Mary Smith
Mary is the narrator of the novel and also the character who manages to tie the plot lines up into a very neat knot. She is a younger woman who keeps up with all of the "gossip" of Cranford even when she is out of town. She is a responsible and caring young woman whose absences from Cranford are usually due to her father's health, as she loves him very much and nurses him when his health takes a turn for the worse. She is friendly with Miss Matty Jenkyns and usually stays with her when in Cranford. Typically Mary gives the reader far more information about other characters than she does about herself.
Miss Matty Jenkyns
Miss Matty is what was endearingly known in times gone by as "a spinster of this parish" and her spinster status is due almost entirely to the overbearing interference of her older sister Deborah who did not consider the man Matty loved to be suitable and prevented them from marrying each other. She is given to frequent panicking, and is constantly second guessing herself about everything. Because she has been so dominated by Deborah she is ill-prepared for any adult activity such as receiving guests, or finding herself called upon at home before the designated socially acceptable hour. Matty is probably considered to be the main character of the book because of all the main happenings involve her. She is a very pleasant and popular woman whom the townspeople want to help after she is reduced to penury when the bank fails.
Deborah Jenkyns
Deborah is the older sister of Matty and Peter, and is not close to her brother at all. She is close to Matty but their relationship is based on Deborah laying down the law and Matty doing what she is told. Deborah is the matriarch of Cranford, and also the person who devises the town's precise rules of etiquette. If Deborah says it should be done this way then it is done this way. She is very particular about manners and social graces and is horrified to see that as time passes, many traditions and mores are passing with it. Deborah dies early in the book but her influence endures throughout.
Miss Pole
Another unmarried elderly Cranford lady, she has the reputation of being the most easy going and open minded of the social set, and she is the lady most open to welcoming strangers into the town. She is one of Matty Jenkys' best friends.
The Honorable Mrs Jamieson
Mrs Jamieson is a widow and she has aristocratic roots. Socially, she is the highest ranking Cranford resident, although when it comes to etiquette Deborah Jenkyns is still more influential. The social structure of Cranford is designed almost entirely to please and impress he ladyship
Betty Barker
Betty is a fascinating entrepreneurial character who ushers in the beginning of social mobility. This is one of the things that Deborah Jenkyns is afraid of. Betty was once a maid, but she saved up all of her salary and purchased a milliner shop of her own. Along with Mrs Jamieson, she designs patterns for clothes and the women sell directly to aristocratic ladies, which makes Betty financially very successful, although she finds it far easier to elevate herself economically than socially. She is generous hostess and has a generosity of spirit as well.
Peter Jenkyns
Peter is the third Jenkyns child who is said to have been close to his sister Matty but not to the imperious Deborah. He is academically gifted and consequently has a great deal of pressure on his shoulders to achieve greatness in the classroom and go on to attend the hallowed halls of Cambridge University; Peter is too fun loving to want this path and plays the fool a great deal. He pulls a prank that gives the impression his sister is pregnant out of wedlock which angers his pastor father and creates a huge divide between them. Peter joins the military where he becomes a decorated officer, but is later lost in action in India and believed dead. Rumors of his still being alive circulate constantly and he re-emerges at the end of the book after Mary Smith writes him a letter and tells him about Matty's dramatic financial misfortune.
Thomas Holbrook
Thomas is an honorable man who has strong feelings for Matty Jenkyns, but because of his total lack of interest in climbing the social ladder, preferring instead to work hard and spend his time reading books, he does not curry the favor of Deborah Jenkyns and is "blackballed" as a future husband for Matty. He never really falls out of love with her and when he returns to Cranford there is still a great spark between them. He is a consumate gentleman but just as it seems as if the two will rekindle their romance, he unfortunately passes away.
Captain Brown
Captain Brown incurs the ire of Deborah Jenkyns because he commits one social faux pas after another, but is too naive to realize that he is doing anything wrong. He is very poor and admits to this publicly which is just not the thing to do. However, although he is financially destitute he has an amazing generosity of spirit and puts others before himself. He and his younger daughter often go without the basic necessities so that they can make his older daughter's life more comfortable as she suffers with a debilitating illness. He is a kind man who takes the time to really listen to the women of Cranford so that he can be of help or service to them. He dies unexpectedly very early in the book.
Miss Brown
Captain Brown's eldest daughter is never referred to in the book by her first name. She is a sickly woman with a grumpy expression and a truculent demeanor, both of which are probably caused by the extreme discomfort she is in because she suffers from a debilitating illness. She dies shortly after her father's untimely demise.
Miss Jessie Brown
Captain Brown's youngest daughter is a chip off the old block in that she is as willing as her father to sacrifice comfort and the basics that she needs in order to make her sister's life a little bit more comfortable. She marries and moves away from Cranford after her father and sister pass.
Martha
Martha is the salt of the earth; as Miss Matty's maid she is pleasant and devoted and offers to work for free when Matty loses her money after the collapse of the bank. Martha gets married at the end of the book and offers to take in Matty as a lodger in order to help her.
Signore Brunoni
Brunoni is an exotic traveling conjurer with a captivating cabaret show - at least, that is how he presents himself, but he turns out to be an Englishman who previously lived in India with his wife, but who returned to England and settled in Cranford after the couple lost many children and could not bear to lose their remaining surviving child, Phoebe. At the end of the book he is hired by Peter Jenkyns.
