated as a kind of moral credit. His attachment to the Petrick legacy is both his dignity and his blind spot, shaping how he judges neighbours, kin, and himself. When a disclosure threatens that inheritance, the story's middle turns on whether he can bend or will simply harden.

## In the story

### [XVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/xvii)

Not present in this chapter.

### [Absentmindedness in a Parish Choir](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/absentmindedness-in-a-parish-choir)

Bass-viol man in the choir; helps keep the drink warm in his instrument bag.

### [Squire Petrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/dame-the-sixth)

The elder Timothy Petrick, a wealthy mortgagee and lawyer, who alters his will to disinherit his great-grandson after learning of the child's illegitimate birth.

### [Squire Petrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/dame-the-sixth)

The younger Timothy Petrick, grandson of old Timothy, who initially rejects his wife's child but later grows to love him.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters/timothy_petrick
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_53_se/characters