A • Marchioness of
Auld Reekie. Lady Glencora's aunt. The Marchioness pressures Glencora to marry Plantagenet Palliser.
B • Lady
Baldock. Violet Effingham's aunt. • Ezekiel
Boncassen Father of Isabel. A learned American, he is spoken of as a potential President of the United States. • Isabel
Boncassen Love interest of Silverbridge in ''The Duke's Children''. Marries him after being assured that his father approves of the match. • Mrs
Boncassen Mother of Isabel. Portrayed as somewhat ridiculous in London society, but her great love for her daughter is stressed. • Mr
Bott. A somewhat overbearing and fawning member of Parliament, he shadows Palliser. He offends Lady Glencora by watching her dance with Burgo Fitzgerald, and also loses his seat in Parliament during the election held while the Pallisers are abroad. • Mr and Mrs
Bunce. Phineas Finn's landlady and her husband.
C • Miss
Cassewary. Companion of Lady Mabel Grex. • Oswald Standish, Lord
Chiltern. Aggressive brother of Lady Laura Standish. He was thought at the time to be based on
Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire.
D • Mr
Daubeny: Conservative Leader of the House of Commons and later Prime Minister. Believed to be based on
Benjamin Disraeli. • Lady Rosina
de Courcy. A shrivelled-up old woman whose aristocratic family is now impoverished. She lives in a small cottage near her old home. Plantagenet enjoys her company, although Glencora scornfully reminds her husband that Lady Rosina once tried to marry a brewer to solve her financial troubles. • Lord
de Terrier: Conservative leader, Prime Minister at the time of Phineas Finn's entry into the Commons, but ousted soon afterwards; based on
Lord Derby • Sir Orlando
Drought Conservative MP, Leader of the House of Commons and First Lord of the Admiralty in the Omnium government. He believes that as Leader of the House of Commons, he should be Prime Minister, but finds that the Duke of Omnium is not friendly to his views. Resigns, ostensibly over a matter of principle. Appears to have returned to the Conservative Front Bench during the Drummond government. • Lord
Drummond Secretary of State for the Colonies in the Omnium Government; later becomes Conservative Prime Minister, but his government falls near the end of ''The Duke's Children''.
E • Violet
Effingham. Love interest of Phineas Finn in
Phineas Finn. Later the wife of Oswald Standish, Lord Chiltern. • Barrington
Erle Liberal MP and minor Cabinet minister. Postmaster General in the Omnium government. • Lizzie, Lady
Eustace. Formerly Lizzie Greystock, the protagonist of
The Eustace Diamonds. The apparent theft of her diamonds rivets society, but at the end of the novel her lies are exposed. She later appears in
Phineas Redux and also in
The Prime Minister, in which she repels Ferdinand Lopez's advances and attempts to obtain her money.
F • Marie
Finn: Originally appears in
Phineas Finn as Madame Max Goesler, a Viennese widow, and becomes a close friend and confidant to the old Duke of Omnium. At his death she is left diamonds, which she refuses to take. She marries Phineas Finn. An intimate friend of Lady Glencora, and thereafter of her daughter Mary, she is shunned by Glencora's widower Plantagenet, now Duke of Omnium, when he believes that she has encouraged the marriage between Lady Mary and Frank Tregear. Later, she and the Duke reconcile. • Burgo
Fitzgerald. Loved by Lady Glencora before she enters into an arranged marriage with Plantagenet Palliser. Handsome but penniless, he nearly persuades Lady Glencora to run away with her. By the time she encounters him again in a German gambling town, she feels only pity for him, and Palliser arranges for a small pension to be paid to him there. • Arthur
Fletcher. Elected MP for Silverbridge after Grey resigns; marries Emily Lopez (née Wharton) whom he has long loved.
G • Mrs Arabella
Greenow. Daughter of Squire Vavasor, sister of John and aunt of George, Kate and Alice. Married a rich elderly man, Mr Greenow, and was soon his widow. Shows an interest in her niece Kate and takes her to Yarmouth with her. Mrs Greenow is courted by the dashing wastrel Captain Bellfield and also by the less attractive but well-off Mr Cheesacre. • Mr.
Gresham. Liberal leader and friendly rival of Mr. Daubeny. Prime Minister, succeeding the Duke of Omnium. Believed to be based on
William Ewart Gladstone. • Lady Mabel
Grex. Initial love interest of Lord Silverbridge in ''The Duke's Children''. While not in love with Silverbridge, but with Frank Tregear, she plays Silverbridge along in the hope of becoming Duchess of Omnium, but he soon becomes infatuated with Isabel Boncassen. The death of her father, the dissipated Lord Grex, leaves her impoverished, and she is left alone with her companion Miss Cassewary, two old maids together. • John
Grey. Love interest of Alice Vavasor, who later marries him. A wealthy gentleman farmer, he becomes member of Parliament for Silverbridge after Palliser gives up that seat to become member for Barsetshire instead, county seats being more prestigious.
J • Mary
Jones. Childhood sweetheart, and eventually first wife, of Phineas Finn. She dies soon after they marry.
