The Charles Dickens Page
Charles Dickens Characters H-K
H - I - J - K
Haggage, Dr ( Little Dorrit ) Doctor at the Marshalsea prison who delivers Amy Dorrit with the assistance of Mrs Bangham. Amazingly shabby, in a torn and darned rough-weather sea-jacket, out at elbows and eminently short of buttons (he had been in his time the experienced surgeon carried by a passenger ship), the dirtiest white trousers conceivable by mortal man, carpet slippers, and no visible linen. (top)
Handford, Julius ( Our Mutual Friend ) Alias taken by John Harmon in order to investigate his own supposed drowning. (top)
Hannah ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Handmaid of Miss La Creevy. (top)
Hardy, Mr ( Sketches by Boz: The Steam Excursion ) Bosom friend of Percy Noakes who helps organize the steam excursion. A stout gentleman of about forty...a practical joker, immensely popular with married ladies, and a general favourite with young men. He was always engaged in some pleasure excursion or other, and delighted in getting somebody into a scrape on such occasions. He could sing comic songs, imitate hackney-coachmen and fowls, play airs on his chin, and execute concertos on the Jews'-harp. (top)
Haredale, Emma ( Barnaby Rudge ) PIX Daughter of the murdered Reuben and niece of Geoffrey. She eventually marries Edward Chester.
Geolinks: Soho Square (top)
Haredale, Geoffrey ( Barnaby Rudge ) Brother of the murdered Reuben and uncle of Emma. Suspected of being responsible for the murder of his brother, he spends his life in pursuit of the real killer. A Catholic, his house is burned in the Gordon Riots. He fights a duel with Sir John Chester, kills him, and leaves the country. A burly square-built man, negligently dressed, rough and abrupt in manner, stern, and, in his present mood, forbidding both in look and speech.
Geolinks: Mansion House, Strand (top)
Haredale, Reuben ( Barnaby Rudge ) Brother of Geoffrey, father of Emma. Murdered before the story begins, the gardener is assumed to have been the murderer but it turns out to have been Barnaby Rudge's father, Haredale's steward. (top)
Harleigh, Mr ( Sketches by Boz: Mrs Joseph Porter ) Performer in the Gattleton's private theatrical. Harleigh sings that music admirably.’ Every body echoed the sentiment. Mr Harleigh smiled, and looked foolish – not an unusual thing with him – hummed ‘Behold how brightly breaks the morning,’ and blushed as red as the fisherman's nightcap he was trying on. (top)
Harmon, John ( Our Mutual Friend ) PIX Son of Old John Harmon, a wealthy dust contractor and heir to his fortune if he agrees to marry Bella Wilfer. He is away from England when his father dies and on the way home he is supposed drowned in a case of mistaken identity. With his supposed death the dust fortune goes to Boffin. John gets himself hired into the Boffin home as secretary John Rokesmith. Here he meets Bella and, with the help of the Boffins, wins her love as Rokesmith, and marries her. He later reveals his true identity and regains his fortune. (top)
Harmon, Old John ( Our Mutual Friend ) Wealthy dust contractor who has died before the story begins. Father of John Harmon. a tremendous rascal who made his money by dust. (top)
Harris, Mrs ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Imaginary friend of Sairey Gamp who uses Mrs Harris's invented quotes to establish Mrs Gamp's good reputation. To state that a fearful mystery surrounded this lady of the name of Harris, whom no one in the circle of Mrs Gamp’s acquaintance had ever seen; neither did any human being know her place of residence, though Mrs Gamp appeared on her own showing to be in constant communication with her. There were conflicting rumours on the subject; but the prevalent opinion was that she was a phantom of Mrs Gamp’s brain – as Messrs Doe and Roe are fictions of the law – created for the express purpose of holding visionary dialogues with her on all manner of subjects, and invariably winding up with a compliment to the excellence of her nature. (top)
Harris ( Pickwick Papers ) Much maligned greengrocer in Bath at whose establishment the footman's "swarry", attended by Sam Weller, is held. (top)
Harris, Tommy ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Imaginary son of the imaginary Mrs Harris. In Sairey Gamp's imagination little Tommy calls me his own Gammy. (top)
Harrison ( Our Mutual Friend ) A candidate for adoption by the Boffins put forth by Rev Frank Milvey but rejected by Mrs Milvey on the grounds that young Harrison squints too much. (top)
Harry ( Sketches by Boz: Early Coaches ) Ostler at the Golden Cross Hotel. (top)
Harry ( Sketches by Boz: A Passage in the Life of Mr Watkins Tottle ) Debtor in Solomon Jacobs' sponging house. He is visited by his wife, Kate. (top)
Harry ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) The 'little scholar' at Mr Marton's school. A very young boy; quite a little child. His hair still hung in curls about his face, and his eyes were very bright; but their light was of Heaven, not earth. (top)
Harthouse, James ( Hard Times ) PIX A Parliamentary candidate visiting Coketown, he befriends Tom Gradgrind in an attempt to seduce his sister, Louisa, who is in an unhappy marriage to Bounderby. As a result of the attempted seduction Louisa runs home to her father and refuses to return to Bounderby and is later disowned by him. Harthouse, warned by Sissy, leaves town. Five and thirty, good-looking, good figure, good teeth, good voice, good breeding, well-dressed, dark hair, bold eyes...who had tried life as a Cornet of Dragoons, and found it a bore; and had afterwards tried it in the train of an English minister abroad, and found it a bore; and had then strolled to Jerusalem, and got bored there; and had then gone yachting about the world, and got bored everywhere. (top)
