Coralie Abernethie

In the novel After the Funeral, Coralie Abernethie (née Bessington) was the wife of Cornelius Abernethie, the patriach and founder of the Abernethie family fortune. The family's extensive wealth had been built on the manufacture and sale of health products named after Coralie, namely "Coral cornplasters" and "Coral foot preparations".

Coralie was already deceased at the beginning of the events in the book. There was a portrait of her in the green drawing room of Enderby Hall. It portrayed a woman "modest and unassuming", with "meek features, a rosebud mouth, hair parted in the middle."