# Sir John Harthover — The Water-Babies character guide

> Sir John Harthover in The Water-Babies by Charles Kingsley.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Sir John, Harthover, old Sir John

**First appearance:** 0001-the-water-babies

## Snapshot

The wealthy landowner whose chimney Tom climbs, and whose household sets the hunt in motion after the boy flees into the river.

## Who they are

Sir John is the novel's picture of the honest English gentleman — a man of property, game, and propriety whose world Tom literally falls into by accident. When Tom bursts out of the flue and escapes, it is Sir John's estate, servants, and hounds that give chase, driving the boy toward the water and his second life. He matters less as a personality than as a boundary: the line between the respectable world above and the hidden world below, and the reminder that Tom's crime was never really a crime at all.

## Relationships

### [Tom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/characters/tom)

_professional_

Sir John Harthover is Tom's former employer as a chimney sweep, representing the harsh class system Tom escapes.

### [Tom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/characters/tom)

_professional_

Sir John Harthover is Tom's former employer as a chimney sweep, representing the harsh class system Tom escapes.

### [Tom](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/characters/tom)

_professional_

Sir John Harthover is Tom's former employer as a chimney sweep, representing the harsh class system Tom escapes.

## In the story

### [The Water-Babies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/chapters/the-water-babies)

A wealthy landowner who summons Tom to clean chimneys at Harthover Place.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/chapters/i)

Sir John is the wealthy squire of Harthover Place who joins the chase after Tom.

### [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/chapters/ii)

Sir John organizes a search party with dogs and men to find Tom, following the bloodhound's trail to Lewthwaite Crag and eventually to the stream where Tom's clothes are found.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/chapters/iii)

Tom has forgotten about Harthover Place and Sir John, as part of his complete memory loss of his land-life.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/chapters/iv)

Sir John is busy hunting and snoring, prompting his wife to take the children to the seaside.

### [The Other-end-of-Nowhere](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/chapters/viii)

Sir John is referenced in the context of the earlier journey to Harthover with Grimes and Tom.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/characters/sir_john_harthover
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_water_babies_se/characters