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birth, Oliver has done nothing but display ingratitude and malice. He also mentions Oliver had attacked another boy without provocation and shows
Brownlow reports to prove it. Brownlow does not want to believe it at first, but gradually comes to conclusion that Oliver had been playing him for a fool and requests Oliver's name should not be invoked in his household ever again. His housekeeper Mrs Bedwin, however, feels that Oliver was truly a good child and not a criminal.
235:), who is cared for by her butler Winston while her parents are on a business trip to Europe. She adopts the kitten Oliver after a failed heist and is the one who names him. Unlike the novel, after Oliver disappears, Jenny begins searching for him with the help of her dog Georgette (the film's version of Charlotte) and runs into Fagin who is moved by her plight and gives Oliver back. She is soon after kidnapped by Bill Sykes for a
207:). This is also the case in the stage musical version. In the musical, after retrieving him from London Bridge, where Nancy is murdered while trying to return the boy to Brownlow, it is assumed that Oliver goes to live with him. However, this may vary between productions as in the latest revival, as in the 1968 film Oliver is taken hostage and subsequently saved when Bill is shot during his escape attempt (actor:
128:
return them and takes off, much to the chagrin and doubt of Mr
Grimwig, who is revealed to be cynical in nature, expecting the boy to return to his old life among the lower class and promises to "eat his head" should the boy return in 10 minutes. A watch is set down and the waiting begins. Later, after Oliver is captured by
127:
Brownlow's maid, Mrs Bedwin, is a kind old lady who immediately takes to Oliver upon his arrival. Later, when
Grimwig, an old friend of Brownlow's, evaluates the boy and his condition, a boy arrives from the book shop but fails to take some other books that needed to be returned. Oliver volunteers to
139:
The next mention of
Brownlow occurs when Mr Bumble rears him after he sees a notice in a newspaper that offers five guineas for any knowledge about Oliver's past or whereabouts; it was a sticky encounter. Mr Bumble at once tells Brownlow that Oliver was born from deplorable lineage and, ever since
123:
is arrested simply for "looking guilty". Later, in court, Brownlow discovers Oliver is completely innocent and, after dealing with the extremely agitated magistrate, Mr Fang, he takes him home fearing the boy to be very ill, which he is. He calls on a doctor, who after making frequent incorrect
143:
When Oliver is taken in by the
Maylies and asks the kind Dr Losberne to take him to Brownlow's home in London – only to find the house is "FOR LEASE". The only clue to his whereabouts are from his neighbours mentioning the West Indies, saying he was looking for someone.
147:
When Mr
Brownlow returns to London, Oliver by chance spots him and can clear his name. Mr Brownlow is very happy about that and takes Oliver in once again, taking part in Nancy's plot to save Oliver from Fagin. At the end of the book, Brownlow officially adopts Oliver as his son.
222:, who has murdered Nancy and taken Oliver as a hostage, has forced him to crawl out on a wooden hoist in order to loop a rope that Sikes intends to use in his escape. However, Sikes is shot by a police officer below, and Oliver is saved.
187:, which has a plot broadly similar to Dickens's later work. Several critics have suggested that Dickens took aspects of the basic plot of his novel from Brownlow's earlier work, so the name may have been a tribute for two reasons.
175:, which was dedicated to looking after abandoned and unwanted children. Dickens, a regular visitor to the hospital, knew Brownlow well. Dickens scholar Robert Alan Colby argues that "in naming Oliver's benefactor
179:, Dickens seems to have been paying a tribute to one of the most dedicated social servants of his age". In 1831, seven years before Dickens wrote
906:
218:, Brownlow is made into Oliver's great-uncle, and the boy is saved, not at London Bridge, but from the rooftops of London, where
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99:. Brownlow is a bookish and kindly middle-aged bachelor who helps Oliver escape the clutches of Fagin. He later adopts
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Oliver is shocked when the Artful Dodger steals Mr
Brownlow's handkerchief at the bookstall. Illustration by
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Mr
Brownlow's name and character generally believed to be derived from John Brownlow, the director of the
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and a chase ensues with Fagin, Oliver and the dogs rescue her and accept her as friends.
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guesses to Oliver's condition, simply concludes the boy is recovering from a fever.
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Fiction with a purpose: major and minor nineteenth-century novels
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Actors who have portrayed Mr
Brownlow in films and TV:
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195:Brownlow is presented as Oliver's grandfather in
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351:, Indiana University Press, 1967, p.128.
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362:Oliver Twist: an annotated bibliography
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161:The Foundling Restored to its Mother
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757:As Long as He Needs Me
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850:(2003 graphic novel)
612:Oliver & Company
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185:Hans Sloane - a Tale
119:pick his pocket and
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360:Paroissien, David,
21:Fictional character
314:(2007, miniseries)
302:(1999, miniseries)
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115:and his companion
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447:Rose Maylie
437:Mr Brownlow
308:(2005 film)
266:(1948 film)
260:(1933 film)
254:(1922 film)
177:Mr Brownlow
84:Mr Brownlow
72:Nationality
27:Mr Brownlow
896:Categories
472:Mr. Bumble
427:Bill Sikes
415:Characters
347:Colby, R,
319:References
312:Edward Fox
243:Portrayals
220:Bill Sikes
197:David Lean
191:Variations
163:(1858) by
134:Bill Sikes
107:The novel
203:(actor:
831:Oliver!
823:Related
785:Oliver!
738:Oliver!
620:Twisted
553:Oliver!
216:Oliver!
152:Sources
76:English
871:Dodger
741:(1960)
647:(2021)
639:(2004)
631:(2003)
623:(1996)
615:(1988)
607:(1962)
599:(1961)
580:(2005)
572:(1987)
564:(1974)
556:(1968)
548:(1948)
540:(1933)
532:(1922)
524:(1919)
516:(1916)
508:(1912)
500:(1912)
492:(1909)
237:ransom
61:Family
53:Gender
749:Songs
644:Twist
628:Twist
596:Manik
452:Monks
442:Nancy
432:Fagin
130:Nancy
88:novel
730:Play
132:and
56:Male
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211:).
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95:by
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340:^
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