​A little More About Gracechurch Street 

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 How did Jane Austen know enough about the real life existence of Gracechurch Street, a street in the business district of London to include it in Pride and Prejudice.  Enough to describe something of its character and flavour. She never went there.  A quick Google search gives no indication or explanation of how she knew of the existence of this specific street.  Of course, a quick answer is someone she knew, family, friends, etc. from here there and everywhere.  In which case where is the evidence that any of these likely people knew anything about Gracechurch Street.  It was just the sort of street where successful and prosperous business people like the Gardiners might well live above the shop down below.  But how did Jane Austen know anything Gracechurch Street and its location. What possessed her to write about and include Gracechurch Street.  Where did the information about its exact distance from Longbourn come from.  I think these are reasonable questions to ask and to date so far as I can ascertain there is no answer via Google at least or anywhere else. 

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     However, if she knew of Robert Cary Elwes then there is maybe an answer for he definitely did know of Gracechurch Street and can be shown to have had business dealings of some sort in Gracechurch Street in the years of 1792 and 1793.  In the executor accounts produced by the executors of his father's will are 8 payments in the years 1792 and 1793 made on his behalf to Spinks and Co.  2 payments in 1792 are for 300 pounds each and the other for 100 pounds and in 1793 there are 3 payments for 200 pounds each, 1 payment for 100 pounds and a further payment of 50 pounds. Considerable sums especially the first two. 

      Some of these payments were made in winter December and January.  A time of year when London may have been at its filthiest.  No sewage system in London in those days to take human waste away and then there would be smoke and ash from the fires, horse shit in the roads and who knows what else. 

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      Spinks and Co refers to the still existing and much respected coin dealers and auctioneers Spinks and Co. Begun in 1668 after the Great Fire of London they relocated in 1772 to No. 2 Gracechurch Street.  In 1772 they were coin and jewellery dealers.  I strongly suspect that Spinks and Co do not possess archives going back to the 1790's but they have been contacted just in case and I await an answer. 

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     But Elwes did not just visit Gracechurch Street as the executor accounts show. He also spent a large sum of money at the very fine establishment of Rundell and Bridge, jewellers and goldsmiths in nearby Ludgate Hill. 

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     Robert Cary Elwes undoubtedly knew of Gracechurch Street and presumably how to get there from his estate in Hertfordshire near Ware.  It’s not unreasonable to believe that he knew how far it was.  But how did Jane Austen know of a place close to Ware such a precise distance away.  What and from where did she know enough about Gracechurch Street to write "Mr. Darcy may perhaps have heard of Gracechurch Street but he would hardly think a months ablution enough to cleanse him from its impurities"  Although an exaggeration, to a countryman like Elwes reared on his array of extensive rural estates a day in Gracechurch Street may well have left him with the feeling for the need of ablutions.  All that dirt.  Horse shit, human waste, smoke and ash from fires in winter and more would be found in such a busy commercial street.  If she knew Elwes then the question as to where Jane Austen acquired any knowledge of Gracechurch Street, along with, please note, a multitude of other mysteries, unsatisfactorily answered if at all by conjecture, theory, supposition and plain guesswork has with one easy solution a more plausible source for its answer.  Mr. Robert Cary Elwes Esq. 

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      One further coincidence needs to be added.  This is the first letter written by Edward Gardiner  from Gracechurch Street.  It is dated Monday  [second day of the week ] 2 Aug.  Why choose Monday the 2 of August.   The coincidence if there is one is that the address of Spinks in Gracechurch Street is Number 2.

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Added November 2019 

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Fordyce 

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       Rereading Pride and Prejudice yet again,  (its true the more you read it the more you see) on page 65 I came across "Fordyce's Sermons" (for Young Women) Mr Collins, initially invited to read from a work of fiction declines and chooses Fordyce's Sermons a work first published in 1766.  A work one can easily imagine Jane Austen's father reading or at least buying.  It's also easy to imagine perhaps that Jane Austen had a similar reaction to it as Lydia ie. Dull Dull Dull. 

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     But when I saw the name Fordyce this time I thought that that was a name that might contain something of well hidden subliminal interest. An F, a Y, a C; these letters together are not the easiest of combinations to find an anagram using one or other of the anagram methods previously outlined. Which is how it proved. When removing one letter from Fordyce the Scrabble Word Finder produces only one word and exchanging one letter for another produces a few more anagrams but nothing so far as I could see relating to the text.  To make sure I checked the text a second time and as I read backgammon for the fourth time (Mr Collins leaves off reading aloud to a disinterested youthful audience and settles down to a game of backgammon with Mr. Bennett) I realised what the hidden interest was. A rather cleverly presented pun is to be found and which I feel was probably first created for the family audience of her early listeners to spot.  Those who know backgammon I expect have arrived at the same point or soon will but for those who know nothing about backgammon a brief explanation. 

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The game of backgammon or something very close goes back a few thousand years. It was and  still is a very popular gambling game.  Simple to learn, exciting to play and unlike say chess a very skilled person because of the element of luck can sometimes lose to a beginner.  Its played on a board with 2 sets of counters these days usually white and either red or black and 2 pairs of dice, 1 pair white with black spots and 1 pair either red or black with white spots.  Today's sets also include a "doubling cube" which adds an extra dimension of skill to this ancient gambling game.  The doubling cube was introduced in the 1920's and therefore was unknown in Jane Austen's day. A basic set is very easy to produce.  But in previous days backgammon sets have been produced using valuable and exotic materials to create a luxury item.  Back in the 18th century, it’s quite possible that there were only 2 dice per set which may explain the use of the word backgammon twice.  So: 1 pair of dice plus another pair of dice added together or 2+2 equals FOUR DICE in total.  As a pun not the greatest but how ingeniously simple and so subtly concealed.  I sat back and pondered awhile.  Was this simple happenstance or intelligent design?  Jane Austen does not do things for nothing is an oft repeated assertion.  Jane Austen was a genius is another.  Or Jane Austen leaves things for the reader to work out.  Why not something else besides backgammon for Mr Collins and Mr. Bennett to play or do.  Why Fordyce's Sermons rather than the sermons of many another worthy clergyman who because of her father's occupation some of which she almost certainly new.  For the wordplay pun  nothing else will do.  Jane Austen was a genius who liked puns, riddles, puzzles, anagrams as her work and letters show etc.  I think it far more likely that this is the intelligent design of an accepted genius rather than a casual unplanned coincidence.  In fact so artfully concealed within plain view do I find it that to propose that it is happenstance is just absurd.  To those who would say "this is just happenstance " show me similar and as clever from other authors or even another author singular.  Add this to everything else I say I have discovered.  The one thing I am not sure about is the use of the word backgammon twice.  Is it because boards and sets only came with 2 dice rather than 4 dice as nowadays and therefore as a clue the word backgammon needed to be stated twice, or is the double usage of the word backgammon a clue word for the purposes of emphasis.  From over 200 years ago I say this is another hidden, delicious Easter Egg that has just been found.  Are there others of this special vintage ? 

