# The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling — Character guide

> Key figures in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding.

- [Tom Jones](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/tom_jones.md): Adopted as an infant and reared alongside the calculating Blifil, Tom earns affection through generosity and loses it through indiscretion. When a broken arm lands him in bed, Allworthy lectures him gently while Thwackum
- [Sophia Western](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/sophia_western.md): Revered by her fox-hunting father as something between a prize and a possession, Sophia possesses both a fortune and a will of her own. She holds real influence over the blustering squire, and Tom Jones holds a little in
- [Squire Allworthy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/squire_allworthy.md): Wealthy, charitable, and almost comically good, Allworthy governs his estate and his household by a moral code he genuinely lives by. When Tom lies to protect a gamekeeper, Allworthy hesitates, weighs mercy against disci
- [Master Blifil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/master_blifil.md): Where Tom acts on impulse, Blifil calculates, and the contrast is never sharper than when he stands bleeding before his uncle, weeping and quoting heaven while carefully omitting the insult that provoked the blow. He rep
- [Squire Western](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/squire_western.md): Western's world runs on horses, hounds, and the conviction that a daughter's marriage is a father's business. When he finds Jones holding Sophia's muff, he bellows like a man who has sighted game and hauls Jones off as t
- [Mr. Partridge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mr_partridge.md): Partridge enters Tom's life as a man suspected of fathering the foundling, and stays as the most faithful and funniest presence in his wanderings. At a London performance of Hamlet, he mistakes the ghost for a man in str
- [Mrs. Honour](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mrs_honour.md): Mrs. Honour serves Sophia Western as lady's maid and confidante, privy to her mistress's secrets and never shy about sharing her opinions on them. Her devotion is genuine but thoroughly mixed with self-interest: she weep
- [Mrs. Miller](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mrs_miller.md): Mrs. Miller keeps a lodging-house in London and, having once been befriended by Mr. Allworthy, is predisposed to think well of his adopted son. She listens to Jones's history with ready sympathy and lends him her house f
- [Lady Bellaston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/lady_bellaston.md): Lady Bellaston moves through fashionable London with money, connections, and an appetite for intrigue, keeping a married confidante and a convenient house for her meetings with Jones. When her usual arrangements collapse
- [Molly Seagrim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/molly_seagrim.md): Molly Seagrim lives on the edge of Allworthy's estate, poor, proud, and unafraid of a fight — as the churchyard brawl with Goody Brown proves. Tom's early passion for her is generous and reckless: he horsewhips the mob, 
- [Mrs. Western](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mrs_western.md): Mrs. Western is a woman of fashion and firm views, convinced that her experience of the world entitles her to direct Sophia's future, including a match with the odious Blifil. She delights in political argument and in be
- [Mr. Thwackum](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mr_thwackum.md): Thwackum instructs Tom Jones and Blifil under Mr. Allworthy's roof, wielding Scripture and the whip with equal relish and reserving his harshest judgments for the foundling. He interprets every misfortune as divine punis
- [Mr. Square](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mr_square.md): Square belongs to the little pedagogical court at Paradise Hall, where he and the clergyman Thwackum compete to shape Allworthy's wards. He argues that moral goodness is innate and independent of religion, yet his fine t
- [Jenny Jones](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/jenny_jones.md): Jenny is the poor woman on whom the parish pins the scandal of Tom's birth, questioned by Allworthy and lectured by the local divines. Her quick mind and steady manner unsettle the men who mean to shame her, hinting at a
- [Black George](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/black_george.md): Black George scrapes a living at the edges of the estate, loved by his daughter Molly and pitied by Tom, but never quite able to resist the main chance. When he is caught with a hare, the machinery of local justice and B
- [Mr. Nightingale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mr_nightingale.md): Nightingale is the sociable young man about town who befriends Tom in London, generous with drink, company, and advice. His private attachment to his landlady's daughter Nancy collides with old Mr. Nightingale's plans fo
- [Mrs. Waters](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mrs_waters.md): Mrs. Waters arrives at the Upton inn as a woman of evident spirit and uncertain reputation, and her encounter with the wounded, lovesick Tom becomes one of the book's most notorious episodes. She is warm, quick, and enti
- [Mr. Fitzpatrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mr_fitzpatrick.md): Fitzpatrick has abandoned a clerk's desk for the grander trade of gentleman, and he carries both its bluster and its thin skin. Convinced his wife has run off, he pursues her across the country, turning up at inns and ma
- [Dowling](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/dowling.md): Dowling moves through the novel as a professional fixer, the kind of attorney who knows which documents matter and which witnesses can be managed. His value lies in what he withholds: knowledge of Tom's parentage and the
- [Mrs. Deborah Wilkins](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mrs_deborah_wilkins.md): Allworthy's prudish, gossipy housekeeper who investigates Tom's birth.
- [Mrs. Bridget](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mrs_bridget.md): Allworthy's sister and mother of Tom and Blifil, who marries Captain Blifil.
- [Lord Fellamar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/lord_fellamar.md): Aristocratic suitor of Sophia who attempts to force her into marriage.
- [Mr. Northerton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mr_northerton.md): Rakehell army officer who wounds Tom in a duel and later appears in London.
- [Miss Nancy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/miss_nancy.md): Daughter of Mrs. Miller who secretly marries young Nightingale.
- [Captain Blifil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/captain_blifil.md): Fortune-hunting captain who marries Bridget Allworthy and dies early.
- [Mr. Supple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mr_supple.md): Easy-going local parson who often mediates disputes.
- [Little Benjamin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/little_benjamin.md): Barber who travels with Partridge and is later revealed as Partridge himself.
- [Mrs. Abigail](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mrs_abigail.md): Servant to Lady Bellaston who assists in her schemes.
- [Mrs. Whitefield](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mrs_whitefield.md): Innkeeper at the Bell in Gloucester who hosts Tom and Partridge.
- [Mr. Maclachlan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mr_maclachlan.md): Scottish officer who befriends Tom in the army.
- [Mr. Edwards](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/mr_edwards.md): Father of Tom Edwards, a gentleman who helps Tom.
- [Susan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/susan.md): Chambermaid at the inn at Upton who gossips about the guests.
- [Robin](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/robin.md): Servant at the inn who helps with horses.
- [Sir George Gresham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/sir_george_gresham.md): Local gentleman who hosts a hunt.
- [Watson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/watson.md): Acquaintance of Tom in London who falls into debt.
- [Pettyfogger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/pettyfogger.md): Unscrupulous lawyer who appears in a legal subplot.
- [Merry-Andrew](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/merry_andrew.md): Clown or jester at a fair, briefly mentioned.
- [The Officer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/the_officer.md): Army officer who arrests Tom for the duel.
- [The Doctor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/the_doctor.md): Physician who treats various characters.
- [The Stranger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters/the_stranger.md): Mysterious man who appears at key moments.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_history_of_tom_jones_a_foundling_se/characters