Havisham, Miss ( Great Expectations ) PIX A very rich and grim old woman who lives in seclusion at Satis House. She is the guardian of Estella whom she teaches to break men's hearts to avenge her own being left at the altar by Compeyson years before. She continues to wear her wedding dress and her room contains the yellowing remnants of the wedding day including the mouldy wedding cake. Pip goes to Miss Havisham's to play and meets Estella. Pip believes Miss Havisham is his secret benefactor as he goes to London and becomes a gentleman, finding out later that the convict Magwitch has supplied his "Expectations". Miss Havisham is injured when Satis House burns, she later dies of her injuries and leaves her fortune to Estella. An immensely rich and grim lady...She was dressed in rich materials,—satins, and lace, and silks,—all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair, and she had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay sparkling on the table. Dresses, less splendid than the dress she wore, and half-packed trunks, were scattered about. She had not quite finished dressing, for she had but one shoe on,—the other was on the table near her hand,—her veil was but half arranged, her watch and chain were not put on, and some lace for her bosom lay with those trinkets, and with her handkerchief, and gloves, and some flowers, and a Prayer-Book all confusedly heaped about the looking-glass. (top)
Havisham, Arthur ( Great Expectations ) Miss Havisham's drunken brother who plots with Compeyson to gain his sister's fortune. (top)
Hawdon, Captain ( Bleak House ) See Nemo (top)
Hawk, Sir Mulberry ( Nicholas Nickleby ) PIX Business associate of Ralph Nickleby. Makes advances to Kate Nickleby and is thrashed by Nicholas. When his revenge is opposed by Lord Verisopht they duel and Verisopht is killed. Hawk flees to France. Superlative gentleman, something older, something stouter, something redder in the face, and something longer upon town. (top)
Hawkins ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Family in Taunton Vale that Mrs Nickleby visited every half-year while she was in school. (top)
Hawkinson, Aunt ( Our Mutual Friend ) Aunt of Georgiana Podsnap who left her a piece of jewelry which she offers to Sophronia Lammle on hearing of the Lammles' financial reverses. (top)
Headstone, Bradley ( Our Mutual Friend ) A school teacher and master of the boys department of a school on the borders of Kent and Surrey. Charley Hexam becomes Headstone's pupil and Bradley becomes obsessed with Charley's sister Lizzie. Lizzie wants nothing to do with him and he becomes jealous of Eugene Wrayburn who also has eyes for Lizzie. He attempts to murder Wrayburn and believes he has been successful. Rogue Riderhood discovers the supposed murder and attempts to blackmail Headstone. In a later confrontation, Riderhood and Headstone are both drowned. His decent black coat and waistcoat, and decent white shirt, and decent formal black tie, and decent pantaloons of pepper and salt, with his decent silver watch in his pocket and its decent hair-guard round his neck, looked a thoroughly decent young man of six-and-twenty. He was never seen in any other dress, and yet there was a certain stiffness in his manner of wearing this, as if there were a want of adaptation between him and it, recalling some mechanics in their holiday clothes. He had acquired mechanically a great store of teacher’s knowledge. He could do mental arithmetic mechanically, sing at sight mechanically, blow various wind instruments mechanically, even play the great church organ mechanically. From his early childhood up, his mind had been a place of mechanical stowage.
Geolinks: Vauxhall Bridge (top)
Heathfield, Alfred ( The Battle of Life ) Ward of Dr. Jeddler who loves the doctor's youngest daughter, Marion. Marion runs away that her sister, Grace, may marry Alfred. Alfred becomes a doctor for the poor. (top)
Heep, Mr ( David Copperfield ) Deceased father of Uriah Heep, who had the "umble" calling of sexton in life. Uriah describes him as A partaker of glory at present. (top)
Heep, Mrs ( David Copperfield ) PIX Widowed mother of Uriah Heep, she is as "umble" as her son, whom she dotes on. A dead image of Uriah, only short. (top)
Heep, Uriah ( David Copperfield ) PIX A hypocritical clerk of Mr Wickfield's who is continually citing his humbleness. He deviously plots to ruin Wickfield but is later undone by Mr Micawber. A red-haired person - a youth of fifteen, as I take it now, but looking much older - whose hair was cropped as close as the closest stubble; who had hardly any eyebrows, and no eyelashes, and eyes of a red-brown, so unsheltered and unshaded, that I remember wondering how he went to sleep. He was high-shouldered and bony; dressed in decent black, with a white wisp of a neckcloth; buttoned up to the throat; and had a long, lank, skeleton hand, which particularly attracted my attention, as he stood at the pony's head, rubbing his chin with it, and looking up at us in the chaise. He had a way of writhing when he wanted to express enthusiasm, which was very ugly. Uriah Heep, wonderfully hideous, is one of Dickens' greatest triumphs in character creation. His description of Heep's writhing and scheming, and his cold, clammy nature, makes one's skin crawl. (top)
Helves, Captain ( Sketches by Boz: The Steam Excursion ) Musical man and friend of the Tauntons. He courts Julia Briggs until he is arrested for embezzlement. ...a lion - a gentleman with a bass voice and an incipient red moustache. (top)
Henry ( Pickwick Papers ) Brother of Kate and cousin of Maria Lobbs whom he eventually marries in Samuel Weller's story The Parish Clerk-A Tale of True Love. (top)
Henry, Mr ( Sketches by Boz: The Pawnbrokers Shop ) Pawnshop shop-man. (top)
Hexam, Charley ( Our Mutual Friend ) PIX Son of Gaffer and brother to Lizzie. Charley is educated by Bradley Headstone and supports Headstone's advances toward his sister. When Lizzie refuses to marry Headstone Charley rejects her. A boy of about fifteen.