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     N.B   Pretty much any 19th century literary expert will with an interest in Jane Austen , I'm sure, agree that Jane Austen was a genius who did things for good reason and not for nothing.

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Sir Lewis de Bourgh 

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      When I first came across the surname Bourgh I had quickly thought of exchanging the R for a T to make the word Bought and thus another Easter Egg but until the other day I missed the opportunity to include it with the other examples of anagram wordplay. 

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Below is the relevant slice of text from Chapter 29 

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     "As the weather was fine, they had a pleasant walk of about half a mile across the park. Every park has its beauty and its prospects; and Elizabeth saw much to be pleased with, though she could not be in such raptures as Mr. Collins expected the scene to inspire, and was but slightly affected by his enumeration of the windows in front of the house, and his relation of what the glazing altogether had originally cost Sir Lewis De Bourgh." 

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     Substitute COST for the phrase "been BOUGHT by." 

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    Why mention the a) glazing and b) its cost. This small piece of text could easily have been excluded as an irrelevance in an abridged edition for example, but of course it is utterly indispensable if I am right about the anagram wordplay to be found throughout Jane Austen's work. 

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      Has this little snippet about the glazing at Rosings been included for no real purpose?  A little peripheral detail toadd colour and flavour.   Plot wise etc it adds nothing.  Does Jane Austen do things for nothing? Experts say not.  

 

P U N S

 

After writing the above about the surname Bourgh it occurred to me to check again how often Jane Austen uses puns in her work.  I could not remember any.  Until 2017 it would appear that she used a pun in her work only once.  So if I am right about the anagram that can be found from the name Bourgh by deleting the R and thus making from Bourgh the word Bough and thence to the pun Bow would be one new example of a pun to be found. But also there is now the name Fordyce and the pun that can be found as explained above Four Dice must be included.  In 2017 only 1 pun is to be found.  In 2018 one more pun is found and then in 2019 another pun is found. In 200 years one pun is found and then within 2 years 2 come along almost together.  Where once was only one now is three! Are there others I again ask myself. I bet there are, but will I have the wit to find them. 

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"Colonel Millar's" (Pride and Prejudice) 

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      Colonel Millar makes but one appearance. This is when Mrs Bennett is reminiscing about her own youthful days 25 years ago when Colonel Millar's regiment went away and she thought she would break her own heart. Her 2 daughters are experiencing much misery at the imminent departure of the ---- shire regiment. 

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      I checked the name Millar in the Scrabble Word Finder for the possibility of a meaningful anagram being uncovered. There were none. But even I could see without SWF's help that if the L in Millar's was changed for an I then the word SIMILAR could be made and what an apt and appropriate word that is to be able to make in relation to the text . The sentence preceding Colonel Millar's entry and the sentence introducing Colonel Millar's entry are quoted below with the one especially apt and appropriate word in capitals. 

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Their affectionate mother shared all their grief; 

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     “she remembered what she had herself endured on a SIMILAR occasion, five and twenty years ago. 

"I am sure," said she, "cried for two days together when Colonel Millar's regiment went away. I thought I should have broke my heart." 

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     In common with Reynolds / Splendor, Millar's/Similar the anagram is found by substituting one letter for another and the anagram that is to be found is the exact word appearing shortly before the name itself. 

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      It’s possible that there will be objections to the use of the apostrophe S in forming this anagram. But to those who object to the use of the apostrophe s  the rules of these puzzles are not yours but JA's. 

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       William Goulding and the Gouldings (Pride and Prejudice) A few pages after Colonel Millar I came across William Goulding and the Gouldings.  The first mention of "the Gouldings is in regard to Haye Park "if the Gouldings would quit it" William Goulding is met when  Lydia recounting, how she overtook WG and showed him her marriage ring from the side glass. The second mention of the Gouldings is a few pages later. Mrs. Bennet is determining who will dine and is saying who she must invite to dine and includes Mrs Long and the Gouldings. The Gouldings say nothing, do nothing, affect the plot in no way. They arrive and they go. Why are they there? 

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     The anagram possibilities did not look good to me but even so more out of habit and hope rather than expectation I typed their name in with a question mark. But lo! I was in for a welcome surprise. There are eleven 8 letter word results with one absolute stand out anagram to be made. Exchange the G for a B and the anagram DOUBLING can be made. 

This anagram although written earlier rather reminds me of the GILBERTS /TREBLING anagram mentioned earlier.

 

In my list of "definites", I would have included the 3 above. 

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Haye Park (Pride and Prejudice) 

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    I hesitated before including Haye Park. Haye Park is one of the possible residencies that Mrs Bennet considers for her daughter. Exchange the Y in Haye for an S and the name Ashe Park can be made. A residence well known to Jane Austen. She mentions it and its tenant James Holder and relates in a letter an occasion where she finds herself on her own by mistake with James Holder and has her hand on the door handle (ready to leave in an instant) 

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      I include it because in my research I came across an article about Ashe Park which suggested that part of P and P may have been written there. I cannot to date find the source for this claim. But 2 points. 

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     Firstly: Lizzie walks across the fields a distance of 3 miles to be with Jane who is taken ill. Is Ashe Park 

about 3 miles away across the fields from Steventon Rectory Jane Austen's home? 

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     Secondly: A theory. Ashe Park was tenanted by James Holder a man with land and slaves in the West Indies. Suppose that he took a business trip there. In those days this would mean a lengthy absence from Ashe Park. Would Ashe Park be left to stand empty for a period of many months minimum or might it be tenanted for this period of absence.  And if it was tenanted would its availability to be tenanted have come about by an "accidental recommendation" and who was it tenanted by. 

