Timothy Stedding, first known as Squashy Hat in Pigeon Post, is a friend and mining colleague of James Turner. He is a tall, thin and shy man who habitually wears a squashy felt hat. He is reviled by the prospectors of SADMC as a rival prospector.
A telegram from Captain Flint to the household at Beckfoot says ... Be kind to Timothy, Give him the run of my roomref req. The miners assume Timothy must be an Armadillo, and make him a hutch. Captain Flint finds the letter intended to send home in his pocket while on board ship.
Timothy goes to Beckfoot, but is too shy to introduce himself when he sees all the children there: There were children popping up all over the place. It was like a school feast ... You wouldn't have gone in yourself ... How could I tell you hadn't bunged me into the middle of a holiday school? .... ref req
Timothy proves himself to be decisive in an emergency, eg in the fire (PP34) or when the Great Aunt goes missing (PM25).
Timothy becomes a good friend and partner of the members of SADMC, particularly with Dick who likes "stinks", in The Picts and the Martyrs when they test samples of copper ore - and cope with the Great Aunt, who decides Timothy not Dick is the burglar of Beckfoot.
His surname Stedding is given in PM8,25).
Native prototype
Timothy Stedding appears to be based, at least in part, on Oscar Gnosspelius (to whom Pigeon Post is dedicated), husband of Barbara Collingwood, and therefore an uncle to the Altounyan children.