Geolinks: Vauxhall Bridge (top)
Hexam, Jesse (Gaffer) ( Our Mutual Friend ) PIX Waterman, father of Lizzie and Charley, who plies the Thames looking for dead bodies. He finds a body thought to be John Harmon, the central character in the story. He was a hook-nosed man, and with that and his bright eyes and his ruffled head, bore a certain likeness to a roused bird of prey. (top)
Hexam, Lizzie ( Our Mutual Friend ) PIX Daughter of waterman Gaffer Hexam and sister of Charley. She is opposed to her father's business of combing the Thames looking for drowned bodies but is true to him. When her father drowns she goes to live with Jenny Wren. Lizzie rejects the advances of schoolmaster Bradley Headstone and opposes the attention of Eugene Wrayburn, although she loves him, because they come from different classes of society. She runs away from London to a mill up the river. Wrayburn succeeds in finding her and is followed by Headstone who attempts to murder Wrayburn. Lizzie rescues Wrayburn and later marries him. A dark girl of nineteen or twenty, sufficiently like him [Gaffer Hexam] to be recognizable as his daughter. (top)
Heyling, George ( Pickwick Papers ) Vengeful man in Jack Bamber's Tale About the Queer Client. (top)
Heyling, Mary ( Pickwick Papers ) George Heyling's wife who dies of want in the Marshalsea in Jack Bamber's Tale About the Queer Client. (top)
Hicks, Septimus ( Sketches by Boz: The Boarding House ) A boarder at Mrs Tibbs' boarding house. He marries, then deserts, Matilda Maplesone. A tallish, white-faced young man, with spectacles, and a black ribbon round his neck instead of a neckerchief – a most interesting person. (top)
Hickson Family ( Sketches by Boz: Mrs Joseph Porter ) Audience members at the Gattleton's private theatrical. (top)
Higden, Betty ( Our Mutual Friend ) PIX Old woman who operates a 'minding school', for orphans and other children with the help of Sloppy. She is adamant about earning her keep and staying away from the workhouse. She is great-grandmother to Johnny. When Johnny dies she hits the road and earns a living doing needlework. She dies in the arms of Lizzie Hexam who promises not to take her to the workhouse. Dickens uses the character to illustrate the horror many of the truly needy had of the workhouse system. She was one of those old women, was Mrs Betty Higden, who by dint of an indomitable purpose and a strong constitution fight out many years, though each year has come with its new knock-down blows fresh to the fight against her, wearied by it; an active old woman, with a bright dark eye and a resolute face, yet quite a tender creature too; not a logically-reasoning woman, but God is good, and hearts may count in Heaven as high as heads. (top)
Hilton, Mr ( Sketches by Boz: Sentiment ) Master of ceremonies at the Minerva House ball. The popular Mr Hilton..." (top)
Hominy Family ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) American family consisting of Mr, Mrs, daughter, and her husband. Mrs Hominy is a conceited literary lady that Martin Chuzzlewit is forced to accompany on the first leg of the trip to Eden. Mrs Hominy, her married daughter, and her husband are only going so far as New Thermopylae. An elderly gentleman entered: bringing with him a lady who certainly could not be considered young – that was matter of fact; and probably could not be considered handsome – but that was matter of opinion. She was very straight, very tall, and not at all flexible in face or figure. On her head she wore a great straw bonnet, with trimmings of the same, in which she looked as if she had been thatched by an unskilful labourer; and in her hand she held a most enormous fan. (top)
Honeythunder, Luke ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Loud, overbearing philanthropist and guardian of Neville and Helena Landless. Very large and very loud...Always something in the nature of a Boil upon the face of society, Mr Honeythunder expanded into an inflammatory Wen in Minor Canon Corner. (top)
Hopkins ( Sketches by Boz: The Election for Beadle ) Candidate for beadle whose seven small children make him uniquely qualified. (top)
Hopkins, Captain ( David Copperfield ) Prisoner at the King's Bench Prison who lives in the room above Mr Micawber. In the last extremity of shabbiness, with large whiskers, and an old, old brown great-coat with no other coat below it. (top)
Hopkins, Jack ( Pickwick Papers ) Bob Sawyer's fellow medical student. He wore a black velvet waistcoat, with thunder-and-lightning buttons; and a blue striped shirt, with a white false collar. (top)
Hopkins, Vulture ( Our Mutual Friend ) Miser in Noddy Boffin’s collection of books concerning prominent misers purchased to give the illusion that he himself has become a miser. (top)
Hortense ( Bleak House ) Lady Dedlock's French maid. She is dismissed in favor of Rosa and aids lawyer Tulkinghorn in discovering Lady Dedlock's secret. When Tulkinghorn spurns her she murders him. a Frenchwoman of two and thirty, from somewhere in the southern country about Avignon and Marseilles, a large-eyed brown woman with black hair who would be handsome but for a certain feline mouth and general uncomfortable tightness of face, rendering the jaws too eager and the skull too prominent. There is something indefinably keen and wan about her anatomy, and she has a watchful way of looking out of the corners of her eyes without turning her head which could be pleasantly dispensed with, especially when she is in an ill humour and near knives. Hortense is based on Mrs Manning, a murderer whose execution Dickens witnessed in 1849. (top)
Howler, Rev Melchisedech ( Dombey and Son ) "Ranting" minister of whom Mrs MacStinger was an adherent. He predicts the end of the world in two year's time. When it doesn't happen he gives the world another two years. He performs the marriage of Mrs MacStinger to Jack Bunsby. (top)
Hubbles, Mr ( Great Expectations ) Friend of the Gargerys, Mr Hubble is the village wheelwright. A tough high-shouldered stooping old man, of a sawdusty fragrance, with his legs extraordinarily wide apart: so that in my short days I always saw some miles of open country between them when I met him coming up the lane. (top)
Hubbles, Mrs ( Great Expectations ) Wife of Mr Hubble the village wheelwright and friend of the Gargerys. A little curly sharp-edged person in sky-blue, who held a conventionally juvenile position, because she had married Mr Hubble - I don't know at what remote period - when she was much younger than he. (top)
Hugh ( Barnaby Rudge ) PIX Hostler at the Maypole. Joins the rioters in London and is later hanged. Revealed to be the son of Sir John Chester. A young man, of a hale athletic figure, and a giant’s strength, whose sunburnt face and swarthy throat, overgrown with jet black hair, might have served a painter for a model. Loosely attired, in the coarsest and roughest garb, with scraps of straw and hay – his usual bed – clinging here and there, and mingling with his uncombed locks, he had fallen asleep in a posture as careless as his dress. The negligence and disorder of the whole man, with something fierce and sullen in his features, gave him a picturesque appearance, that attracted the regards even of the Maypole customers who knew him well.
