Jane Austen exhibition highlights district links

There are interesting connections between novelist Jane Austen and The Vale of White Horse

Jane Bigg-Wither, resident of Oxfordshire, and author of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, doesn't have the same ring to it does it?

But writer and historian Nicola Cornick has been digging up interesting connections between novelist Jane Austen and The Vale of White Horse during her research for an exhibition at Uffington Museum.

Pride and Patronage explores the relationship between the writer and the district, such as how she declined a marriage proposal from Woolstone resident Harris Bigg-Wither.

"There's still things to discover and we were so excited," Ms Cornick tells the BBC.

BBC drama Miss Austen is based on the novelist's sister

Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, with 2025 marking the 250th anniversary of her birth.

Her novels - which also include Emma and Persuasion - are renowned for their wit, social observation and insights into the lives of early 19th Century women.

Ms Cornick picks up her Vale links: "She had a suitor called Harris Bigg-Wither, an unfortunate name.

"The Bigg-Withers owned a house in Woolstone… so if Jane had actually agreed to marry him not only would she have been Jane Bigg-Wither, but she might well have lived in Woolstone.

"We know she did visit the area. Apparently she went to check out the house, Hall Place it was called. Or maybe that's what put her off, maybe she didn't like his big house."

The Earl of Craven, a possible inspiration for Austen, had a house in the Vale

The historian said the Austen family also had strong links to another Oxfordshire family, as outlined in a talk at the museum on Sunday.

"If anyone saw the drama Miss Austen they will know three of her closest friends from childhood were the Lloyds sisters - Mary, Martha and Eliza Lloyd - and of course Mary and Martha Lloyd both went on to marry two of Jane Austen's brothers," she explains.

"The Lloyds were cousins of the Earl of Craven who actually had a house in the Vale of the White Horse, Ashdown House, near Ashbury, and just down the road from Uffington Museum.

"We know that Jane Austen knew all about the Earl of Craven and it's very possible that he and a number of other members of the Craven family were inspiration for some of the characters in her books."

Ms Cornick describes William Craven in particular as a dashing "Regency rake" who Austen "would have disapproved of, so he was quite an important figure".

His cousin Tom Fowle was even engaged to Austen's sister Cassandra, though he died before they could marry.

Pride and Patronage will be open to visitors in the afternoons every Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday until the end of October.