# Mr. Gurnard — The Inheritors character guide

> Mr. Gurnard in The Inheritors by Joseph Conrad.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gurnard

**First appearance:** 0003-i

## Snapshot

A cynically immoral politician and Chancellor of the Exchequer, said to be the type of the age and the spirit of its future.

## Who they are

Gurnard is the narrator's brother-in-law and, by the sister's account, a Dimensionist who uses Fox and Churchill as pieces before discarding them. He passes for a cynic while Fox plays the Old Morality business against him, and the two duel for control of the coming order. His cold calculation and the narrator's estrangement from him frame the novel's final judgment on who truly inherits the earth.

## In the story

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/iv)

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is portrayed as a political opponent of Churchill and Fox, possibly allied with the mysterious young woman.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/viii)

Chancellor of the Exchequer, dines with Churchill and de Mersch to discuss the railway; is familiar with the Dimensionist girl.

### [Chapter XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xii)

Implied as an ally of the woman in her plot to manipulate public perception.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xiii)

Not directly present in this chapter.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xiv)

Enters the room quietly; later revealed as the woman's intended husband.

### [Chapter XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xviii)

Reported as 'magnificent' and cool after Churchill's fall; narrator learns his sister is to marry Gurnard.

### [XIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/chapters/xix)

Described as the only piece remaining on the chessboard, moved by the woman's hand, and as the type of the age.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/characters/gurnard
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_inheritors_se/characters