Old Sally

Old Sally is the workhouse nurse who attended Oliver Twist's mother, Agnes Fleming, at his birth and who, on her deathbed years later, confesses to having stolen a gold locket and ring from the corpse—a theft that concealed Oliver's identity and inheritance for years. Her single act of greed, committed in the moment of death, becomes the hidden hinge on which the entire mystery of Oliver's parentage turns, and her belated confession, though incomplete, sets in motion the chain of revelations that ultimately restore Oliver to his rightful place.

Identity and Role

Old Sally is introduced as the pauper nurse present at Oliver's birth in the workhouse. She is described as an elderly woman, rendered "rather misty by an unwonted allowance of beer," who, after the parish surgeon departs, "having once more applied herself to the green bottle, sat down on a low chair before the fire, and proceeded to dress the infant." Her role is that of a marginal figure within the institution—a pauper herself, entrusted with the care of dying and newborn paupers. She is the sole witness to Agnes Fleming's final moments and the only person who knows that the young mother carried a gold locket and ring, which she had begged Old Sally to keep safe for her child.

The Theft and Its Concealment

Years later, on her own deathbed, Old Sally confesses to the workhouse matron, Mrs. Corney, that she stole the trinkets from Agnes's body. "I robbed her, so I did!" she cries, her face flushed and eyes starting from her head. "She wasn't cold—I tell you she wasn't cold, when I stole it!" The item was a small gold locket containing two locks of hair and a plain gold wedding ring, engraved inside with the name "Agnes" and a date. Old Sally had pawned the locket and, over the years, scraped together money to pay the interest, keeping the pawnbroker's duplicate until her final illness. She dies before she can reveal the full story, leaving only the scrap of paper in her clenched hand.

Death and Aftermath

Old Sally dies in the same workhouse room where she had once nursed Agnes Fleming. Her death is attended by two other pauper women, who later testify that they heard her attempt to tell Mrs. Corney what she had done and saw the matron take the pawnbroker's duplicate from her hand. The confession, though incomplete, provides the crucial link that allows Mr. Brownlow and his associates to trace the locket and ring, ultimately proving Oliver's identity and his claim to his father's inheritance. Old Sally's theft, born of poverty and opportunity, becomes the final obstacle to justice—and her deathbed words, however fragmentary, the key that unlocks it.