Anyone missing James McAvoy's Glaswegian accent?

Cos it is very likely that you, like me, will go: 'Aaaarrrrggggggghhhhh!!! Jaaaames!!!' when you see this clip about manners during the Regency period:



And how the cricket was actually not popular in Ireland and Scotland, despite being a favourite sport in UK:




Also, Willow has posted the Becoming Jane cricket scene in YouTube.




Thank you Artisan News Service and Willow for the YouTube videos! By the way, James is bulkier, eh? Must be that 'Wanted' movie! And James is sooo cute and funny in both interview sessions!

Downloading music of ‘Becoming Jane’

Just a short article here friends, particularly for those residing outside the United States (like me, Rachel and Michelle) and hence cannot access the Becoming Jane music scores from Walmart and other companies that provide downloaded version of music in Becoming Jane. Particularly the beloved Hole in the Wall by Purcell.

What you need to do is to have Freecorder software that will record any sounds from the internet as you enter one site. It means that you can watch YouTube and download the music from the site as they play. As I type, I am downloading the famous background music of the Becoming Jane US Official Site in MP3 format, so I can play it over and over offline!

So you have to download Freecorder or similar software first. I got mine in the same package with FLV player (that’s the software to play FLV files you download from YouTube to watch videos online) from www.savevideodownload.com. The site will tell you to download the FLV player. As you download the player, make sure that you click the option for Freecorder that comes with the software, and embed it with your Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer. I’m sure that you can find a site to download Freecorder without downloading the FLV player, but I find having them both useful, so I download both anyway.

Later, you will have an additional toolbar in your IE or Firefox, with the record, stop, play and pause buttons. Punch ‘record’ if you want to record anything from the internet, and click stop when you’re hit full… I mean, when you’re done with it. It’s MP3 file, I don’t think many will have problems with that.

Have fun then!

Mansfield Park part 3: Drama in the MP drama

Phew! Finally, my seminar was over, and I can give Jane and Tom more attentions they deserve. First, news. Rachel is off to Africa for a very interesting voluntary project for three weeks; take care dearest Rachel, and let’s wish her all the best, great adventure and safe return. Now, back to MP. The second part of Mansfield Park was about astronomy and a bit of marriage. For this third instalment, we’re mostly going to talk about the drama within the drama in MP. I am also pleased to say that most of the ideas in this post are Michelle’s; she was the first one who threw the idea of a hidden drama beneath the theatrical episodes in MP, and I helped her polishing the ideas. Bear with us, it's gonna be a looong post. By the way, I’m using the 2003 Penguin edition of Mansfield Park.

Christmas, again

Before arriving to the drama within the drama in MP, allow me to look back at Chapter 9 (p. 83), where our hero Edmund Bertram said this to Mary Crawford:

EB: “Yes, I shall take orders soon after my father’s return – probably at Christmas.”

After learning of Anthony Lefroy, I tend to see the ‘take orders’ in this sentence as Tom Lefroy’s responsibility to take ‘appropriate action’ by marrying Mary Paul to save his family. I’m not sure about ‘my father’ reference (i.e. Sir Thomas Bertram), but indeed we cannot help noticing that such a change would happen at Christmas. Again, Jane Austen placed Christmas (a very important holiday for her) as a very important date in Mansfield Park, not only for the regular reunion between Fanny Price and her brother William, but also as a very important day for Edmund Bertram.

Drama in the drama

Now, the drama. The theatre episodes in MP covers chapter 12 to 18. Seven chapters just to cover a private play in Mansfield Park… don’t you think it’s a bit too much? Michelle got suspicious of this, and she dug more to find that the MP theatrical episodes was actually Jane Austen’s codes for what happened between her and Tom Lefroy, with Anthony Lefroy as the main supporting cast. The theatre itself was titled Lovers’ Vows, a free adaptation of August von Kotzebue’s The Natural Child by Elizabeth Inchbald; exceedingly renowned in London, and many fashionable resorts (including Bath) between 1798 and 1805.

