Our Mutual Friend characters

Appears from the start

A young waterman who searches the Thames with his daughter for drowned bodies and anything valuable they carry. His grim trade and fierce independence place him at the center of the mystery surrounding a corpse believed to be John Harmon.

Appears from the start

Gaffer Hexam's devoted daughter and partner on the river. Sensitive to the disgrace attached to her father's work, she longs for a cleaner life and does what she can to help her younger brother rise beyond their circumstances.

First appears in chapter 2

A languid young barrister with charm, intelligence, and little direction. Hearing the Harmon inheritance story at a fashionable dinner awakens his curiosity, and his legal friend Mortimer Lightwood draws him toward the people involved.

First appears in chapter 2

A lawyer entrusted with business connected to the Harmon estate. More industrious and conventional than his friend Eugene Wrayburn, he becomes a steady observer of the mysteries and relationships created by the disputed fortune.

First appears in chapter 4

A spirited young woman whose late father's agreement with old Mr Harmon promised her to the absent John Harmon. She has never met her intended husband and resents being treated as part of an inheritance, though she is candid about wanting comfort, beauty, and wealth.

Also known as Noddy Boffin, The Golden Dustman

First appears in chapter 5

A warmhearted, barely educated former servant of the Harmon family who unexpectedly inherits the dust contractor's fortune after John Harmon is believed dead. He remains loyal to his old friends and wants money to make him useful rather than grand.

Also known as Mrs Boffin

First appears in chapter 5

Nicodemus Boffin's affectionate wife, whose generosity and common sense survive their sudden rise to wealth. She shares her husband's wish to use the Harmon fortune kindly and takes a particular interest in Bella Wilfer.

First appears in chapter 5

A wooden-legged ballad seller who is hired to read improving books to the newly wealthy Mr Boffin. Resentful, calculating, and alert to any chance of profit, he begins studying the Harmon property as closely as his employer.

Also known as John Rokesmith

First appears in chapter 15

A quiet, capable young man engaged as the Boffins' secretary. He presents himself as having no family connections and quickly proves useful, while his guarded manner suggests that his interest in the household is more than professional.

First appears in chapter 18

A severe schoolmaster who teaches Charley Hexam and prides himself on discipline and self-command. His first visit to the Hexam household brings him into Lizzie's company, where his rigid manner conceals powerful emotion.

Also known as Jenny Wren

First appears in chapter 19

A sharp-witted young dolls' dressmaker whose bodily disability has forced her into unusual independence. She supports an unreliable father, calls herself Jenny Wren, and offers Lizzie Hexam both lodging and clear-eyed friendship.

First appears in chapter 20

A kindly Jewish moneylender who outwardly conducts a harsh lending business but is himself acting for a concealed principal. Patient under prejudice and abuse, he befriends Lizzie and Jenny and quietly helps people in distress.

First appears in chapter 22

A prosperous-looking young man whose social manner hides his ownership of a predatory moneylending concern operated publicly in Riah's name. He uses secrecy to preserve his respectability while profiting from other people's need.