Mr Brownlow is introduced when the Artful Dodger and his companion Charley Bates pick his pocket and Oliver Twist is arrested simply for "looking guilty".

Later, in court, Brownlow discovers Oliver is completely innocent and, after dealing with the extremely agitated magistrate, Mr Fang, he takes him home fearing the boy to be very ill, which he is.

He calls on a doctor, who after making frequent incorrect guesses to Oliver's condition, simply concludes the boy is recovering from a fever.

The next mention of Brownlow occurs when Mr Bumble rears him after he sees a notice in a newspaper that offers five guineas for any knowledge about Oliver's past or whereabouts; it was a sticky encounter.

When Oliver is taken in by the Maylies and asks the kind Dr Losberne to take him to Brownlow's home in London – only to find the house is "FOR LEASE".

However, this may vary between productions as in the latest revival, as in the 1968 film Oliver is taken hostage and subsequently saved when Bill is shot during his escape attempt (actor: Joseph O'Conor).

In Disney's Oliver & Company, Brownlow's variant is represented as Jenny Foxworth (actress: Natalie Gregory), a girl who resides in Manhattan and is cared for by her butler Winston while her parents are on a business trip to Europe.