The Perpetual Curate · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Perpetual Curate by Margaret Oliphant.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Frank Wentworth
major
Also known as Mr. Wentworth, Francis Wentworth, young Wentworth, Frank
Frank Wentworth is a young clergyman whose missionary work in Wharfside — technically another man's parish — makes him enemies among Carlingford's Evangelicals and his own formidable aunts. He loves Lucy Wodehouse, but a perpetual curacy pays too little to marry on, and he refuses to abandon his district even to win her. His clashes with the clerk Elsworthy and his brother Jack reveal a man whose integrity is both his strength and his social liability.
Lucy Wodehouse
major
Also known as Miss Wodehouse, Lucy, Miss Lucy Wodehouse
Lucy Wodehouse is the sister of the Wodehouse household and the Curate's unacknowledged partner in the Wharfside district, so familiar to its people that they treat her as his stand-in. When Frank's absence leaves her to answer for him before a room of curious eyes, she feels both the embarrassment and the shy pleasure of belonging to him — and then the ache of knowing that as long as he remains a perpetual curate, he cannot afford to marry her. Her instinct to put his good before her own happiness shapes every choice she makes.
Leonora Wentworth
supporting
Also known as Miss Leonora Wentworth, Miss Wentworth, aunt Leonora
Miss Leonora Wentworth presides over the family's Evangelical conscience from Skelmersdale Park, disapproving of Frank's ritualist tendencies yet coveting the credit of his missionary success in Wharfside. She wants him settled in Skelmersdale and won over to her views, and she will not be denied access to the work she cannot quite appropriate. Her mixture of doctrinal severity and genuine family ambition makes her one of the Curate's most complicated obstacles.
Dora Wentworth
supporting
Also known as Miss Dora, aunt Dora, Miss Dora Wentworth
Miss Dora Wentworth lives in her sister Leonora's shadow, a timid lady who regards walking alone down a quiet street as an invitation to unheard-of perils. Her clandestine visit to Frank's lodgings — the only adventure of her life — brings her face to face with a bearded, hatless stranger on the doorstep and leaves her trembling, though the errand she carries matters more than she knows. Her nervous tenderness and family loyalty give the Wentworth household its gentler counterweight.
Jack Wentworth
supporting
Also known as Jack, Jack the prodigal
Jack Wentworth arrives in Carlingford with the suavity of a man who has never had to answer for anything, breakfasting well and declining to inquire too closely into the business that concerns his brother. He is the shadow over the Wentworth family's respectability — the son whose misdeeds the Squire knows better than he has ever told — and his presence in Carlingford threatens to implicate Frank in scandals not his own. His lazy good humour and his association with the hapless Wodehouse make him a quiet engine of the novel's troubles.
Rosa Elsworthy
supporting
Also known as Rosa, little Rosa, Rosa Elsworthy
Rosa Elsworthy is the daughter of St. Roque's clerk, a child whose beauty and heedlessness have drawn the Curate's warnings and her father's furious, wounded pride. Her name becomes a weapon in Elsworthy's hands when he accuses Frank of taking particular notice of her, and the scandal she trails behind her divides the parish and strains the Curate's standing. Her plight forces Lucy Wodehouse and others to reckon with what compassion costs when reputation is at stake.
Mrs. Morgan
minor
Also known as Poor Mrs. Morgan
The wife of Mr. Morgan, a troubled woman in the parish.
Mr. Proctor
minor
Also known as poor Mr. Proctor, Proctor
A parishioner and friend of Frank, often in financial difficulty.
Mr. Morgan
minor
Also known as Morgan
A local man involved in parish affairs, husband to Mrs. Morgan.
Gerald Wentworth
supporting
Also known as Mrs. Wentworth, Gerald, Gerald Wentworth
Gerald Wentworth is the elder son who chose the safe path — a wife, a living, a respectable clerical career — while his younger brother Frank scrapes by as a Perpetual Curate. Imaginative and warm, he has a gift for shaking off misery and taking up the conversation, so that even his own sisters read his gloom as mere domestic trouble with Louisa and dismiss him with a shrug. His letters to Frank arrive full of his own anxieties, oblivious to the crises pressing on the man he addresses, and that very obliviousness makes him a quiet study in how the comfortable fail the struggling.