Geolinks: Blackfriars Bridge, Newgate Prison (top)
Humm, Anthony ( Pickwick Papers ) President of the Brick Lane Branch of the United Grand Junction Ebenezer Temperance Association. A converted fireman, now a schoolmaster, and occasionally an itinerant preacher...a sleek, white-faced man, in a perpetual perspiration. (top)
Hunt ( Pickwick Papers ) Head gardener on Captain Boldwig's estate. (top)
Hunter, Horace ( Sketches by Boz: The Great Winglebury Duel ) Horace challenges Alexander Trott to a duel for the hand of Emily Brown. Hunter marries Brown after Trott elopes with Julia Manners. (top)
Hunter, Leo ( Pickwick Papers ) Husband and promoter of poetess Mrs Leo Hunter. A grave man. (top)
Hunter, Mrs Leo ( Pickwick Papers ) Pretentious poetess at Eatanswill. She dotes on poetry, Sir. She adores it; I may say that her whole soul and mind are wound up, and entwined with it. She has produced some delightful pieces, herself, Sir. You may have met with her 'Ode to an expiring Frog,' Sir. (top)
Hutley, Jemmy (Dismal Jemmy) ( Pickwick Papers ) Job Trotter's brother, a strolling actor who regales the Pickwickians with The Stroller's Tale at the Bull Inn in Rochester. He later emigrates to America. A care-worn looking man, whose sallow face, and deeply sunken eyes, were rendered still more striking than nature had made them, by the straight black hair which hung in matted disorder half way down his face. His eyes were almost unnaturally bright and piercing; his cheek-bones were high and prominent; and his jaws were so long and lank, that an observer would have supposed he was drawing the flesh of his face in, for a moment, by some contraction of the muscles, if his half-opened mouth and immoveable expression had not announced that it was his ordinary appearance. (top)
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Ikey ( Sketches by Boz: A Passage in the Life of Mr Watkins Tottle ) Assistant in Solomon Jacobs' sponging house. A man in a coarse Petersham great-coat, whity-brown neckerchief, faded black suit, gamboge-coloured top-boots, and one of those large-crowned hats, formerly seldom met with, but now very generally patronised by gentlemen and costermongers. (top)
Isaac ( Pickwick Papers ) Associate of Mr Jackson. He accompanies Jackson when Martha Bardell is escorted to the Fleet Prison. A shabby man in black leggings. (top)
Izzard, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Boarder at the National Hotel in America and member of the deputation awaiting the arrival of the Honorable Elijah Pogram. (top)
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Jack ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Mrs Lupin's manservant at the Blue Dragon. (top)
Jack ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Police officer and associate of Chevy Slyme. (top)
Jack ( Sketches by Boz: The Hospital Patient ) Prisoner charged with beating his wife. She dies of her wounds but declines to blame Jack. A powerful, ill-looking young fellow. (top)
Jack ( The Uncommercial Traveller - Poor Mercantile Jack ) Name used to describe a common mercantile sailor. (top)
Jackman, Jemmy (Major) ( Mrs Lirriper's Lodging, Mrs Lirriper's Legacy ) Lodger at Emma Lirriper's boarding house whom Emma befriends. Together the two adopt Jemmy Jackman Lirriper. A clever man who has seen much. (top)
Jackson, Michael ( Bleak House ) Mr Bucket's imaginary out-of-work informant with a blue welveteen waistcoat with a double row of mother of pearl buttons. (top)
Jackson ( Little Dorrit ) Former turnkey (jailer) at the Marshalsea prison. (top)
Jackson, Mr ( Pickwick Papers ) Chief law clerk in the office of Dodson and Fogg. (top)
Jacobs, Solomon ( Sketches by Boz: A Passage in the Life of Mr Watkins Tottle ) Operator of The sponging house in Cursitor Street off Chancery Lane to which Watkins Tottle is brought after being arrested for debt.
Geolinks: Chancery Lane (top)
Jacques ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Name taken by Ernest Defarge and his fellow revolutionaries. From the word jacquerie meaning a peasant uprising. (top)
Jaggers ( Great Expectations ) PIX Lawyer who serves Miss Havisham and Magwitch. It is through Jaggers that Pip receives the benefits of the great expectations that he assumes are from Miss Havisham. Pip later discovers the convict Magwitch has been his benefactor. He was a burly man of an exceedingly dark complexion, with an exceedingly large head and a corresponding large hand. He took my chin in his large hand and turned up my face to have a look at me by the light of the candle. He was prematurely bald on the top of his head, and had bushy black eyebrows that wouldn't lie down but stood up bristling. His eyes were set very deep in his head, and were disagreeably sharp and suspicious. He had a large watchchain, and strong black dots where his beard and whiskers would have been if he had let them.
Geolinks: Little Britain (top)
James ( Sketches by Boz: The Boarding House ) Servant at Mrs Tibbs' boarding house. (top)
Hilton, Mr ( Sketches by Boz: Sentiment ) Servant in the Cornelius Brook Dingwall home. (top)
Jane ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Barmaid at the inn in London where young Martin Chuzzlewit stays before leaving for America. (top)
Jane ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Seth Pecksniff's serving-maid. (top)
Jane, Aunt ( Our Mutual Friend ) One of the imaginary inhabitants (along with Miss Elizabeth, Master George, and Uncle Parker) of the house near Cavendish Square where Silas Wegg sets up his costermonger cart. Later inhabited by the Boffins. (top)
Jane ( Sketches by Boz: A Parliamentary Sketch ) Barmaid at Bellamy's refreshment room in the Houses of Parliament. Her leading features are a thorough contempt for the great majority of her visiters; her predominant quality, love of admiration, as you cannot fail to observe, if you mark the glee with which she listens to something the young Member near her mutters somewhat unintelligibly in her ear (for his speech is rather thick from some cause or other), and how playfully she digs the handle of a fork into the arm with which he detains her, by way of reply. (top)
Jane, Aunt ( Sketches by Boz: A Christmas Dinner ) With Uncle Robert, guests at the Christmas dinner. (top)
Jane ( Sketches by Boz: The Tuggs's at Ramsgate ) With her sister, Amelia, a couple of marriageable daughters...gaming and promenading, and turning over music, and flirting at the Ramsgate library. (top)
Jane ( Sketches by Boz: The Bloomsbury Christening ) Servant of the Kitterbells. (top)
Jane ( Mrs Lirriper's Lodging ) Miss Wozenham's maid. (top)
Jane ( Pickwick Papers ) Maid at Dingley Dell. (top)
Jane ( Pickwick Papers ) Servant at the Pott's home. (top)
Janet ( David Copperfield ) Betsey Trotwood's maid. After Betsey's financial ruin Janet goes into the employ of Doctor Strong. She later marries a tavern keeper. A pretty blooming girl of about nineteen or twenty. (top)
Mrs Jarley ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) PIX Proprietor of a traveling waxwork who employs Nell and her grandfather. When the grandfather schemes to steal from Mrs Jarley, in order to support a gambling habit, Nell persuades him that they should take to the road again. A Christian lady, stout and comfortable to look upon, who wore a large bonnet trembling with bows. (top)
Jarndyce, John ( Bleak House ) PIX Owner of Bleak House and party in the Chancery suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce. He adopts Esther Summerson who becomes close friends with John's cousins, Ada Clare and Richard Carstone. John hates the lawsuit which has gone on for so long with no end in sight. Richard, however, becomes consumed with the case hoping it will make him his fortune. This obsession causes Carstone and Jarndyce to suffer a falling out. Jarndyce falls in love with Esther and proposes marriage, she accepts out of respect for him. Jarndyce later finds that Esther is in love with Woodcourt and releases her from their engagement. A handsome, lively, quick face, full of change and motion; and his hair was a silvered iron-grey. I took him to be nearer sixty than fifty, but he was upright, hearty, and robust.
