Wentworth Woodhouse a claim that the property had been Jane Austen's inspiration for Pemberley in her novel "Pride and Prejudice". It was thought that there might have been a connection to the house because Austen uses the name Fitzwilliam in her novel, but following the Chancellor's Autumn Statement the Jane Austen Society dismissed the likelihood that Austen had had the house in mind, given the absence of any evidence that she had visited the estate. Austen does, however, name a character Frederick Wentworth in "Persuasion", and the eponymous heroine of "Emma" has the surname Woodhouse. The series from BBC titled "The Country
Arthur Austen-Leigh Arthur Austen-Leigh Arthur Henry Austen-Leigh (28 February 1836 – 29 July 1917) was an English Anglican vicar, cricketer and association footballer. Austen-Leigh was born at Speen, Berkshire in February 1836, to Emma Smith and her husband, the vicar, James Edward Austen-Leigh, who was a nephew to the novelist Jane Austen. He was educated at both Radley College and Cheltenham College, before studying law and theology at Balliol College, Oxford. While studying at Balliol in 1857, Austen-Leigh played first-class cricket for the Gentlemen of England against the Gentlemen of Kent and Sussex at Lord's. He batted once in the match, opening