This is just a theory. At some time I will look for William Portal's bank records for 1795/6 the owner and landlord of Ashe Park. It’s possible they exist and if they do still exist then who knows.?

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Mr. Manager (Mansfield Park) 

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       Strictly speaking, in chronological discovery terms Mr. Manager should have been explained after Captain Marshall below, but I liked the idea of ending 2019 with a stunning climax rather than the anti-climax that would result with Mr. Manager being explained after rather than before Captain Marshall. 

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     I cannot remember JA referring to any major character other than by their rightful Christian or surname when known. On the basis that it is the only time she did this it seemed highly likely that Manager could be significant and manipulated to form a relevant anagram. Having said that I can see with little effort that exchanging one letter of manager for another could produce many search results in the SWF.  Altogether 37 words of 7 letters can be made by exchanging one letter for another. Among these words is 1 strikingly appropriate word for this particular context and that is ANAGRAM!!!  How funny is that. 

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Captain Marshall (Mansfield Park) 

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Captain Marshall

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Having read Pride and Prejudice yet again and found some more anagram puzzles I thought I really would have to read Mansfield Park again just in case more were also to be found within. Especially having also found that Mansfield makes the anagram Fieldman's.  So with reluctance, I began again.  I could see nothing of great interest until I reached Captain Marshall and the following quote.   " Do you know anything of my cousin's captain?" said Edmund, " Captain Marshall? You have a large acquaintance in the navy I conclude? " 

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       I remembered before, vaguely looking at the name Marshall. It looked rather unpromising then and did so today for my purposes. Nevertheless I entered a question mark and the name Marshall into the Scrabble Word Finder and clicked "FIND WORDS" 

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      There were no 9 letter words returned and only 5 words of 8 letters; MARSHALL, MARSHALS MALLARDS HALLMARKS and ARMILLAS. I rejected the first 2 because they are far too close to the name Marshall. The second two were also swiftly rejected as being of no relevance and I almost rejected the fifth result having no idea what armillas were. But on checking the meaning I found I did know what they looked like even if I did not know the word . An alternative name for an armilla is armillary sphere and I remembered years ago selling a framed 18th century engraving taken from a book illustrating an armillary sphere. Armillas in their original Latin meaning are bracelets or circles and around a globe are rings positioned for example to show the equator or the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.  Thus derives the name Armillary Sphere.  Some armillary spheres fetch huge sums of money at auctioneers such as Christies, Bonhams or Sothebys * 

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     With rather more interest I began again to read through the chapter looking for anything that might relate to bracelets or a circle or a ring or a naval association.  Nothing was found before and including Captain Marshall in the paragraph in italics above. But shortly after there is firstly the mention of the "navy" followed by.... 

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       The second word of the following sentence which stopped me dead in my tracks. Surely not I thought. Is that really it!? I'm pretty excited at this point. I entered a question mark and then the 8 letters of the 2nd word of the next sentence ADMIRALS and clicked find words. There is one 9 letter result of no interest in this context. There are quite a few 8 letter results and 

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                                                                                   A R M I L L A S ! ! ! 

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is one of them.  I stared in disbelief for a second or two and then repeated the whole exercise to make sure I had made no mistake, and then again to make absolutely sure.  No mistake 

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     Wow!  Just how clever is that?  Dazzling and devious in its creative ingenuity.  I would say that this is a 4th type of  Easter Egg. The same anagram to be found from 2 different words, the same result forwards and backwards. Although similar in the need to find a meaningful anagram from a name in the first instance, to be able to find that same anagram using that same methodology in a related word in the next sentence I think takes the puzzle making to a new level. 

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      Are there any more like this? If so, will I be able to find any of them? I confess to being absolutely delighted to have found this anagram. 

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     How can this anagram, at once simple and complex in structure and execution possibly be anything other than the result of the deliberate creative genius that was Jane Austen.  I mean HOW!

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     It’s the day before New Years Eve 2019 and as I ponder this anagram and just how brilliant it is, a tempting thought occurs to me. In the text immediately following Captain Marshall is the only pun up until 2017 to have been found in JA's work. JA read to family members some of whom I am sure knew about these anagram puzzles. Is it possible I wonder that the reason for this pun being located here is to provide a diversion or smokescreen to cover the existence of this special anagram puzzle, and that maybe it worked and that I am the first person to uncover this anagram since JA first created it.  What a connection.  How spooky is that!  Do I kid myself?  Perhaps, but also, perhaps not.

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The Text Relevant to Captain Marshall.

Note as well  the use of  the word admirals 3 times in one paragraph .  The word admirals according to the Jane Austen Thesaurus was used on 5 occasions.   Below is the text 

 

"Do you know anything of my cousin's captain?" said Edmund; "Captain Marshall? You have a large acquaintance in the navy, I conclude?"

"Among admirals, large enough; but," with an air of grandeur, "we know very little of the inferior ranks. Post-captains may be very good sort of men, but they do not belong to us. Of various admirals I could tell you a great deal: of them and their flags, and the gradation of their pay, and their bickerings and jealousies. But, in general, I can assure you that they are all passed over, and all very ill used. Certainly, my home at my uncle's brought me acquainted with a circle of admirals. 

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      * A major use for an armillary sphere was as a navigational aid. With it and knowledge of star positions one could determine exactly where on the sea one was. It seems ridiculously unlikely that neither of Jane Austen's brothers Francis and Charles did not know of an armillary sphere and quite likely possessed their own personal armillary spheres  or ARMILLAS as they are also known 

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Thornton Lacey (Mansfield Park) 

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     2 further reasons for thinking that the village of Thornton Lacey could have been discovered have  been found. We learn from Sir Thomas that whilst Edmund's leaving Mansfield Park will be a contraction of the family circle it is "though only eight miles" 

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Wherever Mansfield Park Northampton is, it is only eight miles away from Thornton Lacey. If  3 circles had been drawn around the centre of Northampton of six, eight and 10 miles radius so as to cover all possibilities in terms of distance from any part of Northampton, the village of Great Billing where Robert Cary Elwes lived would have been contained within it.  There is an old church known as St. Peters Northampton which according to an internet distance chart is 8 miles away from Great Billing. 