Geolinks: Oxford Street (top)
Jarndyce, Tom ( Bleak House ) Relative of John Jarndyce who becomes so despondent in the Jarndyce and Jarndyce court case that he blew his brains out in a coffee-house in Chancery Lane. (top)
Jarrel, Dick ( Our Mutual Friend ) Miser in Noddy Boffin’s collection of books concerning prominent misers purchased to give the illusion that he himself has become a miser. (top)
Jasper, John ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) PIX Uncle of Edwin Drood who has an opium habit. He cares for his nephew but harbors secret feelings for Edwin's fiancee Rosa Bud. Edwin disappears and the story ends prematurely with Dickens death but many believe that it was Jasper who killed Edwin Drood. A dark man of some six-and-twenty, with thick, lustrous, well-arranged black hair and whiskers. He looks older than he is, as dark men often do. His voice is deep and good, his face and figure are good, his manner is a little sombre. His room is a little sombre, and may have had its influence in forming his manner. (top)
Jeddler, Dr. Anthony ( The Battle of Life ) Country doctor whose view of life is altered by the sacrifices made by his youngest daughter, Marion, for her sister, Grace. (top)
Jeddler, Grace ( The Battle of Life ) Older daughter of Dr. Jeddler. She is the recipient of the sacrifice of her younger sister Marion, who runs away that Grace may marry her beau Alfred Heathfield. (top)
Jeddler, Marion ( The Battle of Life ) Younger daughter of Dr. Jeddler. She runs away to live with her Aunt Martha that her sister Grace may marry Alfred Heathfield. (top)
Jeddler, Martha ( The Battle of Life ) Maiden sister of Dr. Jeddler. The doctor's younger daughter, Marion, runs away and secretly lives with Martha. (top)
Jellyby, Mrs ( Bleak House ) Mrs Jellyby is involved in many causes and charities but neglects her large family. Her eldest daughter, Caddy, marries Prince Turveydrop, the dance instructor. Dickens modeled Mrs Jellyby on Caroline Chisholm. A lady of very remarkable strength of character who devotes herself entirely to the public. She has devoted herself to an extensive variety of public subjects at various times and is at present (until something else attracts her) devoted to the subject of Africa, with a view to the general cultivation of the coffee berry--AND the natives--and the happy settlement, on the banks of the African rivers, of our superabundant home population...She was a pretty, very diminutive, plump woman of from forty to fifty, with handsome eyes, though they had a curious habit of seeming to look a long way off. As if...they could see nothing nearer than Africa!
Geolinks: Chancery Lane (top)
Jellyby, Caroline (Caddy) ( Bleak House ) PIX Neglected daughter of Mrs Jellyby and her personal secretary ("I'm pen and ink to ma"). Caddy leaves home and marries Prince Turveydrop. A jaded and unhealthy-looking though by no means plain girl at the writing-table, who sat biting the feather of her pen and staring at us. I suppose nobody ever was in such a state of ink. And from her tumbled hair to her pretty feet, which were disfigured with frayed and broken satin slippers trodden down at heel, she really seemed to have no article of dress upon her, from a pin upwards, that was in its proper condition or its right place.
Geolinks: Chancery Lane, Soho Square (top)
Jellyby, Mr ( Bleak House ) Unhappy husband of Mrs Jellyby. A mild bald gentleman in spectacles.
Geolinks: Chancery Lane (top)
Jellyby, Peepy ( Bleak House ) Child of Mrs Jellyby for whom Esther takes compassion and describes as one of the dirtiest little unfortunates I ever saw.
Geolinks: Chancery Lane (top)
Jem ( Sketches by Boz: A Passage in the Life of Mr Watkins Tottle ) Servant in Solomon Jacobs' sponging house. A sallow-faced red-haired sulky boy. (top)
Jenkins ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Servant of Sir Mulberry Hawk. (top)
Jenkins, Miss ( Sketches by Boz: Mrs Joseph Porter ) Pianist in the Gattleton's private theatrical. Miss Jenkins's talent for the piano was too well known to be doubted for an instant. (top)
Jenkinson ( Little Dorrit ) Messenger at the Circumlocution Office. (top)
Jennings ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Student at Dotheboys Hall. (top)
Jennings, Miss ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Fellow student of Rosa Bud at Nun's House. (top)
Jenny ( Bleak House ) Brickmaker's wife, befriended by Esther Summerson after Jenny's child dies. Later exchanges coats with Lady Dedlock, throwing Bucket off in his pursuit of Lady Dedlock as she flees following the revealing of her secret. A woman with a black eye, nursing a poor little gasping baby by the fire. (top)
Jerry ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) PIX Proprietor of a travelling dog show. Jerry, the manager of these dancing dogs, was a tall black-whiskered man in a velveteen coat.. His information helps The Single Gentleman and Mrs Nubbles locate Nell and her grandfather. (top)
Jingle, Alfred ( Pickwick Papers ) PIX A wandering rascal who befriends Samuel Pickwick and accompanies the group to the Wardle home at Dingley Dell. He entices Rachael Wardle to elope with him and is run down and bought off by Rachael's brother. Samuel Pickwick later finds a penitent Jingle in the Fleet Prison, pays his debt, and sends him with his servant, Job Trotter, off to Demerara, an area of Guyana, to turn over a new leaf. He was about the middle height, but the thinness of his body, and the length of his legs, gave him the appearance of being much taller. The green coat had been a smart dress garment in the days of swallow-tails, but had evidently in those times adorned a much shorter man than the stranger, for the soiled and faded sleeves scarcely reached to his wrists. It was buttoned closely up to his chin, at the imminent hazard of splitting the back; and an old stock, without a vestige of shirt collar, ornamented his neck. His scanty black trousers displayed here and there those shiny patches which bespeak long sendee, and were strapped very tightly over a pair of patched and mended shoes, as if to conceal the dirty white stockings, which were nevertheless distinctly visible. His long black hair escaped in negligent waves from beneath each side of his old pinched up hat; and glimpses of his bare wrist might be obsenred, between the tops of his gloves, and the cuffs of his coat sleeves. His face was thin and haggard; but an indescribable air of jaunty impudence and perfect self-possession pervaded the whole man.
