The surname of the butler in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is Barrymore.
At Baskerville Hall, the household staff includes John Barrymore, the butler, and his wife, Eliza Barrymore, the housekeeper. Their presence becomes important when Dr. Watson investigates the strange events surrounding Sir Henry Baskerville’s inheritance and the legendary hound on Dartmoor.
The Barrymores are not the story’s villains. Their secretive behavior is connected to Selden, an escaped convict and Eliza’s brother, whom they try to help by sending food and signals from the Hall. This subplot makes John Barrymore appear suspicious to Watson before the household mystery is clarified.
A common mix-up is confusing Barrymore with Stapleton. Jack Stapleton is a naturalist and the story’s principal human antagonist, while Baskerville is the family surname and Mortimer is the local doctor’s surname. Some film adaptations alter the butler’s name to Barryman, but the original novel uses Barrymore.