# Clerk Janaway — The Nebuly Coat character guide

> Clerk Janaway in The Nebuly Coat by John Meade Falkner.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Janaway, Tom Janaway, Thomas

**First appearance:** 0001-i

## Snapshot

The Minster's garrulous clerk, a storehouse of local memory whose rambling stories about Sophia Flannery and a certain painted-over portrait carry more truth than their teller suspects.

## Who they are

Clerk Janaway is the church's longtime factotum, a man whose gossipy recollections of Wydcombe Farm, Sophia Joliffe's singing, and a green caterpillar on a flower painting supply Westray with crucial fragments of Cullerne's buried past. His loyalty to the Minster and his pleasure in storytelling make him an unwitting conduit for secrets others would prefer left undisturbed. Through his meandering anecdotes, the novel's central mystery begins to take shape, and the reader learns to listen carefully to what the old clerk remembers.

## Relationships

### [Lord Blandamer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se/characters/lord_blandamer)

_professional_

Janaway serves as Lord Blandamer's clerk, carrying out his orders with dutiful obedience.

### [Lord Blandamer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se/characters/lord_blandamer)

_professional_

Janaway serves as Lord Blandamer's clerk, carrying out his orders with dutiful obedience.

### [Lord Blandamer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se/characters/lord_blandamer)

_professional_

Janaway serves as Lord Blandamer's clerk, carrying out his orders with dutiful obedience.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se/chapters/i)

The clerk recounts the story of the bell-ringing that was stopped due to fears the tower might collapse.

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

Dusts the stalls and recounts the tale of Sophia Flannery, Martin Joliffe's mother, and the family's misfortunes.

### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se/chapters/vi)

Heads the procession with a silver-headed mace and later has a dispute with Mr. Milligan.

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

Takes a pragmatic view of the scandal, emphasizing the divine right of peers and the benefits of Lord Blandamer's wealth.

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

Participates in the bell-ringing and later tries to reassure Westray about the crack.

### [XXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se/chapters/xxiii)

Leaning on his stick among the group of masons and workmen.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se/characters/clerk_janaway
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nebuly_coat_se/characters