Geolinks: The Borough, Doctors Commons (top)
Jiniwin, Mrs ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Mother of Betsy Quilp and mother-in-law to Daniel Quilp. Mrs Jiniwin makes feigned attempts to defy Quilp but is terrified of him. Resided with the couple and waged perpetual war with Daniel; of whom, notwithstanding, she stood in no slight dread. (top)
Jinkins ( Sketches by Boz: The Pawnbrokers Shop ) Drunken laboror in the pawnshop to redeem some pawned tools. He is rebuked by another customer, Mrs Mackin, for beating his wife and child and told to leave. (top)
Jinkins ( Pickwick Papers ) Villain of The Bagman's Tale who is undone by Tom Smart. A tall man - a very tall man - in a brown coat and bright basket buttons, and black whiskers, and wavy black hair. (top)
Jinkins, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Oldest boarder at Todgers's Boarding House. A fish-salesman and book-keeper aged forty. Mr Jinkins was of a fashionable turn; being a regular frequenter of the Parks on Sundays, and knowing a great many carriages by sight. He spoke mysteriously, too, of splendid women, and was suspected of having once committed himself with a Countess.
Geolinks: Cannon Street (top)
Jinks, Mr ( Pickwick Papers ) Clerk to Ipswich mayor George Nupkins. A pale, sharp-nosed, half-fed, shabbily-clad clerk, of middle age. (top)
Jo ( Bleak House ) PIX The crossing sweeper. When Jo shows Lady Dedlock the haunts of Captain Hawdon, lawyer Tulkinghorn has Jo kept moving from place to place. He befriends Esther Summerson at Bleak House and communicates smallpox to Charley, and then Esther. Jo later dies at the shooting gallery of George Rouncewell. Don't know that Jo is short for a longer name. Thinks it long enough for HIM. HE don't find no fault with it. Spell it? No. HE can't spell it. No father, no mother, no friends. Never been to school. What's home? Knows a broom's a broom, and knows it's wicked to tell a lie. Don't recollect who told him about the broom or about the lie, but knows both. Can't exactly say what'll be done to him arter he's dead if he tells a lie to the gentlemen here, but believes it'll be something wery bad to punish him, and serve him right--and so he'll tell the truth.
Geolinks: Blackfriars Bridge (top)
Jobling, Dr. ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Medical officer for the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company. Dr Jobling takes the company's money but distances himself from its Board. In certain quarters of the city and its neighbourhood, Mr Jobling was...a very popular character. He had a portentously sagacious chin, and a pompous voice, with a rich huskiness in some of its tones that went directly to the heart, like a ray of light shining through the ruddy medium of choice old burgundy. His neck-kerchief and shirt-frill were ever of the whitest, his clothes of the blackest and sleekest, his gold watch-chain of the heaviest, and his seals of the largest. His boots, which were always of the brightest, creaked as he walked. Perhaps he could shake his head, rub his hands, or warm himself before a fire, better than any man alive; and he had a peculiar way of smacking his lips and saying, 'Ah!' at intervals while patients detailed their symptoms, which inspired great confidence. It seemed to express, 'I know what you're going to say better than you do; but go on, go on.' As he talked on all occasions whether he had anything to say or not, it was unanimously observed of him that he was 'full of anecdote'; and his experience and profit from it were considered, for the same reason, to be something much too extensive for description. His female patients could never praise him too highly; and the coldest of his male admirers would always say this for him to their friends, 'that whatever Jobling's professional skill might be (and it could not be denied that he had a very high reputation), he was one of the most comfortable fellows you ever saw in your life!' (top)
Jobling, Tony (Weevle) ( Bleak House ) PIX Friend of Guppy who takes Nemo's room at Krook's after Nemo's death. Jobling and Guppy discover the spectacular death of Krook and are temporary celebrities, drinking for free at the Sol's Arms. His hat presents at the rims a peculiar appearance of a glistening nature, as if it had been a favourite snail-promenade. The same phenomenon is visible on some parts of his coat, and particularly at the seams. He has the faded appearance of a gentleman in embarrassed circumstances; even his light whiskers droop with something of a shabby air. (top)
Jobson, Brigham, Jessie (one and two), Jane, Leonardo, Matilda (one and two), Sophronia, William, Orson ( The Uncommercial Traveller - Bound for the Great Salt Lake ) Mormon family headed for Great Salt Lake, Utah aboard the ship Amazon. This group is composed of an old grandfather and grandmother, their married son and his wife, and THEIR family of children. Orson Jobson is a little child asleep in his mother's arms. (top)
Jodd, Mr ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Boarder at the National Hotel in America and member of the deputation awaiting the arrival of the Honorable Elijah Pogram. (top)
Joe (The Fat Boy) ( Pickwick Papers ) PIX Servant of Mr Wardle, has an amazing ability to fall asleep anytime, unless he's eating. Damn that boy; he’s gone to sleep again. (top)
Joe ( Oliver Twist ) Waiter who harasses Nancy at the hotel where she goes to give Rose Maylie information about Oliver. (top)
Joe ( A Tale of Two Cities ) Guard on the Dover mail coach. (top)
Joe ( The Mystery of Edwin Drood ) Driver of the omnibus between London and Cloisterham. (top)
Joey, Captain ( Our Mutual Friend ) Bottle-nosed patron of the Six Jolly Fellowship-Porters public house. (top)
Joe, Old ( A Christmas Carol ) Fence who buys Scrooge's belongings from Mrs Dilber, the charwoman, and the undertaker's man when Scrooge is shown the future by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. A grey-haired rascal, nearly seventy years of age; who had screened himself from the cold air without, by a frousy curtaining of miscellaneous tatters, hung upon a line; and smoked his pipe in all the luxury of calm retirement. (top)
John ( Dombey and Son ) A poor laborer who Florence Dombey meets while visiting the Skettles. Father of Martha. (top)
John ( Sketches by Boz: The Broker's Man ) Servant (top)
John ( Sketches by Boz: Horatio Sparkins ) Servant of the Parsons. (top)
John ( Sketches by Boz: A Passage in the Life of Mr Watkins Tottle ) Servant in Solomon Jacobs' sponging house. A sallow-faced red-haired sulky boy. (top)
John ( The Uncommercial Traveller - A Small Star in the East ) Out-of-work boilermaker among the poor families visited by the Uncommercial Traveller in east London. (top)
