• Business
  • Life
  • Celebrity
  • Sport
  • Blog
  • Auto
  • Tech
Stories from SWNS
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Business
  • Life
    • Celebrity
  • Tech
    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
  • Review

    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gameplay on the Nintendo Switch

    Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Review

    macOS Sierra review: Mac users get a modest update this year

    Hands on: Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 review

    The Last Guardian Playstation 4 Game review

    Intel Core i7-7700K ‘Kaby Lake’ review

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    How to find safe non-gamstop casino games

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Conservation zoos ‘have powerful potential to reverse extinction’

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    Royal Navy aviators raising cash to rescue stray puppy

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    “I got a new haircut – now I look exactly like Frodo Baggins from Lord of the Rings”

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    £6.8billion turtle-shaped floating city unveiled

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Business
  • Life
    • Celebrity
  • Tech
    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    Why Is Cloud Storage Migration Best Left To Professionals?

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    How Tech Is Empowering Small Businesses And The Economy 

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    The Technology Behind Forex Trading – And its Wider Impact

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    Must-Have iPad Accessories At PITAKA Black Friday Sale Event

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    How To Select The Best Lead Generation Software For Your Business: Our Top Tips

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Best Technologies in the Gambling Industry That Are Worth Your Attention

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
  • Review

    The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild gameplay on the Nintendo Switch

    Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun Review

    macOS Sierra review: Mac users get a modest update this year

    Hands on: Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 review

    The Last Guardian Playstation 4 Game review

    Intel Core i7-7700K ‘Kaby Lake’ review

No Result
View All Result
Stories from SWNS
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Tall, Dark and Handsome – Author claims to have discovered the man who inspired Mr Darcy

by
April 28, 2015
in News
0
Tall, Dark and Handsome – Author claims to have discovered the man who inspired Mr Darcy

Oil painting on canvas of John Parker, later 1st Earl of Morley (1772-1840) by Thomas Phillips (© National Trust Images / Ian Blantern / SWNS.com)

0
SHARES
85
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

 

Oil painting on canvas of John Parker, later 1st Earl of Morley (1772-1840) by Thomas Phillips  (© National Trust Images / Ian Blantern / SWNS.com)
Oil painting on canvas of John Parker, later 1st Earl of Morley (1772-1840) by Thomas Phillips (© National Trust Images / Ian Blantern / SWNS.com)

An author claims to have identified the man who inspired Jane Austen to create Mr Darcy – a ”tall, dark, brooding” aristocrat who became caught in a sex scandal.

Dr Susan Law says the intense, charming and often controversial 1st Earl of Morley John Parker was the real-life hero of Pride and Prejudice.

She says Austen spent at the Earl’s home in Saltram House in Plymouth, Devon, during the period she wrote the literary masterpiece in the early 1800s.

The Earl’s second wife Francis was also a very close friend of the celebrated writer.

It was widely believed in literary circles at the time that Francis was in fact the author of Pride and Prejudice as it had originally been written anonymously.

But Susan, 52, of Kenilworth, Warwickshire, has pieced together letters and documents which she says proves John Parker was the man who inspired Fitzwilliam Darcy.

She has made her claims in her new book ‘Through the Keyhole: Sex, Scandal and the Secret Life of the Country House’ published by The History Press.

Susan said: ”The physical similarities in them are obvious but there is also so much circumstantial evidence to suggest the Earl was Mr Darcy.

“When Jane Austin published her two novels Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, she did so anonymously.

“The Earl’s second wife Francis, who was well known in literally circles, was widely thought to be the author of those novels.

“The Earl was tall, dark, handsome and slightly brooding. There is a picture of him in 1805 image in his militia uniform and another in the library. He looks very intense.”

 

The National Trust's Saltram House near Plymouth, Devon ( © SWNS Group)
The National Trust’s Saltram House near Plymouth, Devon ( © SWNS Group)

Susan, a journalist and historian, spent five years researching the book, travelling all over the country to unearth old letters, diaries and newspapers.

She spent many hours in archives reading material on John Parker, 1st Earl of Morley.

She said: “We don’t have the concrete evidence but I have discovered there were a lot of rumours about at the time and it is a convincing argument.

