Matthew Bramble sets out from Brambleton Hall to seek treatment for his gout, beginning a long journey through England and Scotland.

Lydia Melford's secret romance with a traveling actor named Wilson is discovered by her family while she attends boarding school in Gloucester.

Jeremy Melford challenges Wilson to a duel after discovering the actor has been secretly courting his sister without the family's approval.

The family's carriage breaks down on the road to London and they hire an impoverished young man named Humphry Clinker as footman.

Humphry Clinker is arrested in London after a witness wrongly identifies him as the highwayman responsible for a recent roadside robbery.

Humphry preaches to fellow prisoners and moves his accuser Mr. Mead to recant, declaring that Humphry could not have committed the robbery.

Humphry is acquitted and released from prison, and the Bramble family departs London to continue their journey northward.

The travelers meet Lieutenant Lismahago, a battered Scottish soldier, near Stockton and he joins their company for an extended time.

The family crosses into Scotland and arrives in Edinburgh, which both Matthew and Jeremy praise with rare and genuine enthusiasm.

A disguised Wilson approaches Lydia at an Edinburgh ball and she faints from the shock of recognizing him.

The family's carriage is swept off a river crossing by floodwaters and Matthew Bramble plunges into the swollen river.

Humphry Clinker dives into the flooded river and drags Matthew Bramble to safety, rescuing him from drowning.

Matthew's former surname Lloyd is revealed to his old friend Dennison, prompting Humphry to announce that his absent father was named Matthew Lloyd.

Mr. Dennison reveals that his estranged son George spent years traveling under the alias Wilson while away from home.

Three weddings take place at the Dennison estate: Lydia marries George Dennison, Tabitha marries Lismahago, and Winifred marries Humphry.

The Bramble-Melford family embarks on a journey through England and Scotland, initially motivated by Matthew's search for relief from his gout. The family's travels are immediately complicated by Lydia's forbidden romance with a traveling actor named Wilson, whom her uncle and brother consider wholly unsuitable. A turning point arrives when the impoverished Humphry Clinker is hired as a footman, bringing loyalty and moral integrity to the often chaotic household. After Humphry's false arrest and acquittal as a highwayman, the travelers head north and eventually cross into Scotland, which delights even the perpetually critical Matthew. The journey reaches its dramatic peak when a carriage accident plunges Matthew into a flooded river, and Humphry saves his life. The story concludes with a cascade of revelations — Humphry is Matthew's biological son, and Wilson is the respectable George Dennison — leading to a triple wedding that resolves the novel's central conflicts.

The journey's major milestones from Bristol to the triple wedding.

Jeremy secretly watches Matthew donate money to a poor widow; Tabitha storms in and accuses her brother of immoral motives.

Tabitha aggressively pursues an Irish suitor named Ulic Mackilligut in Bath, but he kicks her dog Chowder and she ends the relationship.

Matthew announces the family will move from Bath to London, overriding Tabitha's protests and ending their extended stay in the city.

Matthew gives Humphry money to buy new clothes after hearing the young man describe his life of poverty and hardship.

Tabitha gives her unruly dog Chowder away to a London acquaintance named Lady Griskin during the family's stay in the city.

Lydia declines a marriage proposal from the family's acquaintance Mr. Barton, revealing she is still unable to forget Wilson.

Lydia accidentally exposes her ongoing secret contact with Wilson while the family discusses Mr. Barton's intentions toward her.

Edward Martin, the real highwayman Humphry was falsely accused of being, helps Humphry repel armed attackers threatening the family's carriage.

Matthew arranges for the reformed highwayman Edward Martin to find honest employment in the East Indies, giving him a fresh start.

A fire breaks out at the Harrogate inn; Tabitha's suitor Micklewhimmen, who had been feigning illness, flees the building without helping her.

During the fire at Harrogate, a panicked Winifred jumps from a window into Humphry's arms, sparking romantic feelings between them.

The servant Dutton elopes with a wealthy young woman, abandoning and humiliating Winifred, who then fully reconciles with Humphry.

