Keep the Home Fires Burning 1915 - Characters

 SPOILERS!!

These are the characters in the book for future reference:

• Edward Hunter (1869) (46 years old) is a banker in London and every day he commutes from his home at the Elms in Northcote to work. Edward has always proved to be loyal and steady. In this book he meets a French woman, Elise, who comes to him for financial advice. Elise is a young widow, and she and Edward seem to get along. At the end of the book Edward goes to see Elise regularly, and even though nothing untoward has happened between them, he is not free from guilt as he has not told his wife about Elise, and this means that something may happen between them in the near future. 
• Beatrice (Beattie) Hunter (1872) (43 years old), nee Cazalet. She is Edward's wife and is involved in the community even though sometimes she is not too eager. Something that has affected her is when her son David enlists, and she is afraid for him. Besides, David doesn't feel the need to go and see his family when on leave, and instead he decides to spend his time with his friend, Oliphant, which upsets Beattie but she keeps her feelings to herself. 
• David Hunter (1894) (21 years old) is the Hunters' oldest son. When war breaks out, he volunteers, causing his mother to feel upset, but his father is proud. David is in love with his friend Oliphant's sister, Sophy. When he is on leave, he declares his love to her and asks her to marry him, and even though she seems not to have considered the idea before, she accepts his proposal. David has also befriended a woman during his time training as an officer, Antonia Weston, and they have a good relationship. When he goes to the front, they keep writing to each other. 
• Diana Hunter (1895) (20  years old) is the Hunters' eldest daughter. Lord Dene, the heir of an old aristocratic family in the area, takes a shine to her, and after seeing her several times socially, he proposes to her and she accepts. Diana is very beautiful and has had many suitors. When Charles stayed away as he needed to be stationed with his unit, Diana befriended Hank, an American, who is also in love with her, and she wasn't indifferent to him either. Yet, when Charles returns, Diana has no doubts that he is the person she wants to marry. Even though at first Diana is just happy to marry a lord, she gradually falls for him. Diana is devastated when Charles is killed in action a few weeks before the wedding.
• Bobby Hunter (1896) (19 years old) is another son. He decides to enlist following his father's steps, and this time his mother is not so upset. Bobby is very cheerful and happy-go-lucky, and Beattie doesn't think she has to worry so much about him. Now Bobby is in Oxford training, and he has decided to become a pilot.
• Sadie Hunter (1898) (17 years old) is the Hunters' other daughter, and she is very fond of horses. She helps in some stables close to her home to prepare them for war. Sadie seems to be interested in a young vet, John Courcy. Sadie also starts volunteering in the hospital set for the war, keeping company to the injured soldiers. 
• William Hunter (1900) (15 years old) is another son. He belongs to the Boy Scouts.
• Peter Hunter (1906) (9 years old) is the Hunters' youngest child.
• Nails is the Hunters' dog. 
• Ethel Lusby is the Hunters' underhouse parlour maid. Ethel is sassy and flirtatious. She flirts with many men, hoping to find the man who would give her a home, but at the same time she plays with them. Ethel's family history is quite complex. She was born to a widowed mother, who didn't give her much love. She had two much older siblings. Edie ran away with a tinker, but her brother, Cyril was kind to her, and it was thanks to his advice that Ethel went into service, but Cyril died shortly afterwards. At the beginning of the war Ethel went to visit her mother, who was bedridden and sick, and she kept saying that she was not her mother. Then she revealed that her real mother was Edie.  Annie died, and in this book the vicar of the village visits Ethel to give her a parcel with some things that had belonged to her mother. She discovers some letters from Edie, who she wants to burn, but hides. In this book Ethel flirts with different men, but then she meets Eric, a man who passes the exams and becomes a train driver. When she goes to meet him in London, a zeppelin drops a bomb near where they were, and Eric dies and Ethel is injured. Eric's death leaves Ethel devastated. 
• Joan Dunkley is the Hunters' cook. She is usually called Cook, and she is in charge of the servants. 
• Ada Cole is the Hunters' head house parlour maid. When she volunteers to sing for those in the war hospital, she meets Corporal Len Armstrong, and they hit it off. Ada agrees to see him on her day off, which doesn't sit well with Cook. 
• Emily Conaghan is the kitchen maid. She is quite naive and romatic at heart. Cook often tells her off. 
• Munt is the gardener and is a man of old-fashioned, strict views.
• Nula Wilkes is the sewing maid who used to be the children's nanny. 
• Laura Hunter (1872) (43 years old) is Edward's sister. She is single and for years she worked as a secretary much to Edward's dismay. In 1914 she lost her job as her boss couldn't keep her as he was going through financial problems. Laura is sympthetic to the suffragetts' cause, and in one of the gatherings she met Louise, who becomes a good friend to her. Laura and Louise learn to drive, andthey start driving to help in the war. In this book they become aware of the new Police Women Service, and they decide to become policewomen.
• Louisa Cotton is Laura's friend. She also sympathesis with the suffragettes and has been a secretary in the association. She is single and lives with her aunt. She and Laura join the Police Women Service, and after that, she moves to live with Laura.
• Sonia Palfrey, nee Hunter (1874) (41 years old) is Edward's sister.
• Aeneas Palfrey  is Sonia's husband and has a biscuit factory.
• Donald Palfrey (1893) (24 years old) is Sonia and Aeneas's oldest son.
• Mary Palfrey (1897) (22 years old) is Sonia and Aeneas's daughter. She and Audrey are twins.
• Audrey Palfrey (1897) (22 years old) is Sonia and Aeneas's daughter . She and Mary are twins.
• Douglas Palfrey (Duck) (1901) (14 years old) is Sonia and Aeneas's son.
