His power to tame creatures works on Colin and Mary as well, and is one of the central causes of their wondrous transformations. He is the brother of Martha and the son of Susan.
Martha Sowerby - Mary's friend and maidservant, Martha is distinguished by her charming frankness and levelheaded approach to all aspects of life. Her simplicity and kindness are a great help to Mary upon the latter's arrival at Misselthwaite. In her very ordinariness, Martha represents the goodness of all the people of Yorkshire.
Ben Weatherstaff - Ben Weatherstaff is a gruff elderly gardener who is only permitted to stay at Misselthwaite because he was a favorite of the late Mistress Craven. He introduces Mary to the robin redbreast, and helps the children keep the secret of the garden. Ben himself clandestinely tended the garden during the ten years in which it was locked, out of love and loyalty for the Mistress Craven. Although he is rather rough, Ben's essential kindness is fundamental to his character.
Archibald Craven - The master of Misselthwaite Manor, who suffers from a crooked spine and general ill health. He has been in a crushing depression ever since the death of his wife, ten years before the novel begins. Archibald spends most of his time abroad, since he wants to see neither his house nor his son, Colin because these remind him of his late wife. At novel's end, he undergoes a change of heart after his wife comes to him in a dream. Master Craven comes to embrace his son when he realizes that this latter is in perfect health.
Lilias Craven - Archibald's late wife, who died ten years before the outset of the novel. Her spirit is associated with both roses and the secret garden. Her portrait hangs in her son's room beneath a rose-colored curtain, and all who knew her as the gentlest, sweetest, and most beautiful of women describes her. She represents an absent ideal.
Susan Sowerby - The mother of Martha and Dickon (as well as of twelve other children), Susan Sowerby functions as a symbol for the concept of motherhood itself.