# Zachariah Coleman — The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane character guide > Zachariah Coleman in The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane by Mark Rutherford. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Zachariah, Coleman **First appearance:** 0001-the-revolution-in-tanner-s-lane ## Snapshot A printer and revolutionary whose convictions carry him from Manchester meetings to prison corridors, while his marriage quietly fails at home. ## Who they are Zachariah is the novel's radical conscience — a printer caught in the suspended Habeas Corpus days, moving among Ogden, Caillaud, and the Major as the march on London approaches. His marriage to a wife he stimulates only into hardness is a private disaster running parallel to the public one, and Mrs. Carter's Samaritan kindness exposes how isolated he has become. He matters because the Revolution's cost is measured in his own household before it is measured in prison. ## Relationships ### [Major Maitland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/major_maitland) _rivalry_ Major Maitland and Zachariah Coleman are ideological enemies, representing opposing forces in the revolutionary struggle. ### [George Allen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/george_allen) _friendship_ George Allen and Zachariah Coleman are close allies and fellow revolutionaries, bound by shared ideals. ### [Pauline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/pauline) _friendship_ Pauline and Zachariah Coleman are comrades in the revolutionary cause, with mutual respect and affection. ### [Mr. Caillaud](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/mr_caillaud) _professional_ Mr. Caillaud is Zachariah Coleman's employer and a fellow radical, with a business and ideological partnership. ### [Jean Caillaud](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/jean_caillaud) _friendship_ Jean Caillaud and Zachariah Coleman are close friends and fellow revolutionaries, united by ideology. ### [Pauline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/pauline) _friendship_ Pauline and Zachariah Coleman are comrades in the revolutionary cause, with mutual respect and affection. ### [Mr. Caillaud](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/mr_caillaud) _professional_ Mr. Caillaud is Zachariah Coleman's employer and a fellow radical, with a business and ideological partnership. ### [Major Maitland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/major_maitland) _rivalry_ Major Maitland and Zachariah Coleman are ideological enemies, representing opposing forces in the revolutionary struggle. ### [Pauline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/pauline) _friendship_ Pauline and Zachariah Coleman are comrades in the revolutionary cause, with mutual respect and affection. ### [George Allen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/george_allen) _friendship_ George Allen and Zachariah Coleman are close allies and fellow revolutionaries, bound by shared ideals. ### [Major Maitland](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/major_maitland) _rivalry_ Major Maitland and Zachariah Coleman are ideological enemies, representing opposing forces in the revolutionary struggle. ### [Jean Caillaud](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/jean_caillaud) _friendship_ Jean Caillaud and Zachariah Coleman are close friends and fellow revolutionaries, united by ideology. ## In the story ### [The Revolution in Tanner’s Lane](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/the-revolution-in-tanner-s-lane) Present during the events, affected by the religious and political turmoil. ### [I: The World Outside](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/i-the-world-outside) A poor printer, small and lean, with white complexion and blackened hands. He refuses to cheer Louis XVIII, is struck by a drayman, and is rescued by Major Maitland. He is a man of deep religious faith and quiet endurance. ### [Outside Pike Street](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/ii-outside-pike-street) Returns home to find Major Maitland visiting; later attends the Friends of the People Club meeting, where he is shocked by the behavior of some reformers. ### [III: The Theatre](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/iii-the-theatre) Delayed by work, misses the departure, feels hurt and neglected, but later attends the play and is profoundly affected. ### [IV: A Friend of the People](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/iv-a-friend-of-the-people) Attends Friends of the People meetings regularly but begins to doubt any advance is being made. ### [V: The Horizon Widens](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/v-the-horizon-widens) Visits the Caillauds for the first time, is impressed and disturbed by Pauline's liveliness, and struggles with his attraction to her. ### [VI: Tea à la Mode](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/vi-tea-la-mode) Hosts the tea party, delivers an impassioned Calvinist speech about divine election, but struggles to apply his doctrine to his friends. ### [VII: Jephthah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/vii-jephthah) Wishes the sermon had been based on the New Testament; feels unsupported by his wife in his efforts to guide friends to truth. ### [VIII: Unconventional Justice](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/viii-unconventional-justice) Taunted by workmates about Joanna Southcott; preoccupied with the Friends of the People meeting; advocates caution with Major Maitland. ### [IX: A Strain on the Cable](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/ix-a-strain-on-the-cable) Struggles with faith, poverty, and a strained marriage in Manchester; seeks work and solace in religion. ### [Disintegration by Degrees](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/x-disintegration-by-degrees) Settles in Manchester, joins the Hampden Club, becomes politically radicalized, and reunites with Maitland, Caillaud, and Pauline. ### [XI: Politics and Pauline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xi-politics-and-pauline) Engages in political and philosophical debate with Caillaud, watches Pauline's dance, and reluctantly agrees to draw lots to accompany the Blanketeers' March. ### [XII: One Body and One Spirit](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xii-one-body-and-one-spirit) Argues with his wife about meeting Caillaud and Pauline; later seen earnestly talking with Pauline at Caillaud's. ### [XIII: To the Greeks Foolishness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xiii-to-the-greeks-foolishness) Attends the club meeting, cares for his ill wife, flees Manchester after the march's failure. ### [XIV: The School of Adversity: The Sixth Form Thereof](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xiv-the-school-of-adversity-the-sixth-form-thereof) Awakens in the workhouse infirmary, physically weak and mentally tormented after reading Ferguson's Astronomy. ### [End of the Beginning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xv-end-of-the-beginning) Visits Caillaud in prison, is arrested by Nadin, serves two years in prison, loses his wife, and later lives with Pauline and their child. ### [XVI: Cowfold](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xvi-cowfold) Mentioned in the context of the timeline (his second wife died about twenty years before the events of this chapter). ### [XIX: “The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like Unto Leaven”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xix-the-kingdom-of-heaven-is-like-unto-leaven) Friend of Isaac Allen, supplies books to the Allens, refuses to visit Cowfold or let Pauline go. ### [The Reverend Thomas Broad’s Exposition of Romans 8:7](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xx-the-reverend-thomas-broad-s-exposition-of-romans-8-7) Absent during the visit; Pauline later tells him about the encounter. ### [XXIV: “I Came Not to Send Peace, but a Sword”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xxiv-i-came-not-to-send-peace-but-a-sword) Expresses his revolutionary ardour and belief in insurrection, but also shows a reflective, multi-dimensional character shaped by his past. ### [XXV: “And a Man’s Foes Shall Be They of His Own Household”](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/chapters/xxv-and-a-man-s-foes-shall-be-they-of-his-own-household) Mentioned as the unregenerate person the Allens visit; his daughter is noted for her attractiveness. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters/zachariah_coleman - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_revolution_in_tanner_s_lane_se/characters