Mrs. Mann An elderly woman who conducts an infant farm (the then equivalent of a foster home). "A woman of wisdom and experience; she knew what was good for children," so of the funds provided for their sustenance "she appropriated the greater part . . . to her own use."
Mr. Bumble The parish beadle (a minor church official); "a fat man, and a choleric (cranky show-off) [with] a great idea of his oratorical powers and his importance." "He had a decided propensity for bullying: derived no inconsiderable pleasure from the exercise of petty cruelty; and, consequently, was (it is needless to say) a coward.