Swallows and Amazons Series - Major Characters

Major Characters

See also List of Swallows and Amazons characters.

The crew of the Swallow are siblings John, Susan, Titty, and Roger Walker. John, the oldest, is the captain and usually in charge. Susan is first mate, in charge of stores, cooking, and the general well-being of the crew. She sometimes acts as a surrogate mother. Titty, the "able seaman", is the most imaginative member of the crew. She often imagines her own adventures. She often becomes a hero in the novels, such as when she wins the war in Swallows and Amazons and finds an underground spring in Pigeon Post. Roger is the youngest, originally the ship's boy, but promoted to able seaman in later books. In later books, their youngest sister Bridget (originally nicknamed "Vicky" due to a resemblance to pictures of Queen Victoria in old age; the nickname is dropped in later books as she loses the resemblance as she grows older) also joins the crew. Roger is seven in the first novel and Bridget has her second birthday. Bridget grows up quickly into a six year old, who joins the adventures in "Secret Water".

The crew of the Amazon are the sisters Nancy and Peggy Blackett. Nancy — who does not use her given name of Ruth because her uncle has said that pirates are supposed to be ruthless — is a strong character who would probably be considered a tomboy. Nancy's speech includes many sailor and pirate terms. She often leads both the crew of the Amazon and the Swallow. Peggy, real name Margaret, puts up a show of being as tough as Nancy, but often needs the encouragement of her sister to get through the more dangerous parts of their adventures. She is frightened of thunderstorms.

A third major set of characters are brother and sister Dick and Dorothea Callum, introduced in the fourth book of the series, Winter Holiday. Dick and Dorothea are the intellectuals of the group, Dick in matters of science, Dorothea in the arts. The Callums later acquire a dinghy of their own, the Scarab. The Callums were originally seen as useless to the group, until it was realized that they had great skating ability.

The Callums are the link to a different location and another set of characters. Following their appearance in Winter Holiday, they appear in two subsequent books set in the Norfolk Broads, where they meet the Coot Club: Tom Dudgeon; the twins, Port and Starboard; and three working class boys, the Death and Glories.

With a couple of exceptions, the exact ages of the characters are never established. In the first book they run from Roger, at 7 years old, to about 12 or 14 (John and Nancy). All characters age as the series goes on; the final book occurs three to four years after the first (see timeline below). There is an inconsistency in the only two dates mentioned in the series. In the first book the year is stated to be 1929 while in the second book, Swallowdale, which is supposed to take place one year later, the year is given as 1931. A second inconsistency is that while Bridget is only a year old in the first novel, she has aged five years by Secret Water.

While the emphasis of all the books is on the activities of the young protagonists, many — generally benevolent — adult characters also appear. The most directly involved is the Blackett sisters' uncle Jim Turner, who is called Captain Flint by the children, after the character in Treasure Island. A painfully shy geologist, named Timothy, is also accepted by the children and included in their adventures.