“There is a massive intriguing web around it. It is clear that Jane Austen had very close links with the family. She sent Francis one of the first editions of Emma – when she only had 12 printed.

“Jane Austin’s brother Henry was also a university friend of the Earl of Morley. They were contemporaries and he then become a banker to his regiment and later the domestic chaplain to the Earl of Morley’s family.

“We know how close Jane Austen and Francis were. She never came out and said ‘your husband was Mr Darcy‘ – so we can not say that 100 per cent.

“It can be very frustrating and it is like trying to piece together a jigsaw. It has been fascinating and I have been longing to find that cast iron bit of evidence.

“But after spending so long on it, I am pretty convinced.”

Susan said there was also evidence that Austin based other plots in her novels around the Earl and his family.

Before he met Francis, he was involved in a sordid sex scandal that led to divorce, which is thought to be behind a famous plot in another of Jane Austin’s booked Mansfield Park.

He sued his first wife for adultery after she eloped with a family friend, after finding out he had three illegitimate sons by his married mistress, the book reveals.

His divorce was seized on by the press in a media frenzy that Jane Austin would have been well aware of.

Susan said: “There was a media frenzy over this. The original adultery  is generally believed to have been behind the adultery plot in Mansfield Park.”

The Earl’s family country estate at Saltram is now owned by the National Trust. Through the Keyhole is published this month by The History Press.

Previous Post

‘I’ll tell her she’s beautiful everyday!’ : Father with severe facial disfigurement defends decision to have daughter with the same condition

Next Post

Mum addicted to drinking a whopping 24 cans of Red Bull a DAY is finally cured through hypnotherapy

Next Post
Mum addicted to drinking a whopping 24 cans of Red Bull a DAY is finally cured through hypnotherapy

Mum addicted to drinking a whopping 24 cans of Red Bull a DAY is finally cured through hypnotherapy

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Stay Connected test

  • 121 Followers
  • 60k Followers
  • 189k Subscribers
  • 23.8k Followers
  • 99 Subscribers
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Women love cheesy chat up lines, a study has revealed

Top 20 cheesy chat-up lines ladies really love

March 5, 2014
The top ten most well-known bingo phrases

The top ten most well-known bingo phrases

January 21, 2014
The horses thunder towards a jump at the Grand National

Amazing racehorse names which never made it

April 23, 2014
HGH Injections Brands: Which Ones Are Best?

HGH Injections Brands: Which Ones Are Best?

January 14, 2019
Chris Fear, 33, outside the Coral betting shop which is refusing to pay out on his 485/1 winning bet

Boycott Coral! Bookmaker faces protest after refusing to pay out on a football fan’s 485/1 bet

184
Women love cheesy chat up lines, a study has revealed

Top 20 cheesy chat-up lines ladies really love

147
Women feel invisible to the opposite sex at the age of 51, researchers found

Women begin feeling invisible to men ‘when they turn 51’

138
UKIP candidate claims Jews murdered each other in the Holocaust in masterplan to create State of Israel

UKIP candidate claims Jews murdered each other in the Holocaust in masterplan to create State of Israel

105
Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

March 19, 2023
The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

March 16, 2023
6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

March 10, 2023
Bloomcare Rowan Garth: Reintegration Care

Bloomcare Rowan Garth: Reintegration Care

March 8, 2023

Recent News

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

March 19, 2023
The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

March 16, 2023
6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

6 Benefits of Customs Clearance Services

March 10, 2023
Bloomcare Rowan Garth: Reintegration Care

Bloomcare Rowan Garth: Reintegration Care

March 8, 2023
SWNS

SWNS all rights reserved. Copyright 2020

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Auto
  • Blog
  • Business
  • Celebrity
  • Gaming
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Pictures
  • Property
  • Review
  • Sport
  • SWNS
  • Tech
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Recent News

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

Mobile gaming vs PC gaming: Which is better for playing casino games?

March 19, 2023
The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

The Führer’s Prophecy by Brian Klein 

March 16, 2023
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

Real Fix is a trading style of South West News Service Limited.
Copyright © 2020 South West News Service Limited.

No Result
View All Result
  • Business
  • Life
  • Celebrity
  • Sport
  • Blog
  • Auto
  • Tech

Real Fix is a trading style of South West News Service Limited.
Copyright © 2020 South West News Service Limited.