Character Analysis
Angelica Baggins
A young relation of Bilbo's who is quite vain; when Bilbo leaves the Shire, he gives Angelica a present of a "round convex mirror" (1.1.139) – in other words, a mirror that distorts her face. Bilbo can be kind of catty!
Dora Baggins
Bilbo leaves his aunt Dora Baggins a large waste-paper basket as a gift after receiving "reams of good advice for more than half a century" (1.1.137). Not the nicest gift of all: something tells us Bilbo threw away all of the advice his aunt tried to send him.
Drogo Baggins
Frodo's father; he was drowned while boating on the Brandywine River with his wife, Primula. He died when Frodo was just a child.
Gorbadoc Brandybuck
The Master of Brandy Hall and Drogo Baggins' father-in-law. This also makes him Frodo's grandfather. It was on a visit to Master Gorbadoc that Frodo's parents drowned suddenly. Gorbadoc is also known for "keeping a mighty generous table" (1.1.14) – i.e., for serving tasty food.
Master Everard Took and Miss Melilot Brandybuck
When Bilbo announces that he is eleventy-one today at his birthday feast, these two think that their Uncle Bilbo has finished speaking. They start up a lively dance on a tabletop until Bilbo blows a small horn three times to call for silence again.
Primula Baggins
Daughter of Gorbadoc Brandybuck, wife of Drogo Baggins, and mother of Frodo. She and her husband drowned when Frodo was just a child. According to a nasty rumor, she "pushed [Drogo] in [to the Brandywine River], and he pulled her in after him" (1.1.16). No one really believes this, though. As the Gaffer points out, "Boats are quite tricky enough for those that sit still without looking further for the cause of trouble" (1.1.17).
The Sackville-Bagginses
The Sackville-Bagginses are Bilbo's nearest blood relations. They have been itching to get their hands on Bilbo's luxurious home at Bag End ever since he disappeared and reappeared sixty years before.
Their hopes of living in Bag End seem forever frustrated when Bilbo adopts Frodo as his official heir. Lobelia Sackville-Baggins is so angry when Bilbo leaves Bag End to Frodo that she tells him, "You'll live to regret it, young fellow! Why didn't you go too? You don't belong here; you're no Baggins – you – you're a Brandybuck!" (1.1.155). Clearly, to Lobelia, being a Brandybuck rather than a Baggins is a great insult, indicating her strong sense of family pride (or arrogance, depending on how you look at it).
Otho Sackville-Baggins, Lobelia's husband, dies before the Sackville-Bagginses get their hands on Bag End. But when Frodo is looking for a way to sneak out of the Shire seventeen years after Bilbo's departure, he buys a house in Crickhollow (across the Brandywine River). And Frodo sells Bag End to the Sackville-Bagginses (at this point, just Lobelia and her son, Lotho). That's proof, if we needed any, of how badly Frodo needs to get out of the Shire. He hates the Sackville-Bagginses, and the idea of giving up his beloved home to them has got to hurt.