K • Robert
Kennedy: Member of Parliament and Phineas Finn's rival for the affections of Lady Laura Standish. He eventually becomes insane. • Sarah
Kennedy. Elderly mother of Robert Kennedy, whom she survives.
L • Lady
Linlithgow. Acerbic aunt of Lizzie Eustace. • Ferdinand
Lopez: Of doubtful origins, he marries Emily Wharton for her money. Persuades Glencora, Duchess of Omnium, to back him as a candidate in the Silverbridge by-election, which is won by Arthur Fletcher. When in dire financial straits, he throws himself beneath a train at the Tenway Junction.
M • Mrs
Marsham. She was a friend of Plantagenet Palliser's mother but is disliked by Lady Glencora. Mrs Marsham eventually marries Mr Bott, to Plantagenet's disgust. • Miss
McNulty. Companion of Lady Linlithgow, Lizzie Eustace's aunt, and afterwards of Lizzie herself. • Countess of
Midlothian. A meddlesome old woman who helped to pressure Lady Glencora to marry Plantagenet Palliser. The Countess also interferes in Alice Vavasor's life, though Alice indignantly rejects her advice. • William
Mildmay: Liberal Prime Minister early in the series, greatly admired by Palliser; based on
Lord John Russell • Joshua
Monk. Radical member of Parliament for the Potteries, risen from humble origins. Later becomes Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Omnium government, and Prime Minister as the series ends.
O • George Plantagenet Palliser, Duke of
Omnium; Plantagenet Palliser's uncle. Never married; responsible for the building of the monstrous Gatherum Castle, with some love affairs in his younger years. Former member of Parliament for Silverbridge. Considers marrying Madame Max Goesler (later Marie Finn) but she refuses his offer. Dies, leaving Madame Goesler money and all of his jewels. She does not accept the bequest.
P • Lord Gerald
Palliser. Second son and second child of the Duke and Duchess of Omnium. Is sent down from Cambridge for unexcused absences, but is later enrolled at Oxford. Loses money at cards. • Lady Glencora
Palliser (daughter). Mentioned once in
The Prime Minister and never before or after as Plantagenet and Glencora Palliser's eldest daughter. Possible oversight by Trollope as there is no mention of her death and in ''The Duke's Children'' it is made clear that the Omniums have only three children, Lord Silverbridge, Lord Gerald and Lady Mary. • Jeffrey
Palliser. Cousin of Plantagenet Palliser and at the time of
Can You Forgive Her? next in line to the dukedom of Omnium after him. Later marries and lives in Gloucestershire. • Lady Mary
Palliser. Youngest child and daughter of Plantagenet and Glencora. Falls in love with Frank Tregear. Her father's initial refusal to accept the match and gradual reconciliation to it forms much of the plot of ''The Duke's Children''. •
Plantagenet Palliser (father). See main article. • Plantagenet
Palliser (son), holds the courtesy title Earl of Silverbridge. See under "Earl of
Silverbridge". • Sexty
Parker. Partner of Ferdinand Lopez in
The Prime Minister and ruined by him.
S • Duke of
St Bungay. Liberal politician, who offers Palliser the post of
Chancellor of the Exchequer in
Can You Forgive Her? Is spoken of as a possible prime minister in
Phineas Finn. Serves in a variety of Cabinet posts, and is a close friend and confidant of Palliser. • Plantagenet Palliser, Earl of
Silverbridge Eldest child of Plantagenet and Glencora Palliser. His love initially for Lady Mabel Grex and later for Isabel Boncassen forms much of the plot of ''The Duke's Children''. Involved in a betting scandal. He serves initially as a Conservative, but later as a Liberal Member of Parliament. • Lady Laura
Standish. Friend and love interest of Phineas Finn in
Phineas Finn.
T • Frank
Tregear. Falls in love with Lady Mary Palliser. Her father's objections to the match are gradually worn down, especially once Tregear is elected as a member of Parliament.
V • Alice
Vavasor. A friend and cousin of Lady Glencora's; eventually marries John Grey after long rejecting him. • Arabella
Vavasor. Daughter of Squire Vavasor. See under Greenow, Mrs Arabella. • George Adam St George
Vavasor. A ne'er do well, who takes money from his cousin Alice to finance ruinously expensive runs for Parliament. Briefly sits in the Commons, but is disinherited by his grandfather and eventually flees to America. • John
Vavasor. Alice's father and George's uncle. Heir to the Vavasor fortune after George is disinherited. • Kate
Vavasor. Sister of George Vavasor and cousin of Alice Vavasor. • Squire
Vavasor. Strong-willed father of John and grandfather of George, Kate and Alice. Though a strong believer in
primogeniture, he eventually disinherits George shortly before his own death.
W • Emily
Wharton. Marries Ferdinand Lopez and is widowed when he kills himself. Later marries Arthur Fletcher. • Everett
Wharton. Emily's brother. • Mr. Abel
Wharton. Emily's father, an attorney in commercial law. == Adaptations ==