LV was about a poor woman called Agatha who encountered Frederick (her long-lost, illegitimate son). They eventually resided in a cottage (as helpers, I presume) owned by Baron Wildenhaim, whom Agatha later recognized as her former seducer. The story also evolved to introduce other characthers, namely Amelia (Wildenhaim’s daughter), Anhalt (a chaplain and Amelia’s spiritual adviser) and Count Cassel (Amelia’s supposed fiancée, rich but of course boring). Expectedly, for such a story, Amelia fell in love with Anhalt instead, and later, after Baron found out that Frederick was actually his son, he was forced to make amends and allowed Amelia to marry Anhalt instead.

Two hundred miles, everyone?

In the midst of discussing LV (Chapter 13, p. 114), Mr. Yates suddenly launched a comment about his friend Lord Ravenshaw who had experienced an unfortunate event as of late as his grand mother passed away:

"It is not worth complaining about; but to be sure the poor old dowager could not have died at a worse time; and it is impossible to help wishing that the news could have been suppressed for just the three days we wanted. It was but three days; and being only a grandmother, and all happening two hundred miles off, I think there would have been no great harm, and it was suggested, I know; but Lord Ravenshaw, who I suppose is one of the most correct men in England, would not hear of it." (bolded sentences by Michelle)

Michelle suggested that Mr. Yates’ bewailing the untimely death of a relation many miles away was a bit weird, though he had his justifications, that Lord Ravenshaw was to play in the private Lovers’ Vows himself before ‘the poor old dowager’ (i.e. Lord Ravenshaw’s grandmother) died. Yates was callously wishing that the news could have been suppressed for at least for a couple of days until they did the deed.

Placing this situation in Jane/Tom paradigm … what if Tom and Jane were "that close" to coming to an understanding, healing the hurt, when Anthony’s news came and urged him to come to Ireland? Or was it that Tom’s parents indeed summoned him to Ireland? Who knows. But almost certainly, the news of Anthony Lefroy could not have come at a ‘worse time’ for JA/TL.

Okay, let’s look at the numbers now. Two hundred miles away, with a wish of three days’ news delay: two spatial and temporal references. And let’s look again at Chapter 3 (p. 26), as Edmund said to Fanny:

“Why, indeed, Fanny, I should hope to be remembered at such a distance as the White house. You speak as if you were going two hundred miles off, instead of only across the park.”

Hmmm… two hundred miles mentioned at least twice so far. Nothing is random in Jane Austen’s world. I think (and Michelle agrees) that two hundred miles is the reference of something important in Jane and Tom’s life. And via Google Earth, I learned that York (Anthony’s place) and London is 170 miles away; Dublin and London is 280 miles away; Dublin and York is 213 miles away. Average distance of the triangle is 224.3 miles. What do you think? :-D

We think that the two hundred miles reference in Mansfield Park does not only refer to Lovers’ Vows, but also to the radius among the three sites, or at least Dublin-York and York-London. And about the second reference:

“…it is impossible to help wishing that the news could have been suppressed for just the three days we wanted. It was but three days…”

Three days. THREE DAYS away... from what day? How about November 5, Anthony's wedding? Delaying it three days, we have November 8 or 9, 1798. If particular news could be suppressed at least 3 days... assuming that this reference is Jane/Tom-related, could it mean that Tom wanted to come to Hampshire on November 8 to talk of something very important with Jane? Food for thoughts and more research (as if we don’t have enough on our plates already).

Forced into the Drama

Anyway, Tom Bertram also had seen Lovers’ Vows in London and liked it so much that he wanted to have it played in Mansfield Park. Hence, he dragged his friends as the actors and actresses; some were excessively eager and supportive, some – like Fanny and Edmund – were appalled to the very idea. Still, the show would go on, and Tom had his actors and actresses lined up. Maria Bertram was to be Agatha, Henry Crawford as Frederick, Mr. Yates as the Baron, Mr. Rushworth (Maria’s fiancée) as Count Cassel… and of course the sassy Mary Crawford as the dazzling Amelia. Now what they needed was to find someone to play Anhalt.

Mary Crawford, being attracted to Edmund, naturally wanted Edmund to play Anhalt. Edmund initially refused, for he disliked the plots in Lovers’ Vows. But then, after three chapters of going round and round about who would play who… and that a Mr. Maddox was to play Anhalt, Edmund changed his heart and appealed for Fanny’s advice (Chapter 16, p. 142).

