The narrative opens with Doctor Charles Primrose, a generous and idealistic country vicar, living in idyllic happiness with his wife and six children. Their peaceful existence is upended when a London merchant absconds with the family fortune, reducing their wealth from fourteen thousand pounds to a mere four hundred. Forced to migrate to a distant parish, the family rents a modest farm and strives to adapt their lifestyle to humble circumstances, though Mrs Primrose and the daughters stubbornly cling to their former social pretensions.
Soon, the local landlord, the wealthy and licentious Squire Thornhill, is introduced into their circle. He pays court to the vicar's eldest daughter, Olivia, while a mysterious, impoverished wanderer named Mr Burchell quietly assists and protects the family, particularly the younger daughter, Sophia. Despite warnings from Burchell—whom the family eventually misjudges and casts out—Olivia becomes infatuated with Thornhill and elopes with him, believing they are legally married by a priest, only to discover later that the ceremony was a sham and that Thornhill has deceived several other women in the same manner.
Following Olivia's disappearance, the family suffers a cascade of disasters. Their home burns down, destroying their remaining possessions, and Thornhill pressures the vicar for unpaid debts. When the vicar refuses to compromise his moral principles or consent to Thornhill marrying another woman, he is arrested and thrown into the county gaol. While imprisoned, Primrose preaches moral reform to his fellow inmates, transforming the wretched facility into an orderly community, but receives news that his daughter Sophia has also been abducted.
The tide begins to turn when Mr Burchell is revealed to be Sir William Thornhill, the wealthy, benevolent uncle of the wicked squire. Sir William rescues Sophia from her abductor and arrives at the prison to uncover his nephew's villainy. It is also discovered that Olivia's marriage, though performed by a fraudulent priest, was genuine enough to legally bind Thornhill, and other subplots involving lost inheritances and mistaken identities are happily resolved.
The novel concludes with the restoration of the family's fortunes and the return of the eldest son, George, who secures both his military commission and the hand of his long-time love, Miss Wilmot. The vicar and his family are reunited in prosperity, having endured their trials through an unshakeable adherence to faith, patience, and moral integrity.
