This article “Who is Henry Wingrave in The Haunting of Bly Manor” contains minor spoilers. Major spoilers are at the end of the article — warning.
We recapped the whole Netflix series — check out the archive.
There’s a reason why Bly Manor needs an au pair. It’s because an uncle cannot face the fact that he has to take responsibility and raise the children. But without the au pair(s) there would not be this story so who is Henry Wingrave in The Haunting of Bly Manor?
A family member
Henry is the brother of Dominic, the father of the children who sadly passed away as well as his wife. With both parents gone, Uncle bears the responsibility of the Manor and the children.
Is he hiring the au pairs?
Yes — in fact, in the first episode, Henry meets Dani and gives her the worst interview in the history of interviews. He barely gives her a chance to sell herself and is fascinated as to why she wants the job.
Henry is also a drinker — before work, he is drinking and after work, he is drinking.
Do the children like him?
Yes, they adore and miss him which makes the story surrounding Henry ever so mysterious — in the later episodes, Flora pointedly says that she misses Henry and she wishes he would visit or at least see them.
Henry’s rule is — if they are hurt, then let him know.
— warning: major spoilers ahead —
Why won’t Henry visit Bly Manor to see his family? (major spoiler)
In episode 6, it’s revealed that Henry was more embedded in the family than we thought. Dominic’s wife Charlotte was having an affair with him which his brother later found out and he was banished. It’s likely that Henry is riddled with guilt. Soon after Dominic and Charlotte went away to try and patch up their marriage, they died in an unfortunate accident.
It’s guilt keeping Henry away.
And what’s Henry’s ultimate secret? (major spoiler)
Flora is also his daughter. It only dawns on him when his brother confronts him about the affair but this is probably another reason why he has stayed away from the manor — he cannot look Flora in the face after what he has done.
Does Henry ever return to Bly Manor? (major spoiler)
Yes, right at the end — eventually he gets over his alter ego, puts on his big boy pants, and gets to the manor — it was good timing as well as that’s when all the chaos started.