John ( Pickwick Papers ) Dying alcoholic clown and subject of The Stroller's Tale told by Dismal Jemmy Hutley to the Pickwickians at the Bull Inn. He was dressed for the pantomimes in all the absurdity of a clown's costume. The spectral figures in the Dance of Death, the most frightful shapes that the ablest painter ever portrayed on canvas, never presented an appearance half so ghastly. His bloated body and shrunken legs--their deformity enhanced a hundredfold by the fantastic dress--the glassy eyes, contrasting fearfully with the thick white paint with which the face was besmeared; the grotesquely-ornamented head, trembling with paralysis, and the long skinny hands, rubbed with white chalk--all gave him a hideous and unnatural appearance, of which no description could convey an adequate idea, and which, to this day, I shudder to think of. (top)
John ( Pickwick Papers ) Servant at the Saracen's Head, Towcester. (top)
Johnny ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Son of one of the matrons in attendance at Mrs Kenwigs' lying in. (top)
Johnny ( Our Mutual Friend ) Orphan cared for by his great grandmother, Betty Higden. Johnny dies before he can be adopted by the Boffins. Distinguished by a crisply curling auburn head and a bluff countenance...a pretty boy. (top)
Johnson ( Dombey and Son ) Student at Dr Blimber's school. (top)
Johnson, Mr ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Alias given to Nicholas Nickleby by Newman Noggs when he takes on the task of teaching French to the Kensigs' children for 5 shillings a week. (top)
Jollson, Mrs ( Dombey and Son ) Mrs MacStinger's predecessor at number 9 Brig Place, India Docks. (top)
Jonathan ( Our Mutual Friend ) Patron of the Six Jolly Fellowship-Porters. family name...unknown to mankind (top)
Jones ( Sketches by Boz: Mr Minns and His Cousin ) Guest at Octavius Budden's dinner party. Little man with red whiskers. (top)
Jones, Blewbury ( Our Mutual Friend ) Miser in Noddy Boffin’s collection of books concerning prominent misers purchased to give the illusion that he himself has become a miser. (top)
Jones, George ( Our Mutual Friend ) Patron of the Six Jolly Fellowship-Porters public house. clad in a faded scarlet jacket. (top)
Jones, Mary ( Barnaby Rudge ) Young woman hanged by Ned Dennis after attempting to steal a piece of cloth. A young woman of nineteen who come up to Tyburn with a infant at her breast, and was worked off for taking a piece of cloth off the counter of a shop in Ludgate-hill, and putting it down again when the shopman see her; and who had never done any harm before, and only tried to do that, in consequence of her husband having been pressed three weeks previous, and she being left to beg, with two young children. (top)
Jones, Master ( David Copperfield ) Boy at Doctor Strong's school whom Miss Shepherd has a preference for over David Copperfield. A boy of no merit whatever! (top)
Joram, Joe ( David Copperfield ) Son of Minnie and Joram and grandson of Mr Omer. (top)
Joram, Minnie ( David Copperfield ) Daughter of Minnie and Joram and granddaughter of Mr Omer. A pretty little girl with long, flaxen, curling hair. (top)
Joram ( David Copperfield ) Coffin maker in Mr Omer's undertaker business. He later marries Omer's daughter Minnie and takes over the business. A good-looking young fellow. (top)
Jorkins ( David Copperfield ) Partner to Mr Spenlow who plays the heavy in the business. A mild man of a heavy temperament, whose place in the business was to keep himself in the background, and be constantly exhibited by name as the most obdurate and ruthless of men. And Later: Mr Jorkins was not by any means the awful creature one might have expected, but a large, mild, smooth-faced man of sixty, who took so much snuff that there was a tradition in the Commons that he lived principally on that stimulant, having little room in his system for any other article of diet. (top)
Joseph ( The Uncommercial Traveller - The City of the Absent ) Charity boy who is observed by the Uncommercial Traveller making love to Celia in a City churchyard. (top)
Jowl, Joe ( The Old Curiosity Shop ) Conspirator with Isaac List who tempted Nell's grandfather to steal from Mrs Jarley. (top)
Jupe, Cecilia (Sissy) ( Hard Times ) Daughter of Signor Jupe, a clown in Sleary's circus, who is deserted by her father and taken in by Gradgrind where she befriends Louisa. Sissy is instumental in teaching the Gradgrind family that hard facts must be tempered with love and forebearance. So dark-eyed and dark-haired, that she seemed to receive a deeper and more lustrous colour from the sun, when it shone upon her. (top)
Jupe, Signor ( Hard Times ) A clown in Sleary's circus. Feeling himself washed up in the circus he takes off with his dog, Merrylegs, and never returns, leaving his distraught daughter, Sissy, to fend for herself. (top)
K
Kags ( Oliver Twist ) Criminal who has returned illegally after being transported (punishable by death). He is hiding out at Toby Crackit's crib on Jacob's Island. A robber of fifty years, whose nose had been almost beaten in, in some old scuffle, and whose face bore a frightful scar which might probably be traced to the same occasion. (top)
Kate ( Dombey and Son ) An orphan that Florence Dombey meets at the Skettles's (top)
Kate ( Sketches by Boz: A Passage in the Life of Mr Watkins Tottle ) Wife of debtor Harry who visits him at Solomon Jacobs' sponging house. (top)
Kate ( Pickwick Papers ) Cousin of Maria Lobbs and sister of Henry in Samuel Weller's story The Parish Clerk-A Tale of True Love. An arch, impudent-looking, bewitching little person. (top)
Kedgick, Captain ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Landlord of the National Hotel in America where Mark Tapley and Martin Chuzzlewit stay on their way to and from Eden. (top)
Kenge ( Bleak House ) Solicitor for John Jarndyce in the firm Kenge and Carboy. Known as 'Conversation Kenge'. A portly, important-looking gentleman, dressed all in black, with a white cravat, large gold watch seals, a pair of gold eye-glasses, and a large seal-ring upon his little finger. (top)
Kenwigs, Lillyvick ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Youngest of the Kenwigs' children. Named for Mrs Kenwigs uncle Mr Lillyvick.
Geolinks: Golden Square (top)
Kenwigs, Morleena ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Eldest daughter of the Kenwigs. whose uncommon Christian name it may be here remarked that it had been invented and composed by Mrs Kenwigs previous to her first lying-in, for the special distinction of her eldest child, in case it should prove a daughter.
Geolinks: Golden Square (top)
Kenwigs, Mr ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Neighbor of Newman Noggs, husband of Susan Kenwigs, and father of Morleena and Lillyvick. Nicholas tutors his daughters in French. Mrs Kenwigs' uncle, Mr Lillyvick, is a well-to-do collector of water rates and the family hopes to eventually profit from this relation. Their expectations are dashed when Lillyvick marries actress Henrietta Petowker and are revived when she runs away with a retired navy captain. Turner in ivory, who was looked upon as a person of some consideration on the premises, inasmuch as he occupied the whole of the first floor, comprising a suite of two rooms.