• Jack Hunter (1872) (43 years old) is Edward's cousin, and he is now at war. He has been fighting since almost the beginning of the war. In 1915 Jack is injured in Ypres, but he recovers. When he goes home on leave, Beth feels that her husband has changed.
• Beth Hunter (1876), nee Cargill (37 years old) is Jack's wife.
• Charles Wroughton (28), Vicount Dene, is of an aristocratic family in Northcote. He falls for Diana and asks her to marry him, and she accepts. Charles is in the Terriers, so he has been away for some time now. In this book he and Diana prepare their wedding for June, and he is sent to the front. Charles dies a few weeks after his wedding.
• Rupert Wroughton (25) is Charles's brother. He is very different to him in personality: he is boisterous, sociable and shrirks responsibilities. He doesn't like it when Charles takes an interest in Diana, and he threatens her if she doesn't leave him. He is very nasty to her, calling her terrible names. He claims that he fears Diana will break Charles's heart so he tries to prevent that. In this book he tries to make Diana fall for one of his friends so that she breaks the engagement, but he doesn't succeed. When Charles dies, he is shattered and seems to show Diana some kindness. 
• Lady Violet Wroughton is Charles and Rupert's mother, and she disapproves of Diana as fiancée of her son. She has no intention to be friendly to her, which upsets Charles. When Charles dies, she is devastated and little by little she starts to realise that Diana could have been good to Charles. 
• Madame Elise de Rouveroy is a French refugee, whose husband and stepson were killed in the war. She goes to Edward for financial advice, and when Edward tells her that there is no money, he offers to sell her jewels. Elise and Edward become friendly, and in the last part of the book Edward meets and has dinner with her regularly, and even though he tells himself that this is just like having dinner with one of his clients, deep down he knows that it is not the same. 
• Freddie Oliphant (Jumbo) is David's best friend. He comes from Scotland, and he  also enlisted alonside David. They both decide to train as officer.
• Frank Hussey used to work for Munt and now he is a gardener in a neighbouring property. He looks up to Munt despite the man's difficult personality. Ethel thinks that he comes to the house often to see her. He disconcerts her as he is a man who seems to see through her. 
• Sophy Oliphant (17) is Freddie's sister. David has always been in love with her, but then Freddie tells him that she is walking out with someone else. Yet, when David is on leave and goes to his friend's home, he talks to her, and Sophy tells him that the other man, Humphrey, is just a friend. Then David surprises him by declaring his love to her and asking her to marry him, and she accepts. Yet, it seems that she just said yes from impulse.
• John Courcy is the vet working for the army. Sadie first met him when he incidentally ran Nails over. Sadie and he work together in Mrs Cuthbert's stables. In this book he has to join the Veterinary Corps and is sent to France. 
• Antonia Weston is a young woman who david meets when she is training to be an officer. Antonio runs a small café for soldiers, and she and David become good friends. They have many interests in common, but David claims he is in love with Sophy. When he goes to the front, he keeps writing to her. 
• Eric Travers is the young man who Ethel has a relationship with. He works on the railway and passes the exam to be a train driver. Ethel is hard towards him, but she thinks he can be the man who can get her out of service. When they meet in London, he walks her to the station, but they are caught in a Zeppelin attack, and he dies.
• Sergeant Andy lWood is a man who Ethel dated for a while but then he discovered he was married and had children. In this book he still tries to chat Ethel up and tells her that his marriage was a mistake.  
• Corporal Len Armstrong is the soldier who starts seeing Ada. 
• Henry Bowers (Hank) is Mrs Oliver's nephew's brother-in-law in America and ends up in England when the war catches up with him in Germany. He and Diana become friends, and he soon falls for her. When he realises that Diana prefers Charles Wroughton, he considers enlisting, but he learns that he may lose his passport if he volunteers in England. Yet, the law changes and he now can enlist. 
• Lord Forbesoon is a friend of Edward's. He works for the war office.
• Warren is Edward's secretary. 
• Annabel Cuthbert is the woman who owns the stables where Sadie gives a hand.
• Mrs Honoria Fitzgerald is the rector's wife and tends to be bossy and determined in her views about how the ladies' committee need to help in the war and organise activities. 
• Dr Fitzgerald is the vicar. 
• Mrs Oliver is a parishioner and is the chairman in the Northcote branch of Red Cross.
• Bertha Dale is Antonia Weston's friend, and Oliphant seems to like her. 
• Henry Binns (13) is the Hunters' boot boy. In this book he volunteered to ring the church bells in case of an attack. When Henry made a mistake, ringing the bells after dreaming of an attack, he was so ashamed that he left his job for the Hunters.
• Ginger is teh new bootboy working for the Hunters after Henry quits.
• Mrs Chaplin is the charwoman who comes to the Hunters' a few times a week.
• Sister Ryman works in the war hospital in Northcote.
• Erskine Ballantine is Rupert's friend, and he and Rupert often go out together. 
• Solange is Elise de Rouveroy's maid. 
• Saint Henry is Rupert's friend, who he wants to seduce Diana, so that she decides to call off her engagement with Charles. Yet, his plans doesn't work.
• Phil Adis is a young man working in a furniture factory, who Ethel is walking out with until he enlists. 
• Mrs Oliphant is Freddie Oliphant's mother. She seems to be quite stiff in her views.
• Mr Oliphant is Freddie's father. When David tells him that he has proposed to Sophy and she has accepted and asks him for his blessing, he thinks that he would like his daughter to have chosen better. He thinks that David is a good boy, but he would like Sophy to have a more luxurious life. Yet, he gives his blessing, thinking that as David is fighting the war, the wedding may never take place.
• Sergeant Cairns is the officer who is in charge of the horses brought to Mrs Cuthbert's stables.

