North and South (1855 Novel) - Characters

Characters

• Miss Margaret Hale — The protagonist
• Mr. John Thornton — The owner of a local mill, a friend and student of Margaret's father, and Margaret's love interest.
• Nicholas Higgins — An industrial worker whom Margaret befriends. He has two daughters, Bessy and Mary.
• Mrs. Hannah Thornton — Mr. Thornton's mother, who dislikes Margaret
• Fanny Thornton — Younger sister of Mr. John Thornton
• Bessy — Nicholas Higgins's daughter, who suffers from a fatal illness from working the mills
• Mary — Nicholas Higgins's youngest daughter
• Mr. Richard Hale — Margaret's father, a dissenter who leaves his vicarage in Helstone to work as a private tutor in Milton
• Mrs. Maria Hale — Margaret's mother, a woman from a respectable London family.
• Dixon — A servant of the Hales, very loyal and devoted to Mrs. Hale
• Mr. Bell — An old friend of Mr. Hale, god-father to Margaret and her brother
• Mrs. Shaw — Margaret's aunt, Edith's mother, and Mrs. Hale's sister
• Edith — Margaret's cousin, married to Captain Lennox
• Mr. Henry Lennox — A young lawyer, brother of Captain Lennox. Margaret refuses his suits early in the story
• Frederick Hale — Margaret's older brother, a fugitive living in Spain since his involvement in a mutiny while serving in the British Navy
• Leonards — Frederick's fellow sailor who didn't mutiny and wants to hand Frederick in to get a reward