EB: “I do not know what to do. This acting scheme gets worse and worse, you see. They have chosen almost as bad a play as they could, and now, to complete the business, are going to ask the help of a young man very slightly known to any of us. This is the end of all the privacy and propriety which was talked about at first. I know no harm of Charles Maddox; but the excessive intimacy which must spring from his being admitted among us in this manner is highly objectionable, the more than intimacy – the familiarity. I cannot think of it with any patience; and it does appear to me an evil of such magnitude as must, if possible be prevented. Do not you see it in the same light?"

FP: "Yes; but what can be done? Your brother is so determined."

Fanny could not be more correct. Anthony had eloped anyway at that point!

EB: "There is but one thing to be done, Fanny. I must take Anhalt myself. I am well aware that nothing else will quiet Tom."

Fanny could not answer him.

Of course she could not. How could she? So…Anhalt was the bloke that finally married Amelia, played by Mary Crawford. And, Tom Lefroy should play Anhalt as well; marrying Miss Mary Paul! He realised that nothing but marrying Miss Paul would heal the wound Anthony had caused. Let’s resume.

“It is not at all what I like,” he continued. “No man can like being driven into the appearance of such inconsistency. After being known to oppose the scheme from the beginning, there is absurdity in the face of my joining them now, when they are exceeding their first plan in every respect; but I can think of no other alternative. Can you, Fanny?"

"No," said Fanny slowly, "not immediately, but--"

I remember the 1979 JAP Lefroy article that Arnie sent me (thanks again, Arnie), specifically a letter from Tom Lefroy to Mary, written in 1797 after Tom returned from his engagement to Mary during the 1797 Easter Term:

‘I fear, my dear Mary that you have been cursing Term very heartily for sometime and are almost angry with me for reckoning it so great a friend when it is so much your aversion… but I am drilling for active Service, as it were. I am anxious to come, as near as circumstances will allow, and finish Lawyer to the Bar… You will be repaid… by my best attention for life, and sharing whatever credit may accrue from my labours.’

Mary getting anxious about Tom’s commitment to her, eh? Don’t think that the study was the main reason for Tom delaying the engagement…and somehow Mary sensed it. I am not sure when Tom wrote this letter, but I am inclined to think that it was written before November 1797 when he met Jane again in Bath and felt more urge to cancel his engagement with Mary. I’m not sure if Jane knew that Tom had been engaged by then, but in any case, if he had indicated so, it would not be until Sept/October 1798 before he planned to have a serious conversation with Jane and cancel his commitment with Mary. But Anthony’s wedding changed it all.

Marriage for money

Now, let’s get back to Chapter 16 of Mansfield Park (p. 143):

"But what? I see your judgment is not with me. Think it a little over. Perhaps you are not so much aware as I am of the mischief that may of the unpleasantness that must arise from a young man's being received in this manner: domesticated among us; authorised to come at all hours, and placed suddenly on a footing which must do away all restraints. To think only of the licence which every rehearsal must tend to create. It is all very bad! Put yourself in Miss Crawford's place, Fanny. Consider what it would be to act Amelia with a stranger. She has a right to be felt for, because she evidently feels for herself. I heard enough of what she said to you last night to understand her unwillingness to be acting with a stranger; and as she probably engaged in the part with different expectations--perhaps without considering the subject enough to know what was likely to be-- it would be ungenerous, it would be really wrong to expose her to it. Her feelings ought to be respected. Does it not strike you so, Fanny? You hesitate."

Did he just say 'domesticated'? As in 'to accustom to household life or affairs' or MARRIAGE? I’m not sure if ‘domesticated’ has the same meaning now with the one in Jane Austen’s time. But if it does…this passage is a strong indication of Tom Lefroy marrying Miss Paul. And Edmund (TL) also asked Fanny (JA) to put herself in Mary Crawford's (Paul's) shoes... for Tom was after all still engaged with Mary. Or was it Jane Austen asking herself to understand Mary Paul better?

“I am sorry for Miss Crawford; but I am more sorry to see you drawn in to do what you had resolved against, and what you are known to think will be disagreeable to my uncle. It will be such a triumph to the others!”

"They will not have much cause of triumph when they see how infamously I act. But, however, triumph there certainly will be, and I must brave it. But if I can be the means of restraining the publicity of the business, of limiting the exhibition, of concentrating our folly, I shall be well repaid. As I am now, I have no influence, I can do nothing: I have offended them, and they will not hear me; but when I have put them in good-humour by this concession, I am not without hopes of persuading them to confine the representation within a much smaller circle than they are now in the high road for. This will be a material gain. My object is to confine it to Mrs. Rushworth and the Grants. Will not this be worth gaining?"

