What is the name of the vampire in the 1847 penny dreadful 'Varney the Vampire'?

The vampire in the 1847 penny dreadful *Varney the Vampire* is Sir Francis Varney. The character is an aristocratic, tragic, and often theatrical undead figure whose attacks trouble the Bannerworth family.

The story first appeared as a serialized publication in 1845–1847 and was later issued in book form. Its authorship is commonly attributed to James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest. The enormous original book ran to 876 double-column pages and 232 chapters, making Varney one of the longest works associated with the penny-dreadful tradition.

Varney predates Bram Stoker's Count Dracula by decades and helped establish conventions later associated with vampire fiction, including nocturnal attacks, fangs, hypnotic menace, and a vampire who can inspire both fear and sympathy. Carmilla is the vampire of Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 novella, while Lord Ruthven appears in John Polidori's 1819 story *The Vampyre*.