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Had anyone looked seriously for a village that could have been Thornton Lacey and was remotely close to 8 miles away from Northampton the search would by looking within the circle have been narrowed down considerably from the 280 odd villages in Northamptonshire to a far lower figure and hence much easier to find if looked for. I am a little surprised that no-one made the effort to look. After all, much effort has been expended upon the possible location of Meryton on the basis of its being 24 miles from Gracechurch Street and therefore perhaps findable.  It begs the question why not look for Thornton Lacey on the same basis.

 

 

We learn from Henry Crawford who hopes that the parsonage at Thornton Lacey "is not a scrambling collection of low single rooms, with as many roofs as windows "  and that " it is not cramped into the vulgar compactness of a square farmhouse  " but that according to him it is a  "it is a solid, roomy,  mansion - like looking house ".  The vicarage at Great Billing is definitely a lot like that - at 3 storeys high and in excess of 125 years old  it is a substantial property with a very good sized garden and easily fits with the description of the Old Parsonage of Thornton Lacey.  An idea of what the Old Rectory; or The Old Rectory as it is termed in real life is like can be seen if one Googles the Old Rectory Great Billing.  It was for sale a while ago with an estate agent by the name of Michael Graham.  

 

On my way to  Diss auction rooms I used to pass close to the villages of Thorndon Parva and Thorndon Magna.  The sound of Thorndon is close to the sound of Thornton.  Out of curiosity I decided to look at what villages there were with Thornton in their name at  the beginning.  One village in Yorkshire stood out a little higher than the others.   By deleting an L  from the village of Thornton Le Clay an anagram can be found to create the village Thornton Lacey.  Just a thought.

 

The Gregorys (Mansfield Park) 

Remarkable as I thought the anagram puzzle of Marshall to Armillas to Admirals was, I had no real expectation of anything as good anytime soon. But the Gregorys provided an anagram puzzle even more extraordinary a few pages later. Below is the relevant passage. It was extraordinary because not only is it a double anagram puzzle  but also there is within another (this time) sublimely well disguised pun. The 4th to be found. 

     "You remember the Gregorys; they are grown up amazing fine girls, but they will hardly speak to me, because Lucy is courted by a lieutenant." 

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      As a source for anagrams that are not so easy to find the Gregorys looked like a prime candidate for producing very few and thus well worth a careful look. The Gregorys like so many others are characters who say nothing, do nothing, and are discarded almost as they are introduced. As is now habitual I looked at the text just before their arrival and just after looking for something that could connect. I read that William asks Fanny if she remembers the Gregorys. He describes them as having grown up "amazing fine girls"  A single word to describe them could be GORGEOUS. An anagram to be made from the Gregorys is, if one removes the Y would be the pun GORGERS. But that is not all, because from the plural Gregorys William then moves on the singular Lucy surname not given!  find it and realise it yourself   ( Gregory.}  An exchange of the Y for an S from the name Gregory  and the word GORGERS can again be made. 

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      Again I have the spooky feeling that I, maybe the first person since Jane Austen created this to have realised this anagram pun. I think it is another "Easter Egg" and it is also the third new pun that I have found. It’s also the 4th occasion where a name can be used to create an anagram using either formula exchange a letter or delete a letter but in this instance the same anagram is made. A variation on a theme. 

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Baddeley Again (Mansfield Park) 

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      Baddeley it maybe remembered supplied the earlier relevant anagram to the text of DELAYED by removing the B from the name Baddeley  (see Chapter 35 of Mansfield Park)  and mention must again be made of Baddeley.  I have been guilty of not reading the text with complete attention again and thus I have missed an important repeat of Baddeley and the anagram DELAYED.  Below is the relevant text 

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"and long thinking strangely DELAYED . 

The solemn procession, headed by BADDELEY" 

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      How did I miss this first time around. Never mind I have now found it. Mention must be made of the similarity in composition of this anagram where the anagram precedes the name. Created using almost the same format arrangement are Splendor/ Reynolds and Similar /Millar's the difference being that these 2 are created by exchanging one letter in the name for another instead of deleting 1 letter.  Such a similar pattern of  repetition makes coincidence impossible!  This will not be the last time.  

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Mr. Owen and the Miss Owens (Mansfield Park) 

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      I almost did not mention Mr. Owen. However I feel it is worth pointing out that by deleting the letter E the word now and by deleting the letter O the word new can be made.  Both can be made effortlessly. By exchanging a letter for another in this instance produces many possibilities.  But  I must   point out that both the words now and new are used in close proximity to the name Owen and especially note the word NOW is written in italics. 

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       Much more interesting are the 3 (plural) Miss Owens. The plural for the noun woman is women, an easy to spot anagram made by exchanging S for an M. Is it possible that Jane Austen meant this as an anagram to be found and provided clues . Below is the relevant passage It contains many clues that WOMEN is the answer to be found and finally the word WOMEN itself 

"The Miss Owens (women)—you liked them, did not you?  Yes, very well. Pleasant, good–humoured, unaffected girls (women). But I am spoilt, Fanny, for common female society (women). Good–humoured, unaffected girls (women) will not do for a man who has been used to sensible   WOMEN."

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      A slightly different variation on a theme, not only, in that the anagram comes after the name but also a number of hints.  Another alongside Reynolds, Millar's, Baddeley again  and now Owens. 

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Mr. Harding (Mansfield Park) 

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       Mr. Harding is a name from which many anagrams look possible to create by either method. But there is one which looks meant to be found and that is the word hearing. The word hearing appears in the text soon after Sir Thomas receives a letter from an old friend in London; at this point we are not told at this point who this friend is but we are told that he writes "on hearing and witnessing " We learn midway into the next paragraph his name when it is given in brackets after the pronoun him. Mr. Rushworth had been in great distress and to him (Mr. Harding) True there is more text between the anagram to be found and the name but it follows the same format as Reynolds, Millar's, and Baddeley  in being given shortly before the name and is created in the same way ie. exchanging one letter for another as Reynolds and Millars. 

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       Randomness does not generate identifiable regular patterns, but intelligent design can and does. 

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Added December 2019 / January 2020

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    Tom Lefroy and "our Irish friend"

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      Recently I have had a little look at Tom Lefroy  and the possibility of a romance between him and JA.  In a letter to her sister Cassandra JA says that she expects to receive an offer from "our Irish friend."   Based upon the fact mainly that Tom Lefroy was Irish and knew JA  much has been written and inferred about the possibility of some kind of romance between the two of them.   Tom himself has little to say, certainly not going as far as to admitting to such a fact as proposing and being turned down. 