Characters who have appeared in one of the books (and may reappear)

• Adelaide Carbury, nee Cazalet (1870)(45 years old) is Beatty's sister and lives in Ireland with her husband.
• Sir John Carbury is Adelaide's husband.
• Johnny Carbury (1896) (19 years old) is Adelaide and John's son.
• Fergus Carbury (1898) (17 years old) is Adelaide and John's second son.
• Tom Piper is a young soldier who is convalescing in the war hospital and Sadie goes to see him often and to keep him company. He loses an arm, and his condition worsens and he dies. 
• Mr Fields is the bell ringer in Northcote. He is quite old and teaches Henry, the bootboy, how to ring the church bells. 
• Tom Begum is the church warden in Northcote.
• Albert Miles is a retired police constable, and now he is the air raid warden.
• Randall is Charles Wroughton's chauffeur.
• Alan Butcher is ayoung man who was an assistant in the bakery, and Ethel played with, and then he enlisted. 
• Humphrey Hobart is the man who David thought Sophy was walking out with. 
• Adolphus Beamish (18) is Mrs Fitzgerald's nephew, who she flaunts around the village as he has enlisted. It was Mrs Fitzgerald who talked his parents into letting him to enlist, saying that it was his duty. 
• Reverend Meadgold is the vicar in the village where Ethel's mother lived. He brings Ethel a parcel with some of the things that had belonged to her mother.
• Annie Lusby is Ethel's mother, but before she died she confessed that her real mother was  the person who she thought was her sister. 
• Edie Lusby is Ethel's real mother. Edie ran away with a tinker when Ethel was young. 

Mrs Lattery is a parishioner in the church committee.

Mrs Ellison is a parishioner in the church committee.

Mrs Carruthers is a parishioner in the church committee.

Dr Fitzgerald is the rector in Northcote. 

Edith Farringdon is a parishioner in Northcote.

Billy Snow is the shop assistant at the grocer, and Ethel walks out with him regularly. Yet, when he asks her to marry him, she claims that he has never done anything romantic for her. Then he volunteers for the war as an action to prove his love for her, but Ethel still thinks she can't marry him if he is going away for who-knows how much time. 

Sophy is Oliphan's sister, and David is sweet on her.

Victor Sowden (13) is a mischievous child in the area, and Sadie is shocked when she hears that he has enlisted. 

Alec Gordon was one of Diana's suitors.

Alicia Harding is the local doctor's daughter and hopes Alec can be hers after Diana has discarded him as a possible catch.

Lady Helen Hale is the woman Charles's family want him to marry.

Henry and Jane Stanton Harcourt are two friends of Charles's who Diana meets at the picnic

Katherine Eynsham (Kiki) is a friend of Charles's who Diana meets at the picnic

James Eynsham (Dumbo) is a friend of Charles's who Diana meets at the picnic

Olive Marlowe (Obby) is a friend of Charles's who Diana meets at the picnic

Ralph Marlowe (Rolo) is a friend of Charles's who Diana meets at the picnic

Lady Marjorie (Cousin Maud) owns the property where Charles takes Diana at a picnic. 

• Caroline Grosmore (Coco) is Charles's sister.
• Lord Grosmore is Caroline's husband. 

Horsey (Dobbin) is Bobby's friend.

Podrick is a groom at the stables where Sadie works.

Captain Casimir is the requisitioner officer and supplies horses for the army.

Mr Stein is the butcher in Northcote, and his shop is attacked when some violent group think he is a German. They break the windows and throw stones at the place. It is Sadie who stands up to the bullies. 

Mrs Stein is Mr Stein's wife.

Adella Stein is the Steins' daughter. 

Ann Carruthers is Sadie's friend.

Horace is the butcher's assistant.

PC Whittle is the constable in Northcote. 

Mrs Horpenden is the woman Laura does voluntary work for.