Geolinks: Golden Square (top)
Kenwigs, Susan ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Wife of Mr Kenwigs, Mother of Morleena and Lillyvick, and niece of Mr Lillyvick. Quite a lady in her manners, and of a very genteel family, having an uncle who collected a water-rate; besides which distinction, the two eldest of her little girls went twice a week to a dancing school in the neighbourhood, and had flaxen hair, tied with blue ribbons, hanging in luxuriant pigtails down their backs; and wore little white trousers with frills round the ankles. Mrs Kenwigs was considered a very desirable person to know, and was the constant theme of all the gossips in the street, and even three or four doors round the corner at both ends.
Geolinks: Golden Square (top)
Kettle, La Fayette ( Martin Chuzzlewit ) Secretary of the Watertoast Association of United Sympathisers whom Martin Chuzzlewit meets in America on the way to Eden. One very lank gentleman, in a loose limp white cravat, a long white waistcoat, and a black great-coat. (top)
Kibble, Jacob ( Our Mutual Friend ) Fellow passenger on the ship from which John Harmon supposedly drowned. (top)
Kidderminster, Master (Cupid) ( Hard Times ) Performer in Sleary's circus troupe. A diminutive boy with an old face...Made up with curls, wreaths, wings, white bismuth, and carmine, this hopeful young person soared into so pleasing a Cupid as to constitute the chief delight of the maternal part of the spectators; but in private, where his characteristics were a precocious cutaway coat and an extremely gruff voice, he became of the Turf, turfy. (top)
Kidgerbury, Mrs ( David Copperfield ) Maid (at intervals) to David and Dora Copperfield. The oldest inhabitant of Kentish Town, I believe, who went out charing, but was too feeble to execute her conceptions of that art. (top)
Kinch, Horace ( The Uncommercial Traveller - Night Walks ) Inmate of the King's Bench Prison who dies as the result of 'dry rot'. A very curious disease the Dry Rot in men, and difficult to detect the beginning of. It had carried Horace Kinch inside the wall of the old King's Bench prison, and it had carried him out with his feet foremost. He was a likely man to look at, in the prime of life, well to do, as clever as he needed to be, and popular among many friends. He was suitably married, and had healthy and pretty children. But, like some fair-looking houses or fair-looking ships, he took the Dry Rot. The first strong external revelation of the Dry Rot in men, is a tendency to lurk and lounge; to be at street-corners without intelligible reason; to be going anywhere when met; to be about many places rather than at any; to do nothing tangible, but to have an intention of performing a variety of intangible duties to-morrow or the day after. When this manifestation of the disease is observed, the observer will usually connect it with a vague impression once formed or received, that the patient was living a little too hard. (top)
Kindheart, Mr ( The Uncommercial Traveller - Medicine Men of Civilisation ) Companion to the Uncommercial Traveller in Italy. An Englishman of an amiable nature, great enthusiasm, and no discretion. (top)
Kitt, Miss ( David Copperfield ) The "pretty creature in pink, with the little eyes" whom David Copperfield flirts with in an attempt to make Dora Spenlow jealous at her birthday party. (top)
Kitterbell, Frederick Charles William ( Sketches by Boz: The Bloomsbury Christening ) Infant son of the Kitterbells and godson of the reluctant Nicodemus Dumps. (top)
Kitterbell, Jemima ( Sketches by Boz: The Bloomsbury Christening ) Charles Kitterbell's wife. A tall, thin young lady, with very light hair, and a particularly white face – one of those young women who almost invariably, though one hardly knows why, recal to one's mind the idea of a cold fillet of veal. (top)
Kitterbell, Charles ( Sketches by Boz: The Bloomsbury Christening ) Nephew of Nicodemus Dumps who asks his uncle to be godfather to he and his wife Jemima's first child, a son, Frederick Charles William Kitterbell. A small, sharp, spare man, with a very large head, and a broad, good-humoured countenance. He looked like a faded giant, with the head and face partially restored; and he had a cast in his eye which rendered it quite impossible for any one with whom he conversed to know where he was looking. (top)
Klem, Mr, Mrs, and Miss ( The Uncommercial Traveller - Arcadian London ) Caretakers of the Uncommercial Traveller's summer lodging in London owned by his hatter. I am waited on by an elderly woman labouring under a chronic sniff, who, at the shadowy hour of half-past nine o'clock of every evening, gives admittance at the street door to a meagre and mouldy old man whom I have never yet seen detached from a flat pint of beer in a pewter pot...The most extraordinary circumstance I have traced in connexion with this aged couple, is, that there is a Miss Klem, their daughter, apparently ten years older than either of them. (top)
Knag, Miss ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Forewoman at Madame Mantalini's dressmaking establishment. A short, bustling, over-dressed female, full of importance. Every now and then, she was accustomed, in the torrent of her discourse, to introduce a loud, shrill, clear 'hem!' the import and meaning of which, was variously interpreted by her acquaintance; some holding that Miss Knag dealt in exaggeration, and introduced the monosyllable when any fresh invention was in course of coinage in her brain; others, that when she wanted a word, she threw it in to gain time, and prevent anybody else from striking into the conversation. It may be further remarked, that Miss Knag still aimed at youth, although she had shot beyond it, years ago; and that she was weak and vain, and one of those people who are best described by the axiom, that you may trust them as far as you can see them, and no farther. (top)
Knag, Mortimer ( Nicholas Nickleby ) Miss Knag's brother and former lover of Madame Mantalini. An ornamental stationer and small circulating library keeper, in a by-street off Tottenham Court Road; and who let out by the day, week, month, or year, the newest old novels, whereof the titles were displayed in pen-and-ink characters on a sheet of pasteboard, swinging at his door-post...a tall lank gentleman of solemn features, wearing spectacles, and garnished with much less hair than a gentleman bordering on forty, or thereabouts, usually boasts.
Geolinks: Tottenham Court Road (top)
Krook ( Bleak House ) PIX Drunken and illiterate proprietor of a rag and bottle shop. Known as the 'Lord Chancellor', Krook collects court documents. A will, instrumental in the Jarndyce and Jarndyce court case, is found among his holdings by Mr Smallweed who inherits Krook's possessions after his demise by spontaneous combustion. Krook is Mrs Smallweed's brother. An old man in spectacles and a hairy cap was carrying about in the shop. Turning towards the door, he now caught sight of us. He was short, cadaverous, and withered, with his head sunk sideways between his shoulders and the breath issuing in visible smoke from his mouth as if he were on fire within. His throat, chin, and eyebrows were so frosted with white hairs and so gnarled with veins and puckered skin that he looked from his breast upward like some old root in a fall of snow.
Geolinks: Chancery Lane (top)
