Minor Characters
Bute
Bute is a reverend who is the brother of Sir Pitt and the husband of Mrs. Bute. He doesn’t get along with Sir Pitt, but he pretends to get along with him whenever Miss Crawley is in town, in order to please her and hopefully win her fortune.
Lady Jane Southdown
Lady Jane Southdown is the mother of Lady Jane. She likes to control her household closely. After Lady Jane’s marriage to Pitt Crawley, Lady Jane Southdown soon finds excuses to take over the house of the aging Miss Crawley.
Mrs. Sedley
Mrs. Sedley is the wife of Mr. Sedley and the mother of Jos and Amelia. She defers to her husband and is often sickly—her death causes a major decline in Mr. Sedley’s own health.
Miss Briggs
Miss Briggs is a maid who eventually gets rehired as a “companion” to help protect Becky from the advances of men while her husband, Rawdon, is away. Despite being Becky’s servant, she ends up lending Becky a large sum of money.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon Bonaparte is a real historical figure famous for his skill in warfare. He is a constant but distant presence in the early part of the novel, leading the military campaign against Britain that leads to George’s death.
Miss Pinkerton
Miss Pinkerton runs a school for girls and is the sister of Jemima. She admires the obedient student Amelia but makes little effort to hide her distaste for the rebellious Becky.
Cuff
Cuff is a bully at the school Dobbin and George go to as children. Dobbin beats Cuff in a fight, protecting George. This raises Dobbin’s status at school and solidifies Dobbin and George’s friendship.
Captain Macmurdo
Captain Macmurdo is an old military friend of Rawdon’s who helps Rawdon by giving him a place to stay after he walks in on Becky alone with Lord Steyne.
Lord Tapeworm
Lord Tapeworm is a noble whom Amelia, Jos, and Dobbin meet while vacationing abroad in Pumpernickel.
Peggy O’Dowd
Peggy O’Dowd is the boisterous wife of Major O’Dowd. She tries many times to convince Dobbin to marry her sister-in-law, Glorvina.
Maria
Maria is the daughter of Mr. Osborne who gets married and immediately starts to distance herself from her old family, seeing them as beneath her.
Mr. Veal
Mr. Veal is Georgy’s teacher who doesn’t believe in corporal punishment and who likes to use the biggest words he knows in order to prove his intelligence.
Lady Crawley
Lady Crawley is the daughter of an ironmonger and Sir Pitt’s second wife. She doesn’t have much influence in her house and dies not long after Becky starts working for the family as a governess.
Glorvina
Glorvina is the sister of Major O’Dowd who claims to want to marry Dobbin; however, she says this to many men and seems to only care about Dobbin so much because he is one of the few to reject her.
Jane Osborne
Jane Osborne is the unmarried daughter of Mr. Osborne who ends up stuck at home having to take care of him after her sister, Maria, marries and moves out of the house.
Major O’Dowd
Major O’Dowd is the husband of Peggy, brother of Glorvina, and a leader in George and Dobbin’s regiment.
Spooney and Stubble
Spooney and Stubble are George’s friends from his regiment. George saves Stubble’s life in battle after Stubble gets speared in the leg.
Rose and Violet
Rose and Violet are the daughters of Sir Pitt; Becky teaches them while working as a governess.
Jemima
Jemima is the sister of Miss Pinkerton who takes pity on Becky and gives her a dictionary, only to watch Becky defiantly throw that dictionary out the window of a carriage.
Mrs. Tinker
Mrs. Tinker is a servant of Sir Pitt who greets Becky when she first arrives as a governess for the family.
Miss Swartz
Miss Swartz is a wealthy, mixed-race young woman whom Mr. Osborne wants George to marry after Amelia’s father, Mr. Sedley, goes bankrupt.
Pitt Binkie
Pitt Binkie is the sickly son of Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane; he dies young, leaving Rawdy as the heir to their fortune.
Matilda
Matilda is the daughter of Pitt Crawley and Lady Jane. At the end of the book, both Rawdy and Georgy want to marry her someday.
Wenham
Wenham is a messenger from Lord Steyne who helps Steyne communicate with Rawdon after Rawdon catches Steyne alone with Becky.
Dr. Swishtail
Dr. Swishtail runs the school for boys that Dobbin, George, and Cuff attend.
Polly
Polly is the daughter of the landlords the Sedley family rents from after they have to move out of their old house.
Isidor
Isidor is Jos’s valet in Belgium.