Mr. Wodehouse
supporting
Also known as Wodehouse, poor stupid Mr. Wodehouse
Mr. Wodehouse hovers at the edge of Wharfside society as Lucy's father — feckless, shabby, and easy to patronise, kept in breakfasts and small kindnesses by a Curate who cannot quite despise him. When a mystery threatens Frank Wentworth's reputation, Wodehouse's guilt is the conclusion instinct leaps to, even as Frank's reasonable mind refuses to convict him without proof. He matters because he embodies the story's central anxiety: that character, once clouded by vague stigma, may never be cleared, and that the people we condescend to are the ones whose actions can undo us.
Mr. Elsworthy
minor
Also known as Elsworthy
Rosa's father, a tradesman concerned with his daughter's reputation.
Louisa
minor
Also known as Poor Louisa
A servant or dependent in the Wentworth household, often pitied.
Mrs. Hadwin
minor
Also known as Poor Mrs. Hadwin
Frank's landlady, a kindly but anxious woman.
Tom Wodehouse
minor
Also known as Thomas Wodehouse, Tom
Lucy's brother, a young man with his own romantic entanglements.
Sarah
minor
Also known as the apologetic Sarah
A maid in the Wodehouse household, often flustered.
Sophia Hemmings
minor
Also known as Miss Hemmings, Miss Sophia, the eldest Miss Hemmings
One of the Miss Hemmings, a local spinster with opinions.
Mr. Leeson
minor
Also known as Leeson, poor Leeson
A curate and rival to Frank, often unhappy in his position.
Mr. Waters
minor
Also known as Waters
A local clergyman or parish figure.
John Brown
minor
Also known as John, Brown, the inexorable John Brown
A stern figure, possibly a tradesman or official.
Mrs. Elsworthy
minor
Also known as Elsworthy
Rosa's mother, concerned with family honor.
Cecilia Wentworth
minor
Also known as aunt Cecilia, Miss Cecilia
Another Wentworth aunt, less prominent than Leonora and Dora.
Dr. Marjoribanks
minor
Also known as Dr. Marjoribanks
A local physician, attending to various characters.
Tom Burrows
minor
Also known as Tom, Thomas
A young man, possibly a suitor or laborer.
Mary
minor
Also known as Molly, Miss Mary
A young woman in the story, possibly a servant or relative.
William
minor
Also known as Dear William
A servant or minor character in the household.
Peter Hayles
minor
Also known as Hayles, the judicious Hayles
A sensible friend or advisor to some characters.
Julia Trench
minor
Also known as Julia
A young woman, possibly a friend of Lucy.
Letty Brown
minor
Also known as Letty, the lively Letty
A spirited young woman, daughter of John Brown.
Mr. Bury
minor
Also known as Dear Mr. Bury, old Mr. Bury
An elderly clergyman or parishioner.
Mr. Shirley
minor
Also known as Old Mr. Shirley, poor old Mr. Shirley
An elderly gentleman, possibly a relative of someone.
John Wentworth
minor
Also known as John
A relative of Frank, possibly a cousin.
Mr. Folgate
minor
A minor clergyman or acquaintance.
Major Brown
minor
Also known as old Major Brown, the poor old Major
An elderly military man, possibly John Brown's father.
Janet
minor
Also known as little Janet
A young girl, possibly a servant or child character.
Mr. Western
minor
Also known as old Mr. Western
An older gentleman in the community.
Charley Sidney
minor
Also known as Sidney, Charley
A young man, possibly a friend of Jack.
Harry Scarsfield
minor
Also known as Harry
A minor character, possibly a suitor or friend.
Mr. Finial
minor
A minor figure, possibly a tradesman.
Mrs. Western
minor
Also known as old Mrs. Western
Wife of Mr. Western, an elderly woman.
Miss Trench
minor
A relative of Julia Trench, possibly an aunt.
Edward Plumstead
minor
Also known as Plumstead
A minor character, possibly a clergyman.