This is a list of recurring characters in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. As is noted in the articles about each novel, some of these characters are based on real historical persons, while others are purely fictional. Because there is an article describing each novel, links are made to those articles when mentioning the stories in which each character appears. References to page numbers, where they appear, are based upon the W. W. Norton & Company printing of the novels.
Recurring characters
Main characters and their families Jack Aubrey is one of the heroes of the series. His rise from a young lieutenant in the Royal Navy, through the ranks of commander and post-captain to rear-admiral is chronicled thoroughly. A resourceful and powerful man, he is regarded as one of the best fighting captains in the Royal Navy. Part of Aubrey's success is the result of having been disrated from midshipman and turned before the mast as a common sailor, in part because of a love affair he has with a black girl named Sally Mputa (this occurs prior to Master and Commander, but is referred to in several novels). Though this experience is painful at the time, it gives him unique (among officers) insight into the life and beliefs of common sailors, enabling him to more effectively lead them as an officer. His own hero is Lord Nelson. His crew often follows him from ship to ship, not just because of his leadership but also due to his knack for capturing valuable prizes, for which he is nicknamed "Lucky Jack". Aubrey is also referred to by some as "Goldilocks" because of his long yellow hair. His physical characteristics, namely a large frame and scarred visage, often lead to an underestimation of his mental abilities, but he is also a renowned mathematician and amateur astronomer, a Fellow of the Royal Society. Aubrey's love of women has led to problems with the men he has cuckolded and with his wife, Sophia. His other great loves are the violin and puns, which he seems to enjoy creating as much as telling. He is both a natural and a scientific sailor, as his interest in mathematics grew rapidly from his time on HMS Lively in Post Captain. Unfortunately, as masterful and lucky as Jack is at sea, he is somewhat inept and unlucky by land, and is often forced to hurriedly take ship in order to escape his troubles. His parents were both English, and when not at sea, he is part of the landed gentry, having learned fox-hunting and cricket in his young days, still enjoyed in his adult life. Stephen Maturin is the series' other hero. A former Irish radical, he is a ship's surgeon who has sailed with Aubrey since his first voyage as commander. Unlike many surgeons in this era, Maturin is a physician, and is highly regarded for his intimate knowledge of anatomy and diseases. His skills have saved the lives of many of his shipmates. He is acknowledged as a man of high breeding (The Fortune of War, p. 48), and while on land he is consulted by such prominent figures as the Duke of Clarence. Maturin is also well known in the scientific community as a naturalist, specializing in comparative anatomy of birds but also willing to examine (and sometimes dissect) any interesting animal that crosses his path. His qualities as a doctor are only outshone by his skills as an intelligence agent, a profession only suspected by those he sails with but one by which he has occasionally confounded Napoleon's attempts at European domination. Despite spending so much time aboard ships, Maturin has little knowledge of their qualities and terminology, which does not stop him from trying to explain various sailing terms and maneuvers to people even less informed. His appearance—small, pale, and usually dishevelled—does not make him very appealing to the opposite sex, but that does not deter him from trying to win the heart of the beautiful Diana Villiers. Unfortunately, Maturin, from what he claims is a spirit of pure philosophical enquiry, is a regular dabbler in any intoxicating drug that comes his way. Though skirting the line that separates heavy use from addiction, he has dabbled in laudanum, a tincture of opium, coca leaves, and other local intoxicants ranging from bhang to khat, depending on where he happens to be at the moment. Maturin also has the sometimes distressing habit of bringing both live (wombats, a hive of bees, "a most discriminating" sloth) and dead animal (and human) specimens on board ship. Most are tolerated (even the bees) due to the crew's respect for Stephen's talents as a physician and natural philosopher, some, such as severed human hand and a narwhal's horn are seen as lucky talismans. He was born "the wrong side of the blanket" to an Irish father and a Catalan mother. He spent his childhood in both Ireland and Catalonia, and inherited land from his Catalan relatives. He is fluent in many languages, including English, Irish and Catalan from his upbringing, and French, Italian, Castilian Spanish and local dialects on the islands, Portuguese, Dutch, among others, and spent time learning Urdu on the long journey in HMS Surprise. On occasion he helps his shipmates out of a predicament by speaking one language in the accent of another, as part of the ruse de guerre common in the Royal Navy. He draws the line there, as his role on board ship is saving lives, not taking them. He makes an exception in The Letter of Marque, on the mission to cut out the French frigate Diane: he imprisons the intelligence officer, and then joins the fight on deck by coolly killing the ship's captain with his pistol and then his sword. Sophia "Sophie" Aubrey meets Jack Aubrey in Post Captain, the second novel, when he is ashore in England due to the Peace of Amiens. She is the eldest of the three Williams sisters. She is described as very beautiful, fair, tall and with a perfect complexion. She and Maturin develop a