Mrs. Scholfield

Mrs. Scholfield

Mrs. Scholfield is a character who never appears but is mentioned in the Jeeves stories of PG Wodehouse. She is sister to Bertie Wooster, and apparently lives or spends some considerable portion of her time in India. She is never given a first name, nor are we told whether she is older or younger than Bertie. They do, however, seem to be on good terms, as, when Bertie begins to brood over his own lack of children (in 'Bertie Changes His Mind'), he hits upon the idea of buying a large house and having his sister and her three young daughters live together so that he can 'be a proper uncle to them.' This would seem to suggest that, whoever Mr. Scholfield was, he is no longer in evidence; the point is however somewhat moot as Jeeves, realising that his influence would be considerably decreased were Mrs. Scholfield to run the household, successfully scuppers the plan.

Interestingly, when asked by Chuffy Chuffnell in Thank You, Jeeves if he has any sisters, Bertie replies in the negative. Explanations for this inconsistency among Wodehouse scholars range from Mrs. Scholfield's untimely passing somewhere between the story and the novel, to the idea that Bertie simply preferred not to discuss his family with a man who was at that moment threatening him with severe physical harm.