The Warden · Chapter
Hiram's Hospital explained
The chapter introduces the Rev.
What happens
The chapter introduces the Rev. Septimus Harding, precentor of Barchester Cathedral and warden of Hiram's Hospital, a charitable almshouse for twelve elderly men. It describes the history of the hospital, founded by John Hiram in 1434, and Mr. Harding's character, his generous but financially imprudent nature, and his relationship with his daughter Eleanor and his son-in-law Archdeacon Grantly.
Themes in this chapter
Charity and Class
The chapter explores the operation of Hiram's Hospital as a charitable institution, highlighting the gap between the warden's comfortable income and the bedesmen's modest stipend, and Mr. Harding's personal generosity.
Tradition vs. Progress
The historical evolution of the charity from a common table to a cash payment illustrates changing practices, while the warden's role remains tied to ancient ecclesiastical traditions.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Harding
The warden of Hiram's Hospital, a gentle and generous man nearing sixty, who has improved the choir and published a collection of church music, but is financially dependent on his son-in-law.
- Eleanor Harding
Mr. Harding's younger daughter, aged twenty-four, who lives with him at the hospital.
- Dr. Grantly
The archdeacon and Mr. Harding's son-in-law, a strong-minded man who disapproves of Mr. Harding's financial generosity and manages his affairs.
- Susan Harding
Mr. Harding's elder daughter, married to Dr. Grantly.
- Mr. Chadwick
An official who mildly dissuaded Mr. Harding from his extra payments to the bedesmen.
- John Hiram
The founder of the hospital, a wool-stapler who died in 1434 and left the charity for twelve superannuated wool-carders.
Key passages
“Mr. Harding is a small man, now verging on sixty years, but bearing few of the signs of age; his hair is rather grizzled, though not gray; his eye is very mild, but clear and bright, though the double glasses which are held swinging from his hand, unless when fixed upon his nose, show that time has told upon his sight; his hands are delicately white, and both hands and feet are small; he always wears a black frock coat, black knee-breeches, and black gaiters, and somewhat scandalises some of his more hyperclerical brethren by a black neck-handkerchief.”
Mr. Harding is a small, gentle-looking man near sixty, with grizzled hair, mild bright eyes, and small hands and feet; he dresses in black clerical attire but wears a black neck-handkerchief, which some stricter clergy find improper.
This description establishes Mr. Harding's mild and somewhat unconventional character.
“Scandal at Barchester affirmed that had it not been for the beauty of his daughter, Mr. Harding would have remained a minor canon; but here probably Scandal lied, as she so often does; for even as a minor canon no one had been more popular among his reverend brethren in the close than Mr. Harding; and Scandal, before she had reprobated Mr. Harding for being made precentor by his friend the bishop, had loudly blamed the bishop for having so long omitted to do something for his friend Mr. Harding.”
Rumor claimed Mr. Harding became precentor only because of his daughter's beauty, but this is likely false; he was already popular as a minor canon, and the bishop had been criticized for not promoting him sooner.
This passage introduces the theme of gossip and reputation in the close.