Nellie (played by Maxine Peake) is a protagonist in Peterloo.
Nellie is the mother at the head of a close-knit working-class family in Manchester. She helps sustain the household during the economic depression and supports reform politics by attending a meeting of the Manchester Female Reform Society. She later joins Joshua and their family at the mass meeting. Joshua (played by Pearce Quigley) appears in Peterloo.
Joshua is Nellie's husband and the head of a manual-laboring Manchester family. He works in a cotton mill, faces the economic hardship threatening the household, and attends political meetings advocating equal rights and opposition to the Corn Laws. He later goes with Nellie and the family to the rally. Joseph (played by David Moorst) appears in Peterloo.
Joseph is Joshua and Nellie's son, returning to Manchester after serving in the Duke of Wellington's army at Waterloo. Traumatised and unable to find work during the depression, he attends reform meetings with his family. At the Peterloo gathering he is wounded by a sabre and later dies. Mary (played by Rachel Finnegan) appears in Peterloo.
Mary is Joshua and Nellie's daughter and a member of their close-knit working-class household. She earns a living through manual labour in a cotton mill while the economic depression threatens the family's livelihood. She is part of the family connected to the reform movement and the gathering at St Peter's Fields. Robert (played by Tom Meredith) appears in Peterloo.
Robert is Joshua and Nellie's son and a manual worker in a cotton mill. Like his family, he is affected by the economic depression and supports campaigns for political equality and cheaper grain. He attends reform meetings with Joshua and Joseph, linking the family's hardship to the wider movement. Esther (played by Simona Bitmate) appears in Peterloo.
Esther is Robert's wife and a member of Joshua and Nellie's working-class family. She earns a living through manual labour in a cotton mill, sharing the household's vulnerability during the economic depression. She is connected to the family that supports reform politics and attends the mass gathering.
Peterloo (2018) character relationship network mapped with AI analysis. Explore the connections, alliances, and conflicts between characters.
Characters
Nellie
(played by Maxine Peake) — protagonist
Nellie is the mother at the head of a close-knit working-class family in Manchester. She helps sustain the household during the economic depression and supports reform politics by attending a meeting...
Joshua
(played by Pearce Quigley) — supporting
Joshua is Nellie's husband and the head of a manual-laboring Manchester family. He works in a cotton mill, faces the economic hardship threatening the household, and attends political meetings advocat...
Joseph
(played by David Moorst) — supporting
Joseph is Joshua and Nellie's son, returning to Manchester after serving in the Duke of Wellington's army at Waterloo. Traumatised and unable to find work during the depression, he attends reform meet...
Mary
(played by Rachel Finnegan) — supporting
Mary is Joshua and Nellie's daughter and a member of their close-knit working-class household. She earns a living through manual labour in a cotton mill while the economic depression threatens the fam...
Robert
(played by Tom Meredith) — supporting
Robert is Joshua and Nellie's son and a manual worker in a cotton mill. Like his family, he is affected by the economic depression and supports campaigns for political equality and cheaper grain. He a...
Esther
(played by Simona Bitmate) — supporting
Esther is Robert's wife and a member of Joshua and Nellie's working-class family. She earns a living through manual labour in a cotton mill, sharing the household's vulnerability during the economic d...
Canonical Relationships
Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.
Mary → Esther
(Professional Workmate)
Mary and Esther are included among the family members earning a living by manual labour in a cotton mill.
Robert → Esther
(Family Spouses)
The plot explicitly identifies Esther as Robert's daughter-in-law.
Mary → Robert
(Family Sister)
Mary and Robert are both identified as children of Joshua and Nellie.
Mary → Joseph
(Family Sister)
Mary is identified as Joshua and Nellie's daughter, and Joseph is another child returning to that family.
Robert → Joseph
(Family Brother)
Robert is identified as Joshua's son, while Joseph returns to the same family home as their parents' son.
Nellie → Mary
(Family Mother)
The plot describes Joshua and Nellie as parents and Mary as their daughter.
Nellie → Robert
(Family Mother)
The family is headed by parents Joshua and Nellie, while Robert is identified as their son.
Nellie → Joseph
(Family Mother)
Joseph returns home to the family headed by his parents Joshua and Nellie.
Joshua → Nellie
(Family Parents)
The plot describes Joshua and Nellie as the parents who head the close-knit working-class family.
Joshua → Mary
(Family Father)
The plot describes Joshua and Nellie as parents and Mary as their daughter.
Joshua → Robert
(Family Father)
The plot identifies Joshua as a parent and Robert as his son.
Joshua → Joseph
(Family Father)
Joseph returns home to the family headed by his parents Joshua and Nellie.
Story Analysis
A working-class family's reform hopes collide with state repression, culminating in violence at St Peter's Fields.
