- Margaret Hale: The protagonist, she is proud and spirited and very fond of her parents (especially her father). She is 18 years old at the start of the story, before she returns to Helstone, and has been living mainly with her aunt (Mrs. Shaw) and her cousin Edith in London since she was nine years old.
- John Thornton: Owner of a local mill, a friend and student of Margaret's father and Margaret's love interest.
- Nicholas Higgins: An industrial worker whom Margaret befriends. He has two daughters, Bessy and Mary.
- Hannah Thornton: John Thornton's mother, who reveres her son and dislikes Margaret (especially after Margaret rejects his proposal).
- Fanny Thornton: John's younger sister.
- Bessy Higgins: Nicholas Higgins' daughter, who is fatally ill from working in the mills.
- Mary Higgins: Nicholas Higgins' youngest daughter.
- John Boucher: A worker and the father of six children, who has conflicted emotions during the strike.
- Richard Hale: Margaret's father, a dissenter who leaves his vicarage in Helstone to work as a private tutor in Milton.
- Maria Hale: Margaret's mother, from a respectable London family. At Milton she often complains that the air as too damp and "relaxing", and not good for her health.
- Dixon: Servant of the Hales, who served Maria Hale before her marriage and is devoted to her. Dixon disapproves of Richard Hale (who is socially inferior to Maria), and regards her mistress's marriage as her social downfall.
- Mr. Bell: Old friend of Richard Hale and godfather of Margaret.
- Mrs. Shaw: Margaret's aunt, Edith's mother, and Maria Hale's sister. The widow of General Shaw, she lives in Harley Street in London. Although she is well-off compared to Maria, she believes herself less fortunate since she did not marry for love.
- Edith: Margaret's pretty cousin, who is intellectually inferior to her, feeble-minded, innocent and spoiled like a child, but not malicious and sees Margaret as a beloved sister. She marries Captain Lennox early in the story.
- Henry Lennox: Young lawyer and the brother of Captain Lennox. Meticulous and intelligent, he loves Margaret and considers her "queenly". Margaret sees him as a friend, and rebuffs his romantic interest early in the story.
- Frederick Hale: Margaret's older brother, a fugitive living in Spain since his involvement in a mutiny while serving under a cruel officer in the British Navy.
- Leonards: Frederick's fellow sailor, who did not mutiny and wants to turn Frederick in for a reward
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