Mr. Bumble, fictional character in the novel Oliver Twist (1837–39) by Charles Dickens. Mr. Bumble is the cruel, pompous and ignorant beadle of the workhouse where the orphaned Oliver is raised. Bumbledom, named after him, characterizes the meddlesome self-importance of the petty bureaucrat. He also is an unlikely source of comic relief, in his mangling of the English language, as well as in his incompetence, and in the cowardice he displays in the face of anyone who stands up to him, even Oliver.