 

      Is it possible though that "our Irish friend " could refer to someone else known to both JA and her sister but not necessarily  anyone else by the term "our Irish Friend" .  The use of the word "our"  suggests at least the possibility of something personal to just JA and her sister.  Tom Lefroy and his Irishness was known to all in the area and not just JA and her sister.  

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         So I have pondered whether JA could be referring in a coded way to someone else, for example  Robert Cary Elwes.  For there to be any chance of it to be him  or anyone else for that matter some  strong Irish connection/s would need to be demonstrated.  If none were to be found it might not totally invalidate the case I am making for RCE to be the original for Mr. Darcy but it does no favours to the cause. 

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But what if there were connections, slim connections for example, or better still significant and substantial connections    

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If none can be demonstrated or found then quite possibly JA is referring to someone else,  but as I say what about if RCE does have strong Irish connections?...  

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         So let me explain as briefly as I can .

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         This research piece about Jane Austen came into being following  a lot of earlier research into a 250 page part illustrated  manuscript*  I bought 4 years ago  that was written in 1863 by Robert Cary Elwes's youngest son Francis Emilius Cary Elwes.

        I say manuscript.  In fact it is 3 perhaps 4 manuscripts in one. 

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Firstly :   A day to day diary from January 1863 to September 1863.  It is a brief record of his daily doings, who he meets, where he goes, what he does etc.  Of principal interest initially for me were diary entries detailing several meetings with a man by the name of John Wisden always referred to in the diary as Wisden.

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          John Wisden today is  probably the most famous sportsman in the world from the Victorian era.  He was a cricketer,  a very good one too but his fame rests not upon his deeds on the cricket field  good as they undeniably were, but upon a publication known as Wisden's Almanack;  initially known for its first few years as The Sportsman's Handbook,  first published in 1864 and published yearly ever since.  Over the years it has massively expanded  from the 112 pages of the 1st edition particularly with the addition of cricket match reports and statistical information.  It is now  a record of anything to do with first class cricket and to a lesser extent schools cricket.  (that is to say top public Schools cricket  ie Eton, Harrow etc) It has been  known colloquially as "The Cricketers Bible" since the 1930's after a phrase coined by author Alec Waugh.

 

Secondly:  A charmingly illustrated and very well written  small game (partridges, pheasants, rabbits etc) shooting diary for the  season  November 1862 - January 1863 that took place mainly on the Egton Estate in Yorkshire, one of Robert Cary  Elwes 's estates and inherited by his eldest son, but also on a few estates further South in Suffolk that were also owned by members of the Elwes family.  In my opinion it is quite an important  document of social historical interest in its own right. There are, I am sure  many well written  shooting accounts, and  some maybe even better illustrated but few if any contain the detailed statistical minutae that this one includes.  It is I think superlative....

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Thirdly  There is a large collection of sporting reports for the spring and summer for the year 1863.  There are reports for Rowing, Rackets, Horse Racing, Boxing and most importantly for those who know cricket, Cricket.  A few comparisons with the cricket reports in the newspapers of the day show that these cricket reports have not been simply copied but compiled in such a way that leaves little room for doubt to those familiar with Wisden cricket reports that Wisden and or his editor textually and stylistically copied these very reports when they introduced match reports from the late 1860's.   Indeed it was whilst trying to get to grips with what I had bought that after reading a few reports  and knowing Wisden reports from Wisdens that I had owned that I thought to myself "These are Wisden reports."  the only problem being that whomever they were by they most certainly were not by Wisden. 

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Fourthly:  A significant number of missing pages scattered throughout the text that in no way impact upon the other 3.  The general neatness of writing,  the calligraphy used and the lack of mistakes throughout except nearer the end when the author was becoming more seriously ill with what 4 years later would kill him syphilis (his medical records from Ticehurst Asylum for the last few years of his life also survive as well as his banking records from Goslings ),  leads me to conclude that there was almost certainly a fourth text.

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       Renowned all over the cricketing world as Wisden's Almanack now is the 1 st edition of 1864  is a very odd, even bizarre publication.   For sporting material what cricket there is very poor in content and mixed in with the cricket  there is a list of the winners of the Epsom Derby, the St. Ledger and the  Oaks horse races and a table showing the winners of the University Rowing Matches (Oxford v Cambridge) as well, but there is also all sorts of other stuff the inclusion of which is quite baffling.  There is a list of the major societies in the U.K. a list of the lengths of the canals of Britain,  a list of the dates of the Crusades, and the War of the Roses random factoids  and ending with an account from an obvious royalist of the trial and execution of King Charles the 1st and then there is   Almanack section itself with its strange, even baffling inclusions.

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 A 1st edition of Wisden 1864 is a rare and valuable item selling for about 15,000 pounds give or take a few thousand for condition and sometimes previous ownership.  But among those who know the 1st edition and until fairly recently I did not there had been considerable speculation as to whether  it was in fact all Wisden's own work.  But until recently nothing to show that it was not all Wisden's own work.

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      I contacted a Wisden expert by the name of Stephen Baldwin who was independently contacted by the publisher's of Wisden to have a look at this manuscript and give an opinion.  In his report, a copy of which I have he said that it was undoubtedly in part at least the "original source manuscript".   After more research, I was able to provide 2 absolute proofs of copying to the criminal law requirements of "beyond reasonable doubt" and much more supporting evidence of copying by Wisden.

 

    I spent a lot of time and did a lot of research into this man's family and background as I tried to unravel the mystery this manuscript presented.  I knew that some of the entries in the Almanack for sure related to the author and his life because there were references repeated in the manuscript and I therefore suspected that the reason for the inclusion of so much odd stuff related in some way to this man his life, family, and friends and this manuscript.

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       It was this research that brought me to the knowledge that the author's father had inherited hugely as a young child and in a moment of idle speculation that he might be the original  Young, single man, possessed of 10, 000 a year ie. Mr.Darcy.

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      I looked into his ancestors, hunting for anything conceivably related to the Almanack . Beginning with the surname Elwes.    Its howIi learned that for example that considerable wealth had accompanied the Elwes family for 200 years or more or that  the gift of the living in Great Amwell near Ware had been in their power for 200 years and they had long been associated with the estate at Throcking a few miles outside Ware. 