close friendship lasting to the end of the series. Sophia followed Maturin's advice to tell Aubrey her true feelings, which advice proves wise. Her similar advice to Maturin to propose to Diana Villiers is dismissed by Maturin in Post Captain, and he misses the moment (later said also by Villiers in HMS Surprise). She grows in the courage of her convictions, agreeing to meet Aubrey aboard HMS Lively in Post Captain to agree not to marry anyone else; at Madeira (HMS Surprise) by travelling on a frigate with his friend Heneage Dundas as captain; en route, the frigate, and thus Sophia, sees some action. She is Jack's wife beginning in the fourth novel, The Mauritius Command. Her upbringing and values ensure that she does not share Aubrey's history of affairs, and they have a happy marriage and three children (twin girls, Charlotte and Fanny, and a boy, George). Sophia proves to be very competent at keeping accounts, in addition to successfully managing a household whose main provider (Jack) is often absent for months at a time. She is the stable person in his life. Sophia has two younger sisters, Cecelia and Frances, who appear in Post-Captain and are mentioned in HMS Surprise. Cecelia's young daughter is raised with her twin cousins, as Cecelia travels with her husband, in The Mauritius Command. Frances is said to be having a child in Ulster in book seven of the series, The Surgeon's Mate (112). Sophia meets her husband's son from a youthful romance when, full grown, he seeks out his father for his blessing in The Reverse of the Medal. This meeting does not upset her; she hands him a note to bring to her husband in the event the two meet at the West Indies station. In The Letter of Marque, Sophia visits fictional Shelmerston to train and otherwise aid the newly hired purser for the privately owned ship Surprise. Mrs Williams is Aubrey's mother-in-law. In HMS Surprise, Maturin describes her as "a deeply stupid, griping, illiberal, avid, tenacious, pinchfist, a sordid lickpenny and a shrew". It is hard to see any likeness of the mother in the daughter. Despite being stingy and obsessed with money, she is quite credulous and snobbish, which leads her to get involved in, for example, an illegal bookmaking operation, where she loses a great deal of her fortune and is threatened with arrest. When Aubrey is flush with funds after returning from The Mauritius Command, he takes care of her debts, so she again owns Mapes Court free and clear, but she prefers to lease it out and live with Sophia and her grandchildren at Ashgrove Cottage. Her harsh ways drive servants away until Aubrey staffs his household with seamen who are immune to her words, and keep up the house as they would a ship. When Aubrey is found guilty in a fraud on the stock exchange (in The Reverse of the Medal), then makes a fortune in prizes on the shake-down cruise of Surprise as a letter of marque (in The Letter of Marque), she is pleased, but believes him guilty as charged, and would do the same herself if she had the chance, as one must always guard one's capital. Mrs Williams dies in an accident when the coach in which she is riding, driven by her niece Diana Villiers-Maturin, overturns.The Hundred Days Samuel Mputa (aka Sam Panda) is the illegitimate son born out of Aubrey's affair with Sally Mputa during his day as a midshipman. Aubrey had no idea that Sally was pregnant when they were parted, so meets the full grown man over twenty years later. Samuel is described as identical to Aubrey in appearance and gestures except for his dark skin tone and dark hair, and he speaks English like an Irishman. He was raised by Irish Catholic missionaries in Lourenço Marques, and comes to seek his father's blessing, which he receives, in the West Indies, in The Reverse of the Medal. Samuel is headed to the with Irish missionaries, a man in minor orders who wishes to be a priest. In England with the priests, he sought out his father, but met Mrs Aubrey, who told him they might meet in the West Indies. Both Aubrey and Maturin find him to be a valuable and enjoyable companion, and thanks in part to Maturin's influence, Samuel becomes a priest and eventually Papal Nuncio to Argentina. General Aubrey is Jack Aubrey's father. He has embarrassed his son on numerous occasions with his politics, which swing all the way from Tory to Radical, but always in opposition to the Government. The General remarries long after Jack's mother dies. He has a son in Post Captain, providing Jack with a much younger half-brother, Philip. In The Reverse of the Medal, the General and his associates buy heavily into stocks that Aubrey unwittingly recommends to them, causing Jack Aubrey to be tried for stock fraud and briefly stripped of his rank in the Navy. The General flees the country to avoid being arrested; his corpse is later discovered in a ditch (The Letter of Marque). Jack Aubrey organizes the funeral for his father at the family estate, Woolcombe House. Diana Villiers is Sophia's beautiful cousin and her opposite in many respects, beginning with appearance, as she is dark-haired, slender, and her complexion suffered from her years in India with her father. With her graceful carriage she appears tall, but is shorter than Sophia (Post Captain). She has a great love of horses and riding and breeds Arabians. She rides gracefully and loves to jump barriers on a fox hunt, while Sophia enjoys the gallop, dislikes the hunt. Her impetuous nature has led to more than one ill-conceived affair, but eventually Maturin wins her over. O'Brian perhaps took her name from Frances Villiers, Countess of Jersey, the notorious mistress of the Prince Regent. During one of her many periods of disgrace, Diana is described as running about with "Lady Jersey's set." Diana temporarily flees her home after the birth of her daughter Brigid, unable to deal with the young girl's autism.