The family stays at a beautiful Highland estate near Lough-Lomond where both Lydia's spirits and Matthew's health visibly improve.

The family discovers Lismahago's drowned horse near Carlisle and fears he has died, but soon finds him alive and destitute.

Matthew's friend Baynard is widowed when his spendthrift wife dies, and Matthew steps in to help restore the ruined estate.

Beneath the headline events of the main plot runs a rich current of secondary adventures, romances, and social satire. Matthew's genuine compassion — shown when he secretly helps a poor widow — contrasts sharply with Tabitha's relentless and embarrassing pursuit of a husband, which produces one failed courtship after another. The unlikely footman Humphry Clinker grows steadily in importance, earning Winifred's devotion after a dramatic rescue during a fire at a Harrogate inn. The family's encounters with supporting figures such as the reformed highwayman Edward Martin and the duplicitous servant Dutton add comic and moral texture to the journey north. Scotland provides rare respite, improving both Lydia's spirits and Matthew's long-suffering health, while a reunion with the struggling Lismahago reveals Matthew's quiet capacity for generosity. The section closes as deaths and financial ruin among old friends prompt Matthew to intervene, preparing the ground for the final revelations at the Dennison estate.

The supporting adventures and relationships that shape the journey.

Wilson disguises himself as a Jewish peddler to secretly approach Lydia and tell her that his social standing has changed.

Jeremy and Matthew accidentally discover Humphry delivering a passionate sermon to a congregation at a Methodist meeting in London.

Tabitha misinterprets a visit from Mr. Barton as a marriage proposal intended for herself, causing a chaotic and humiliating scene.

Humphry forcibly drags Matthew from the sea at Scarborough, having mistaken his casual bathing for drowning and exposing him to onlookers.

Lismahago captivates Tabitha with tales of being captured, tortured, and eventually marrying an Indigenous woman during his service in North America.

Lismahago parts ways with the Bramble family when their travel routes diverge, despite Tabitha's persistent efforts to convince him to stay.

The servant Dutton challenges Humphry to a duel over Winifred's affections, but Humphry steadfastly refuses to harm the man.

Lismahago formally asks Matthew's permission to marry Tabitha during the journey home, and Matthew gives his wholehearted blessing.

Lismahago and Matthew nearly come to blows after a humiliating misunderstanding at Lord Oxington's dinner, but Tabitha intervenes to prevent a duel.

Matthew visits his old friend Baynard and is shocked to find the estate's avenues stripped bare and its finances destroyed by his wife's vanity.

Jeremy challenges a man named Wilson to a duel near the family's inn, only to discover this Wilson is an entirely different person.

Matthew formally acknowledges Humphry as his biological son, calling him a crab of his own planting from days of youthful indiscretion.

George Dennison returns to his parents' estate and is joyfully reunited with Lydia, and the couple immediately begin planning their wedding.

Humphry refuses Jeremy's suggestion that his new social status allows a wealthier match, insisting he is honor-bound to marry Winifred.

Winifred Jenkins writes the novel's final letter, gloating that her marriage to Humphry has elevated her to a higher social sphere.

The novel's most significant turning points are rooted in hidden identities, misread intentions, and moments of unexpected discovery. Wilson's early disguise as a Jewish peddler hints at the novel's recurring motif of concealed social standing, while Humphry's accidental career as a street preacher and Tabitha's mortifying misreading of Mr. Barton's intentions expose the gap between what characters intend and how they are perceived. As the journey continues, the romantic rivalry over Winifred, the parting and eventual return of Lismahago, and Jeremy's comically mistaken duel challenge all underscore the novel's themes of social uncertainty and class instability. The near-duel between Lismahago and Matthew and the devastating visit to the ruined Baynard estate deepen the novel's moral seriousness on the road home. The climax arrives through a series of recognitions — Matthew accepts Humphry as his son, George Dennison is confirmed as Lydia's Wilson, and Winifred triumphantly closes the novel as a woman of newly elevated standing.