Let’s see here. RUSHWORTH and GRANTS. Don't the names sound like money and wealth for you? Rush Worth. Grants. Speedy money. In JA's perspective, Tom truly married just for money (well, in all fairness, I think he liked Mary Paul as well, though not as deep as with Jane Austen). For Jane, Tom’s marriage was very political in nature. I don’t think she was wrong.

Fanny seemed nearer being right than Edmund had supposed. The business of finding a play that would suit everybody proved to be no trifle; ...There were, in fact, so many things to be attended to, so many people to be pleased, so many best characters required, and, above all, such a need that the play should be at once both tragedy and comedy, that there did seem as little chance of a decision as anything pursued by youth and zeal could hold out. (Chapter 14, p. 122)

The business of finding a ‘play’ that would ‘suit everybody’ – how about finding a ‘wife’ – a ‘livelihood’ that would suit everybody? After all, Edmund Bertram (and Tom Lefroy) had so many people to be pleased. Was not the business of "marriage" a people-pleasing initiative? Would this not have been how the Irish Lefroy family looked upon their children’s marriages – arrangements to please and humour the Old Judge Uncle?

Let’s resume with Chapter 16 (p. 143):

FP: "Yes, it will be a great point."

EB: "But still it has not your approbation. Can you mention any other measure by which I have a chance of doing equal good?"

FP: "No, I cannot think of anything else."

EB: "Give me your approbation, then, Fanny. I am not comfortable without it."

FP: "Oh, cousin!"

EB: "If you are against me, I ought to distrust myself, and yet--But it is absolutely impossible to let Tom go on in this way, riding about the country in quest of anybody who can be persuaded to act--no matter whom: the look of a gentleman is to be enough.” (emphasise our own)

It's impossible to let Anthony go on his way alone, riding about the country with his new wife... seeking for anyone's support. He, Tom Lefroy, had to come and save his brother. And the bold sections really speak for themselves, do they not? Fanny (Jane) is distraught over Edmund (Tom's) inconsistency and betrayal of his own morality. The ‘acting scheme’ – ‘marriage scheme’ just gets worse and worse.

After reading those passages, we wonder whether Tom finally asked for Jane's approval, or at least understanding. Or was this Jane's wishful thinking of Tom talking to her and asked her permission or blessings? It’s a nice indulging thought that Tom still confided in Jane after returning to Ireland in November 1798. For how could Jane know about Anthony’s 'improper' behaviour then, if not from Tom Lefroy himself?

The Lefroy family conflict

Reading the hidden drama beneath the Lovers’ Vows, we see that the Mansfield Park family quarrels during the LV preparation were not only a reflection of discord among the Bertrams. No Sire, it was also Jane’s reflection on the true nature of the hidden disputes among the Lefroys and how Tom sacrificed himself to prevent further family confilcts. One of our thesis for Mansfield Park was that Tom actually trusted Jane with the story of his brother and his family… and Jane knew that, unlike what they tried to portray to the public, the Lefroys were not truly in harmony. See this sentence in Chapter 13 (p. 119-120) for example:

EB: “Family squabbling is the greatest evil of all, and we had better do anything than be altogether by the ears."

Also, the fight between Tom Bertram and his brother Edmund (p. 119):

TB: "Don't imagine that nobody in this house can see or judge but yourself. Don’t act yourself, if you do not like it, but don't expect to govern everybody else."

Here is Tom Bertram berating Edmund over his ‘interference’ and for daring to pass judgement on Tom's own judgement. He is telling Edmund to basically live by his own rules, but not expect others to adopt them. Was this ever Jane's perception of the "selfishness" of Anthony Lefroy? Or was it that Anthony indeed quarrelled with Tom Lefroy before AL married Elizabeth Wilkin?

In any case, Jane Austen seemed to despise the way some of the Lefroys placing burden upon Tom’s shoulders. In Chapter 15 (p. 137), Fanny was forced into acting in the drama, something that she truly did not like. Charming Edmund finally steps in, supporting his cousin's freedom of choice:

"Do not urge her, madam," said Edmund. "It is not fair to urge her in this manner. You see she does not like to act. Let her chuse for herself, as well as the rest of us. Her judgment may be quite as safely trusted. Do not urge her any more."

