Street Child characters

Appears from the start

A resourceful boy growing up in extreme poverty in Victorian London. Fiercely attached to his mother and sisters, Jim tries to keep his family together after eviction and then struggles to preserve his freedom through the workhouse, the streets, and forced labor. His experiences eventually bring the plight of homeless children to Dr Barnardo's attention.

Also known as Ma

Appears from the start

Jim's widowed mother, exhausted and seriously ill after trying to support three children through poorly paid work. She loves Jim, Emily, and Lizzie and tries to protect them from the full terror of eviction, but poverty has left her with almost no choices.

Appears from the start

Jim's older sister, who has shared the family's hunger and insecurity. She helps care for the younger children while their mother is ill and faces separation from Jim when the family can no longer remain together.

Appears from the start

Jim's younger sister and the smallest of the Jarvis children. Her dependence heightens Jim's fear when the family is evicted and forced to seek shelter within institutions that divide families by age and sex.

Appears from the start

The Jarvis family's landlord, who demands rent they cannot pay and removes them from their room. To Jim he represents the hard authority of adults who treat destitution as a debt rather than an emergency.

First appears in chapter 4

A boy Jim meets inside the workhouse. More familiar with its punishments and routines, Tip becomes Jim's friend and helps him endure a place designed around obedience, separation, and exhausting labor.

First appears in chapter 6

A kind woman Jim encounters while trying to survive outside the workhouse. She offers food and humane attention when most adults see only a troublesome street boy, giving Jim a brief experience of safety without confinement.

First appears in chapter 8

A brutal man who uses homeless boys as cheap labor on his coal boat. He gives Jim shelter only to control and exploit him, enforcing obedience through fear and violence.

Also known as Shrimps

First appears in chapter 8

A small boy already working under Grimy Nick's control when Jim reaches the coal boat. Wary but companionable, he shows Jim how exposed street children can be trapped by adults who promise work or shelter.

Also known as Dr Barnardo

First appears in chapter 10

A young teacher and reformer working with poor children in London's East End. When Jim tells him what it means to have nowhere safe to sleep, Barnardo listens and recognizes that help must be available even when existing shelters are full.