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     I learnt about RCE's grandmother. A lady  descended the Cary family and hence his middle name Cary. The Cary family could trace its exotic  aristocratic roots  several centuries further back and the name Cary is mentioned in the Domesday book  as a settlement by the name Cary in Somerset.  The name seems to first appear in records with a Alice de Cary married to a Lord Henry Lovel and a son born in 1169 and known as Adam De Karri and Adam  of Devonshire.  Going back that far with such pedigree there could easily have been ancestral knights  who fought in the Crusades.   More recently at the Battle of Tewkesbury during the War of the Roses Sir William Cary of Clovelly and Cockington  was one of those who sought sanctuary in Tewksbury Cathedral and was  beheaded in the massacre after the Battle of Tewkesbury.

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        More pertinent to the  argument that RCE has irish connections are  the branches of the Cary family.  Going back several centuries there appear to be 4.   Somerset and around Bristol,  Clovelly in North Devon and Cockington in South Devon and finally.... Ireland.

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The first association with Ireland begins in the late 14th century with Sir John Cary who was banished and died in exile at Waterford in  1395. 

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The Wikipedia entry for the Cary's in Ireland is below    

Georg Cary (1589-1640), a grandson of Robert Cary (died 1586)[60], was one of the first aldermen of the city of Derry in 1613 and was appointed, in the same year, Recorder of Derry[60]. He was Member of Parliament for County Londonderry in the Parliament of Ireland from 1615-1640. He married Jane Beresford, sister of Sir Tristram Beresford, 1st Baronet, in 1615, with whom he had many children. His daughter, Elizabeth, married George Hart, a son of Captain Henry Hart, with whom she was the progenitor of the Hart family of Kilderry House, Glenalla House and Carrablagh House in Donegal.

The Cary family remained landlords in Inishowen until losing their property after the passage of the Irish Land Act in 1882. The Anglo-Irish writer Joyce Cary was a descendant of this branch of the Cary family.

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A google search can, for those interested, show much more about the Cary family in Ireland including part of a text of work entitled "The Cary Family of Innishowen " by Lionel Stevenson a cousin of the Anglo-Irish author Joyce Cary.  For a little more  background information about the history of the Cary family its a useful guide.   

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And thus does Robert Cary Elwes have strong  Irish connections.  From the 21st century these connections are a long way back but in the 18th century and in the days of limited travel I think it likely that a man with as few very close  relatives as RCE had would have known about his Irish roots that he had via his grandmother.  Later events in the family also indicate the probability of these connections being maintained.  One of his sons Richard married a woman by the name  Selina Jephson of Limerick whilst one of his granddaughters Eleanora Caroline married Charles Fitzgerald from Kilkee, County Clare,  Ireland, a one time Governor Of Western Australia.

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The name Darcy  as explained earlier is easily made from Cary simply by adding a D and rearranging the letters.  But as an addenda, Darcy is also a fairly common Irish name. So why could Elwes not be the  unknown "our Irish friend"

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Mrs. Smallridge

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Mrs. Smallridge is a lady friend of the Bragges and the Sucklings who has the job of a governess available for Jane Fairfax.  Jane however becomes ill and is unable to take up this offer immediately.  Her illness continues longer than expected for some reason and Emma for one thinks she may not actually be ill. She MALINGERS?  By removing an L and exchanging the D for an N the word Malingers can be found from the name Smallridge.  This is a still simple enough  in concept anagram puzzle but, A little harder to realise,  a little more complicated and a little more  difficult to find.  

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        On finding this I then thought of Ashton Dennis/Astonished, also a simple enough in concept anagram puzzle to understand  but not therefore easy to find and wondered whether there might be others in excess of 8 letters.  For example Sheringham in Norfolk at first glance is very very close to Everingham in the book. Replace the letters S and H with E and V and viola.  What about Sotherton Mr. Rushworth's estate or Mr. Rushworth himself.  Were these names   that might also have a slightly more complicated source to be found somewhere in the text I wondered.  

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Mansfield Park and Sotherton, Mr. Rushworth, Anderson, Sneyd, Norris, Compton, and  Smith and Holford 

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The above names and places have been included together under 1 heading rather than separately because the answers for these, were all discovered within a very short time period  of each other bar a modest amount of research whilst searching for clues about Sotherton.

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Sotherton Court first appears in chapter 6 however I thought it better to begin with the chapter where its owner Mr. Rushworth makes his first appearance in chapter 4.

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Anderson,  Chapter  5  Paragraph 37 

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Anderson spelt with the son ending rather than sen, an important distinction to make.  A discussion is taking place between Edmund and Miss Crawford  that concerns a certain Miss Anderson and whether she is "in" or "out".  A little after Miss Anderson's first mention of the mother of Miss Anderson although not directly named  (And! Her!  Son!!!)     Charles  appears.

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Mrs.Holford.  Chapter 5  same paragraph.

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Holford is a name for which I can find no anagram puzzle but I feel it should be mentioned because there is a very  real  connection between Jane Austen and a  Mrs. Margaret Holford.  Pride and Prejudice was originally called First Impressions but this title had to be changed because of a work entitled "First Impressions"  by Margaret Holford that was published a few years earlier.  Are we not being told of the "first impressions " that Edmund had of Miss Anderson before meeting her again at Mrs. Holford's! 

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Sneyd  Chapter 5  Paragraph 42

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To begin  I had looked for the word deny or some kind of relationship with denial and hoped something similar to   Captain Denny and denial would be found.  Nothing like that.  But this time I found the anagram puzzle to be found by exchanging the Y for an I  with the clue phrase "does she dine out everywhere followed by in the next sentence the phrase "and dines nowhere "

 

 Mrs Norris/ Prison    Chapter 6  paragraphs 2 and 3

 

Prison is a word according to the Jane Austen Thesaurus that is used on 5 occasions by Jane Austen.  It is used on 3 of those occasions in the next short conversation extract.

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I (Mr. Rushworth) declare when I got back from Sotherton yesterday, it looked like a PRISON - quite a dismal PRISON."

