# Godfrey Bellingham — The Eye of Osiris character guide

> Godfrey Bellingham in The Eye of Osiris by R. Austin Freeman.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Mr. Godfrey Bellingham, Godfrey, Mr. Bellingham

**First appearance:** 0000-i-the-vanishing-man

## Snapshot

The missing man's brother, a proud and suddenly penniless invalid whose account of a baffling will draws Thorndyke into the case.

## Who they are

Godfrey Bellingham lives quietly at Woodford with his daughter, his health and fortune both broken, when his brother's disappearance leaves him entangled in legal complications he cannot afford to fight. He tells Berkeley the strange story of the ill-drafted will, revealing a family already strained by money and suspicion before the vanishing. His poverty and his dependence on others make him both sympathetic and suspect, and his testimony is one of the threads Thorndyke must test against the physical evidence.

## In the story

### [The Vanishing Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/i-the-vanishing-man)

Brother of John Bellingham; his library is where the scarab was found.

### [II: The Eavesdropper](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/ii-the-eavesdropper)

An invalid who confides in Paul about losing his fortune and his brother's mysterious disappearance. He mentions the legal tangle over John Bellingham's will.

### [III: John Thorndyke](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/iii-john-thorndyke)

Godfrey is mentioned as Berkeley's patient who lost all his property around the time of the disappearance. He is in financial difficulty and unable to afford legal advice.

### [Legal Complications and a Jackal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/iv-legal-complications-and-a-jackal)

Explains the legal complications of his brother's will and his refusal of George Hurst's offer.

### [V: The Watercress-Bed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/v-the-watercress-bed)

Provided Paul with details of the will; mentioned as having no objection to sharing the information.

### [VI: Sidelights](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/vi-sidelights)

Enters the room during Paul and Ruth's conversation, supports Paul's proposal to help with dictation, and persuades Ruth to accept.

### [John Bellingham's Will](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/vii-john-bellingham-s-will)

Authorizes Paul to show the will to Thorndyke; described as poor and proud.

### [A Museum Idyll](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/viii-a-museum-idyll)

Upset by news of the remains, maintains fiction that his brother is alive.

### [The Sphynx of Lincoln’s Inn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/ix-the-sphynx-of-lincoln-s-inn)

Mentioned as Paul's friend whose difficulties would be resolved if John Bellingham returned.

### [X: The New Alliance](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/x-the-new-alliance)

Anxiously discusses the human remains and accepts Thorndyke's offer to handle the case.

### [The Evidence Reviewed](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/xi-the-evidence-reviewed)

Mentioned as a possible suspect; Thorndyke says he does not suspect him after meeting him.

### [A Voyage of Discovery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/xii-a-voyage-of-discovery)

The client on whose behalf Paul is examining the bones; his interests are at stake in the inquest and probate court.

### [Which Carries the Reader Into the Probate Court](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/xiv-which-carries-the-reader-into-the-probate-court)

Father of Ruth; struggles to control his anger toward George Hurst in court.

### [John Bellingham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/xviii-john-bellingham)

Sinks into nervous prostration; too ill to attend the meeting with Thorndyke.

### [A Strange Symposium](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/chapters/xix-a-strange-symposium)

Mentioned as a possible impersonator of his brother, though Thorndyke dismisses the likelihood.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/characters/godfrey_bellingham
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eye_of_osiris_se/characters