# Father — The Railway Children character guide

> Father in The Railway Children by E. Nesbit.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Daddy

**First appearance:** 0001-the-railway-children

## Snapshot

The perfect father whose sudden, unexplained disappearance turns a comfortable suburban family into three children learning to live beside a railway.

## Who they are

Father is remembered in the book's opening pages as never cross, never unjust, always ready for a game — which makes his abrupt absence all the more disorienting. The children are told nothing, and his name becomes a thing they cannot quite ask about. His absence shapes every chapter that follows: the move to the cottage, Mother's exhausting work, and the children's growing instinct to be brave for reasons they don't fully understand.

## Relationships

### [Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_railway_children_se/characters/mother)

_family_

Father and Mother share a loving marriage, though separated by Father's wrongful imprisonment.

### [Roberta (Bobbie)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_railway_children_se/characters/roberta_bobbie)

_family_

Father is a devoted parent to Bobbie, and her memories of him are filled with love and longing.

### [Roberta (Bobbie)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_railway_children_se/characters/roberta_bobbie)

_family_

Father is a devoted parent to Bobbie, and her memories of him are filled with love and longing.

### [Mother](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_railway_children_se/characters/mother)

_family_

Father and Mother share a loving marriage, though separated by Father's wrongful imprisonment.

## In the story

### [The Beginning of Things](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_railway_children_se/chapters/i-the-beginning-of-things)

The perfect father who is suddenly called away on business, leaving the family to face a difficult change.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_railway_children_se/characters/father
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_railway_children_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_railway_children_se/characters