Wakem, John

Philip's father; a shrewd, prosperous lawyer, fond of his son. "Wakem was not a mere man of business: he was considered a pleasant fellow in the upper circles of St. Ogg's—chatted amusingly over his port-wine, did a little amateur farming, and had certainly been an excellent husband and father: at church, when he went there, he sat under the handsomest of mural monuments erected to the memory of his wife. Most men would have married again under his circumstances, but he was said to be more tender to his deformed son than most men were to their best-shapen off-spring." In Mr. Tulliver's lawsuits, Mr. Wakem manages the cases for his opponents, hence Mr. Tulliver regards him as a creation of Old Harry. His vindictiveness towards Mr. Tulliver leads him to buy Dorlcote Mill when Mr. Tulliver fails.

<em>The Mill on the Floss</em>

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