Tom Brown’s School Days · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Tom Brown’s School Days by Thomas Hughes.
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Tom Brown
major
Also known as Tom, Master Tom, Brown, young Brown, Thomas
Tom enters Rugby as a hearty, reckless boy whose chief ambitions are football, fishing, and keeping his end up among the Schoolhouse set. His warm heart collides with his impatience when the matron saddles him with a frail new chum, Arthur, instead of the study idyll he had planned with East. That reluctant act of protection becomes the hinge on which his early school years turn, forcing a boy who only knows how to shove in his carcass to learn what it costs to look after someone weaker.
George Arthur
major
Also known as Arthur, little Arthur, Poor little Arthur, Geordie
Arthur arrives at Rugby delicate, timid, and utterly unprepared for the noise and bullying of a public school, agreeing with everything Tom says until Tom can hardly bear it. His mother's new curtains and sofa make him a partner in the study, but his real contribution is a gentle, unshakeable piety that shames Tom's rougher instincts without ever preaching at him. Watching Tom cackle after him like a hen with one chick shows how much the school's moral weather depends on who is asked to protect whom.
Harry East
supporting
Also known as East, Harry, young Master East, little East
East is the friend Tom had counted on sharing Gray's study with, plotting night-lines, slings, and expeditions to Brownsover Mills and Caldecott's Spinney. When Arthur is thrust into the partnership instead, East takes the displacement with more grace than the disappointed Tom, and the two boys remain inseparable in mischief and in scrapes. His readiness to stand shoulder to shoulder against Flashman, and his rueful comment that being done with Flashey is cheap enough at the price of a bloody collar, mark him as the kind of ally the Schoolhouse runs on.
Dr. Arnold
supporting
Also known as the Doctor, The Doctor
Dr. Arnold governs the Schoolhouse less by rules than by the force of his character, so that a summons to tea with the Doctor is a small social coronation for a boy like Tom. His wife arranges the chumming of Arthur with Tom, and the matron carries out the Doctor's household policy with diplomatic skill, showing how thoroughly the headmaster's moral design reaches into the smallest corners of school life. Boys measure themselves against his approval long before they understand what he is trying to make of them.
Flashman
supporting
Also known as Flashman, that blackguard Flashman, that bully Flashman, poor Flashman, Flashey
Flashman torments younger boys, sets the fifth form against Tom and East, and proves that a bully's real weapon is not his fists but the dirt he can throw until some of it sticks. When Diggs insists on fair play and the two youngsters close on him, Flashman's skull is only skinned, but his reign is finished, and he never lays finger on either of them again. His drunken hurdle-borne exit from the School world is the small fry's long-prayed-for deliverance, and a lesson in how much of school tyranny is held up by nobody's resistance.
Brooke
supporting
Also known as old Brooke, Old Brooke, young Brooke, Young Brooke, old Pater Brooke, Pater Brooke
The Brookes represent the best of what Rugby can produce: strength, leadership, and the respect of the house, a standard the younger boys absorb without ever being lectured about it. Tom and East grow up in the shadow of that example, learning what a praepostor ought to be from the men who already are one. Their presence gives the Schoolhouse its spine, and gives the reader a sense of the ladder Tom is slowly, clumsily climbing.
Martin
supporting
Also known as The aforesaid Martin, Poor Martin
Martin belongs to the quieter, more sensitive fringe of Rugby's boisterous society, where his devotion to birds and natural history marks him as different from the cricket-and-fighting crowd. His kindness and eccentricity make him both vulnerable to the school's casual cruelties and quietly admirable to those who notice him. He matters as a counterweight to the novel's celebration of muscular Christianity, showing that courage and worth can take gentle, unwarlike forms.
Squire Brown
minor
Also known as The Squire, Squire, the Squire, Brown
Tom's father, a wise and affectionate country gentleman who sends Tom to Rugby.
Benjamin
minor
Also known as old Benjy, Benjy, Mr. Benjamin, Poor old Benjy
An old family servant of the Browns, devoted and fond of Tom.
Diggs
minor
Also known as Poor Diggs, old Diggs, Poor old Diggs, the relentless Diggs
An older student known for his relentless teasing and practical jokes.
Jack Raggles
minor
Also known as Jack, Little dirty Jack, dirty Jack, Raggles, Meantime Jack Raggles
A rough village boy who becomes a runner and later a soldier.