"Oh! for shame" cried Mrs. NORRIS.  A PRISON indeed!   Change the P in prison  for an R and there easy enough is the name Norris.  There is the anagram before, the name Norris  after the name Norris and then for good measure a third time.  How, when I am supposed to be looking for just this sort of thing  did I miss it.  I had long thought there ought to be an anagram for Mrs. Norris I just had not thought that it might be anywhere else but the point where she is first introduced.  

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Sotherton   Chapter 6  Paragraph 17 

 

 This is just brilliantly ingenious.  It is still an anagram puzzle but it has to be looked for carefully so well hidden is it.  It is still necessary to exchange one letter but in this instance it is one letter from 2 words close together; a definite forerunner of a cryptic crossword clue.   Mr Rushworth wishes to speak of Sotherton and what can be done about it.  Employing  Humphrey Repton a well known improver of his day is suggested by Julia whose employment rates as Jane Austen would  appear to know were  5 guineas a day.  We learn about Smith and what has been achieved at Compton by Repton and we hear ideas and related chit chat from the guests around the dining table.  After half a dozen or more mentions of Sotherton the key phrase with the key words appears.    

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The key phrase and its 2 key words are "which makes me think that Repton, or anybody of that sort"  

If either the  the E or R is deleted from the name REPTON and the other exchanged for an H the name SOTHERTON can be made.  Or perhaps delete or exchange the R from Sort for an H instead ie. one letter either deleted or exchanged from each of the 2 words to be used.  Does this seem too obscure. Well coming up is another cryptic anagram puzzle from which the name RUSHWORTH can be made.

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Rushworth  Chapter  6  Paragraph 58 

     

The discussions   among the group about Sotherton continue.  Mrs. Grant suggests " it was infinitely better to consult with friends and disinterested advisors,           THAN IMMEDIATELY TO THROW     the business into the hands of a professional man."

To do something immediately could be to RUSH and add this to an anagram of THROW ie. WORTH gives the name RUSHWORTH.  I found no other anagram possibility for Rushworth.

The basis for a crossword clue perhaps    Literary character advised to consult rather "than immediately to throw."

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Compton and  Smith  and Humphrey Repton  Chapter   6  paragraph 2

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Humphrey  Repton throughout the late 18th and early 19th century was one of the most renowned garden designers of his day.  He would undertake landscape improvement commissions from  which he produced what today is known as a "Red Book" so called because it was bound in red morocco leather.  This book would contain his handwritten ideas plus delightful before and after watercolours of the areas to be improved.  The after was revealed by lifting a folding flap beneath  which was  a watercolour of the before.  Repton produced some 400 of these "Red Books" although sadly many of these beautiful productions  have been lost.  Occasionally they appear at auction.  In 2018 two  appeared at Christies auction room and made in excess of 100,000 dollars  each.  Also in 2018 an example of a Red Book was brought  along to a U.K. Antiques Roadshow venue where it was valued by expert Rupert Powell at between  60 and 80 thousand pounds.   Footage of this valuation is to be found on the internet. 

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Smith the owner of Compton that Mr Rushworth cites des not seem the sort of name that Jane Austen might have chosen to  associate with a country house  and does beg  the question Why the name  Smith? 

 

Repton produced "Red Books" for 3 "Comptons"  Compton Verney,  Compton Place and Compton Park. 

Jane Austen certainly knew something of Humphrey Repton.  But how much and from where?      

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Compton Verney is thought by some to be the original location for Thornton Lacey.  Call me biased but I found the case made for it being the original for Thornton Lacey without going into detail to be thin to say the least.  Could Jane Austen have easily known of Compton Verney.  Its not impossible.  A daughter of its owner John Peyto 6th Baron Willoughby De Broke the honourable Louisa Peyto was married  at Compton Verney to a Senior Prebendary at Winchester Cathedral who must certainly have been known to her father if not directly to her.  His name was Reverend Robert Barnard, a man met with before and a member of the family who as was described earlier and for many reasons, absolutely must have known and known well Robert Cary Elwes.

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Compton Place Eastbourne also belonged to a man who almost certainly knew RCE and who we have also met with earlier  Colonel George Cavendish of the Derby Militia and a son of the Duke of Devonshire.  Repton produced a Red  Book for Colonel George Cavendish in 1803 but his design ideas were not carried out.

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Compton Park near Chichester.  No close connections this time to RCE so far as can be ascertained.  It was owned by a man named Thomas Peckham Phipps. In 1793 Repton was invited to produce a Red Book  for Phipps.  Some of Repton's ideas at least were carried out . Using a little poetic licence or perhaps a genuine spelling mistake spelling the name with only 2 ps instead of 3 leaves an intriguing possibility.  I(f you replace a P with an M then the "name "  SMIPH.  No such actual name but it sounds the same as Smith.  Another pun?

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Repton produced  a Red Book for Blaize Castle.  Another place  which Jane Austen knew something at least about because she writes of a potential trip there. The Red Book for Blaize Castle is available to view online via Bristol Museum. 

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In Dawlish where Jane Austen spent some time in the early years of the  19th century Repton was again engaged to produce another of his red books.  This time for the owner of newly acquired Luscombe Castle by Charles Hoare in 1798.  Repton produced a Red Book in 1799 and much work on the site was done between 1800 - 1804.  Did she know Luscombe Castle?   Given the small size of Dawlish and its place in society at the start of the 19th century.  Seems quite likely.  

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Did Jane Austen know of any others.  For example.  A Red  Book was produced for the owner of Mulgrave Castle Estate in Yorkshire belonging to the Marquess of Normanby in 1792. The man who originally commissioned Repton to produce this  Red book did take  many of the ideas  up.  Yorkshire, a  long way away one would think for Jane Austen to be aware of, but this 15000 acre estate  either backed onto or was very close to the Egton Estate owned by RCE.  Its surely not possible that the owners of these 2 estates so close together  were unknown to each other.  Intriguingly,  the Marquess of Normanby had, although no relation to Thomas Peckham Phipps , the surname PHIPPS!  Coincidence?

 

Sheringham Park  was another country House that Repton produced a Red Book for.  It was  Repton's favourite according to his own testimony.  For several years he lived very close by.  This red book was produced in  1812, and therefore is it should be noted quite close to when Mansfield Park was written.  So could she have known something of Sheringham. 

