# Mr. Jenkinson — The Vicar of Wakefield character guide

> Mr. Jenkinson in The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Jenkinson

**First appearance:** 0012-xi

## Snapshot

A smooth-tongued sharper whose talent for fleecing the innocent is matched only by his unexpected usefulness when the Primroses need a friend.

## Who they are

Mr. Jenkinson is the wandering trickster who relieves Moses of the family's money at the fair with a tale of a wonderful horse and a gross of green spectacles. He is a professional deceiver, practiced at reading the vanity and hope of his marks, and he treats his victims with the easy charm of a man who has done this many times before. His reappearance later in the story complicates the reader's sense of who in this world is truly beyond redemption.

## Relationships

### [Sir William Thornhill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se/characters/sir_william_thornhill)

_psychological_

Mr. Jenkinson initially schemes against Sir William but later reforms and assists him.

### [Sir William Thornhill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se/characters/sir_william_thornhill)

_psychological_

Mr. Jenkinson initially schemes against Sir William but later reforms and assists him.

### [Sir William Thornhill](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se/characters/sir_william_thornhill)

_psychological_

Mr. Jenkinson initially schemes against Sir William but later reforms and assists him.

## In the story

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se/chapters/xiv)

Disguised as a venerable old man, he buys the horse with a draft and is later revealed to be the same rogue who sold the green spectacles.

### [Chapter XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se/chapters/xxv)

A fellow prisoner who offers the vicar bedclothes; recognized as the horse seller from Welbridge fair.

### [Chapter XXVI: A Reformation in the Gaol](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se/chapters/xxvi)

A fellow prisoner who shares his life story of cunning and deception. He admits his tricks have led to his downfall and offers to help the Vicar.

### [Happier Prospects Begin to Appear](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se/chapters/xxx)

Identifies the abductor as Timothy Baxter and is dispatched to capture him.

### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se/chapters/xxxi)

Brings in the prisoner Baxter and reveals Mr. Thornhill's plot to abduct Olivia.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se/characters/mr_jenkinson
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_vicar_of_wakefield_se/characters