Crab Jones
minor
Also known as Crab Jones, Crab, Trust Crab Jones, Jones, old Jones
A sly and manipulative schoolboy known for his cunning.
Harry Winburn
minor
Also known as Harry, Luckily Harry, Harrison
A local boy from the veast (village feast) who interacts with Tom.
Charity Lamb
minor
Also known as Charity
A servant or village woman mentioned in passing.
Stumps
minor
A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.
Farmer Ives
minor
Also known as old Farmer Ives
A local farmer who appears at the village feast.
Mrs. Brown
minor
Also known as Madam Brown
Tom's mother, a gentle and caring presence at home.
Warner
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Thomas Ingoldsby
minor
Also known as little Tom, Tom
A minor character or allusion, possibly a younger boy.
Gower
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Keeper
minor
A dog or animal mentioned in the story.
Jacob Dodson
minor
Also known as Jacob
A village character mentioned in passing.
Slogger Williams
minor
Also known as Williams, The Slogger, the Slogger, Slogger
A strong but slow-witted boy who becomes a bully and later a friend after a fight.
Willum Smith
minor
Also known as Willum, Willum Smith
A local village boy who interacts with the Rugby students.
Joe Willis
minor
Also known as Joe, Joseph
A schoolboy and friend of Tom, involved in various scrapes.
Sally Harrowell
minor
Also known as Sally, Harrowell
A village girl at the feast who briefly interacts with Tom.
Scud
minor
Also known as old Scud
A horse or dog owned by a character, briefly mentioned.
Tadpole
minor
Also known as the Tadpole
A nickname for a small schoolboy.
Johnson
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Old Velveteens
minor
Also known as Velveteens
A local gamekeeper or countryman encountered by the boys.
Mary
minor
Also known as Molly, Bell
A female servant or relative briefly mentioned.
Jacob Doodle
minor
Also known as Jacob, Poor Jacob Doodle - calf, Poor Jacob
A simple-minded village boy who causes amusement at the school.
Thompson
minor
Also known as Farmer Thompson
A local farmer mentioned in the narrative.
John Jones
minor
Also known as John, ride old John, John Jones, Jones the praepostor
A praepostor (prefect) at Rugby School.
Bill Taylor
minor
Also known as Bill, Billy Taylor
A village boy or servant mentioned briefly.
Old Madman
minor
Also known as The Madman, The old Madman, old Madman, Madman, the old Madman, the Madman
A local eccentric or madman encountered by the boys.
Job Rudkin
minor
Also known as Job
A village character mentioned in passing.
Snooks
minor
A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.
Cunning Joe
minor
Also known as Joe
A sly village boy or servant.
Bob
minor
Also known as Cherry Bob
A village boy or servant mentioned briefly.
Hall
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Harkaway
minor
A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.
Rattle
minor
A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.
Old Momus
minor
A nickname for a critical or mocking character.
Mr. Aislabie
minor
Also known as old Mr. Aislabie
A local gentleman or parent mentioned in the narrative.
Mrs. Arnold
minor
Also known as Arnold
The wife of Dr. Arnold, briefly mentioned.
Rowe
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Jem
minor
Also known as James
A servant or village boy mentioned briefly.
Noah Crooke
minor
Also known as Noah, Poor old Noah
A village character mentioned in passing.
Sukey
minor
A female servant or village woman.
Rachel
minor
A female servant or village woman.
Old Blowhard
minor
Also known as Old Blowhard
A nickname for a boastful or loud character.
Mentor
minor
A classical allusion used as a nickname for a guide.
Walker
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Bogle
minor
A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.
Caldecott
minor
Also known as old Caldecott
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Groove
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Hedge
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Crew
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Osbert
minor
Also known as Herbert
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Gray
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Lowell
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Morgan
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Rimmon
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Poor Charley
minor
Also known as Charles
A minor character, possibly a younger boy.
Bill Smith
minor
Also known as Smith, Bill
A village boy or servant mentioned briefly.
Old Dobbin
minor
Also known as Dobbin
A horse mentioned in the story.
Griffith
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Mrs. Porter
minor
Also known as Porter
A woman mentioned in the narrative, possibly a landlady.
Young Green
minor
Also known as Green, Master Green
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.
Gradus
minor
A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.
Winter
minor
A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.