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Stoneleigh Park was visited by Jane Austen in 1806 for about 10 days.  It was inherited in 1806 by the Rev. Thomas Leigh a cousin of Jane Austen's mother Cassandra.  In 1809 Repton produced a Red Book for Stoneleigh Park.  Between 1809 and 1813 many of his design ideas were used.   How much exactly Jane Austen knew about this who knows  but it is unlikely that she knew nothing of it.     

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Together with books written by Repton on the subject of gardening which its likely that Jane Austen had access to somewhere or another  I think it likely she knew his work well.   Could she have met him in person , known that he lived close to Sheringham Park and how much he  liked the place.  Conjecture of course. But?

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The more of these anagram puzzles I find, the more I think that Jane Austen, when these puzzles are taken into account, exhibited a level of brilliance that places her at a level without parallel.  

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Copyright Nigel King May 2020

                                             

       

                                                 Now I Begin To  Understand...  I Think

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Now !  Now at last I think I begin to understand something at least what is going on.  As a quick test I have a quick look (several hours ) looking for more in Mansfield Park.   But this time I am looking for at least 5 ways perhaps 6   of making anagrams and particularly with reference to longer names and using 2 letters be it deleting and or exchanging.

The methods to employ  are described below

1)  Exchanging 1 letter for another

2) Deleting 1 letter 

3) Exchanging 2 letters for 2 other letters

4) Deleting 2 letters 

5) Exchanging 1 letter for another and deleting 1 letter

6)A direct anagram 

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From this point on the  relevant section of text will be given as well in italics 

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There are a number of short anecdotes  based around individuals who say nothing, do nothing, affect the plot etc in no way and having appeared quickly disappear.   ie, Campbell, Atkinson, Whitaker, Oliver, Fraser, Stornaway and many others in her other novels as well. These look likely candidates for an anagram puzzle.   It would provide point and purpose for their inclusion for which points and purposes are in short supply.

 

It was a very successful and rewarding search.  Below are listed a whole lot anagrams from names quickly found using one of the above formulas.  Firstly from Mansfield Park and then a very brief glance into Northanger  Abbey and written down on scrap paper as they are found.

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The first 2  to be found were however  disappointing. Disappointing in that I had missed such easy to spot examples.

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Price  Chapter  1  paragraph 2

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Exchange C for a D in  the word PRIDE , "Mrs. Price could no longer afford to cherish PRIDE"

Just like Reynolds, Millar's, Baddeley, Owens, Harding and now Price the name and pride  the word to be found in the text close by  

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Lee   Chapter  1  Paragraph 13

 

Exchange  L for an S in  the word SEE also close by in  Chapter 1  Paragraph 13

"Miss Lee ,whether she has three girls to teach or only two - there can be no difference.  I only wish I could be more useful,; but you SEE"

See comment above 

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How did I miss these 2

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Ellis  Chapter 1  Paragraph 13

 

Better though a few lines later was Ellis.  The text reads "Ellis to wait on her AS WELL AS  " Delete the W from Well and exchange the  A in either use of the word As for an I  and especially the last use of AS the  name Ellis can be seen. Complicated,  far fetched, unlikely, impossible.   Perhaps.  But ask yourself how often does this need to occur before the only word to use is Genius.

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Dr. Grant    Chapter 11  Paragraph 30 and 31 

 

The relevant text reads   "Dr. Grant would have been in a GREATER "  Exchange the D of Dr. and the N of Grant in each case for an E to make the word GREATER. Once again the word to be found is found close by in the text.

 

Oliver  Chapter 15  paragraph  57  

Oliver  makes an appearance at the end of Chapter 15.  This is the piece of text to note "Tom Oliver is a very

clever " 

Exchange the S in Is  for for an O and the V in Very for an L  to make Oliver.  But that is not all  For by exchanging the C in Clever for an O and an E   in Clever for an I  and Oliver can be made again.  An accident?   Seems pretty clever to me

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Charles  Chapter 15  Paragraph 57

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Charles Maddox a few lines further on I found no possibilities for Maddox.  But the text following his appearance reads "as gentleman like a man as you will see anywhere, so I will take my horse "  Exchange an  S and O from either So and Horse for a C and L to make the name Charles.

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Campbell  Chapter 38  Paragraph 36  The relevant text below 

 

 "Mr. Campbell the surgeon of the Thrush, a WELL behaved young man who CAME"  Exchange the W from Well for a P and the E from Came for a B  to make Campbell. 

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Mrs. Fraser    Chapter 36  paragraph 12. 

 

Stornaway as  in Lady Stornaway and Mrs Fraser  bothered me a long while.   Eventually I clicked.  For Fraser Exchange F and R for E and T in the word Easter  the  text "Mrs. Fraser not to go to her till after Easter" has a new interpretation .

 

Stornaway   Chapter 44  The letter to Fanny after paragraph 1    

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Stornaway.  I found this anagram puzzle rather harder to find.   Exchange the N In Stornaway for an F and the W in Stornaway for an R found and W of Stornaway for an F and R and two words next to each other can be found ASTRAY FOR.  The relevant words are in the same paragraph but further away thus making it much harder to spot The relevant text is as follows  " They have been leading her (Lady Stornaway) astray for years .

 

Dipping into  Persuasion for a brief  look I soon found 

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Robinson  Chapter 7. The text relevant text below 

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"the collar-bone was soon replaced, and though Mr. Robinson "  Exchange the E from Bone for an R and O from Soon for an I and Robinson can now be made

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Wallis    Chapter 15 a close friend of Sir Walter . 

 

A two word anagram WAS and ILL.  The text reads  "Wallis ,a highly respectable man,  perfectly the  gentleman ( and not an ILL looking man, Sir Walter added  ) who WAS.  It was Colonel Wallis's wife who was ill and being nursed by Nurse Rooke 

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And back for  another look in Mansfield Park 

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Yates  Chapter 18  paragraph 3  The relevant text below

 

 "more talent and taste than Mr. Yates"   Exchanging the Y for a T produces the word Taste.   The above solutions were found in a relatively short time period   So many results after such a short search persuade me that a much more intense search of all the texts will be required and that such a search will produce firstly many more to spot anagrams and secondly more sophisticated in their construction.  

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Added  25 June  2020

Copyright Nigel King 

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So rereading again, but this time beginning with Mansfield Park, followed by  Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey Persuasion, and finally Emma. I just know there are many more still to come.  So many I would be amazed if I see them all.