Characters
- Edwin Drood: an orphan. When he comes of age, he plans to marry Rosa Bud and go to Egypt, doing engineering with the firm where his father had been a partner.
- Rosa Bud: an orphan and Edwin Drood's fiancée. Their betrothal was arranged by their fathers.
- John Jasper: the choirmaster of Cloisterham Cathedral, Edwin Drood's uncle and guardian, and Rosa Bud's music master. He secretly loves Rosa. He visits an opium den in London.
- Neville and Helena Landless: twin orphans. They are from Ceylon, but it is not clear to what extent they are Ceylonese. In their childhood they were mistreated and deprived. Neville is immediately smitten by Rosa Bud. He is more proud than is good for him, and his integrity prevents him from making an insincere apology to Drood. Helena and Rosa become dear friends.
- Rev. Septimus Crisparkle: minor canon of Cloisterham Cathedral and Neville Landless's mentor.
- Mr. (Hiram) Grewgious: a London lawyer and Rosa Bud's guardian. He was a friend of her parents.
- Mr. Bazzard: Mr. Grewgious's clerk. He is absent from that post when Datchery is in Cloisterham. He has written a play.
- (Stony) Durdles: a stonemason. He knows more than anyone else about the Cloisterham Cathedral cemetery.
- Deputy: a small boy. "Deputy" is not his name but rather a handle he uses for anonymity. If he catches Durdles out after 10 pm, he throws rocks at him until he goes home. Durdles pays him a halfpenny for doing so.
- Dick Datchery: a stranger who takes lodging in Cloisterham for a month or two.
- Princess Puffer: a haggard woman who runs a London opium den frequented by Jasper. She is unnamed in most of the book. "Princess Puffer" is the handle by which Deputy knows her.
- Mr. (Thomas) Sapsea: a comically conceited auctioneer. By the time of Drood's disappearance he has become Mayor of Cloisterham.
- Mr. Tope: the verger of Cloisterham Cathedral.
- Mrs. Tope: the verger's wife. She cooks for Jasper and rents lodging to Datchery.
- Miss Twinkleton: the mistress of the Nuns' House, the boarding school where Rosa lives.
- Mrs. Tisher: Miss Twinkleton's assistant at the Nuns' House.
- Mrs. Crisparkle: Rev. Crisparkle's widowed mother.
- Mr. (Luke) Honeythunder: a bullying London philanthropist. He is Neville and Helena Landless's guardian.
- Mr. Tartar: a retired naval officer. He resigned his commission in his late twenties when an uncle left him some property, but he lives in London, being unaccustomed to the space of a large estate.
- Mrs. Billickin: a widowed distant cousin of Mr. Bazzard. She rents lodging in London to Rosa and Miss Twinkleton.
Read more about this topic: The Mystery Of Edwin Drood
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