People/CharactersMrs. Pedder

Mr. and Mrs. Pedder lived in Ambleside near the head of Lake Windemere in a house called Dove's Nest.   They hired Nelly Weeton partially as a governess for their daughter, but more as a companion for Mrs. Pedder.  Mr. Pedder's family had a bank in Preston, and they had an excellent income of £1,500-2,000.

Mrs. Pedder had been a teenage dairy maid before her marriage, and at first was well treated by her husband, but he drank and later became violent and miserly.  The daughter, who was in bad health, died within a year, and Nelly Weeton left.