Character guide

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.