The Warden

The Warden is a novel by the English writer Anthony Trollope, published by Longman in 1855. It is the first book in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series and introduces the cathedral town of Barchester and the family at its centre.

Mr Septimus Harding is the meek, widowed and elderly warden of Hiram's Hospital, an almshouse supported by a medieval charitable bequest to the Diocese of Barchester. The income maintains the almshouse itself, supports its twelve bedesmen and provides a comfortable home and living for the warden, a post Harding was given through the patronage of his old friend the Bishop of Barchester. He carries out his duties conscientiously and lives quietly with his unmarried younger daughter, Eleanor, while his elder daughter is married to the bishop's son, Archdeacon Grantly.

The story concerns what happens when John Bold, a zealous young reformer who is also Eleanor's suitor, launches a campaign over the disparity in how the charity's income is divided between the almshouse and its warden. Harding finds himself caught between a legal claim he cannot readily answer, a son-in-law who wants the attack crushed and his own conscience, and the novel follows a decent man discovering that his comfortable position is not as innocent as it felt.