"I am not going to urge her," replied Mrs. Norris sharply; "but I shall think her a very obstinate, ungrateful girl, if she does not do what her aunt and cousins wish her – very ungrateful, indeed, considering who and what she is."

Here we have Fanny (Tom Lefroy) feeling the pressure of what his family and cousins wish (expect) of him and Jane Austen as the narrator disagreed with the pressure. JA might also wish that someone would talk Tom out of it (the way Edmund tried to reason with Mrs. Norris)... instead of the entire family and friends pushing him.

Next?

I plan to write another article this week about Jane’s gradual change of perception towards Anthony/Tom. I will be rather busy again these weeks, but Michelle and I have committed that we shall continue reading Mansfield Park to excavate hidden information beneath the passages. In any case, I hope dear readers are now convinced that Mansfield Park was indeed a precious book, and might even carry more stories about Tom Lefroy than JA’s other books. We will keep you posted of the news and reviews, so just keep looking at the blog! :-D

Reference:

Austen, J. 1814, Mansfield Park (2003 edition), Penguin, London.

Lefroy, J. A. P. 1979, 'Jane Austen's Irish Friend', Huguenot Society Proceedings, vol. 23, pp. 148-165.

Pic 1: Mansfield Park audio cassette cover, Amazon.com

Pic 2: Elizabeth Inchbald, from Chawton.org

Pic 3: Elvington Bridge at the City of York in Yorkshire, from Wikipedia

Pic 4: Dublin-York-London triangle

Pic 5: the play at Mansfield Park, University of Missouri Kansas City

Pic 6: Andrew Jack with Alessandro Nivola (Henry Crawford) and Frances O'Connor (Fanny Price), photo by Clive Coote, in Andrewjack.com

Pic 7: Fanny Price and Mary Crawford, Pemberley.com

Pic 8: the stamp of Mary and Henry Crawford, the UK Collectible Stamps

Pic 9: Mary Crawford and Fanny Price, djuna.cine21.com

Pic 10: Fanny and Edmund, from Britmovies UK

Pic 11: James Purefoy as Tom Bertram, from James Purefoy US Fansite

Radovici's Jane Austen & Tom Lefroy Petition

Finally, the Radovici Petition or ‘Radovici's Jane Austen & Tom Lefroy Petition’ is uploaded! We need your help, dear friends, to make this little precious book re-printed again, and hence we ask for your help to click on the Petition Online and leave your signatures there. Please spread the words… Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy need you. Not only it’s homage to the Romanian authoress Nadia Radovici who has passed away a few years ago; the book is also an incredible source and bases of Jane/Tom research, however under-used it is now. The petition text is as follows:

Dear Sir/Madam/Friends,

On behalf of Becoming Jane Fansite and fans of Jane Austen/Tom Lefroy alike, I would like to raise your concerns on the very limited number of available literatures on the romance and plight of Jane Austen with Thomas Langlois Lefroy (also known as Tom Lefroy). It is, sadly, not the truth universally acknowledged that the famous English authoress once shared a poetic chaste love with the young poor Irishman who later would become the renowned Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. Several biographers have attempted to explore their beautiful but tragic relationship, e.g. Claire Tomalin (‘Jane Austen: a Life’, 2000) and Jon Spence (‘Becoming Jane Austen’, 2003). The movie ‘Becoming Jane’ (BBC & Miramax, 2007) has also taken the chaste romance between Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy a step further.

In 1995, however, another writer had actually written a short but memorable book exploring interesting facts and speculations about Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy’s love story. The 80-pages book was titled ‘A Youthful Love: Jane Austen & Tom Lefroy?’, published by Merlin Books in Devon, UK, and written by Nadia Radovici. Radovici did not only explore common facts about Tom Lefroy known from Austen’s letters but also unnoticed connections to Tom excavated from Austen’s novels.

Alas, Radovici passed away circa the year 2000 without having her book widely known or distributed. Now, Radovici’s book is out of print; its copy is very hard to find, even in second-hand markets. We, Jane Austen lovers who support the idea of chaste romance between her and Tom Lefroy, share the loss of a good book that has become one of the bases for more rigorous research on Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy. Granted, more and more information on Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy has been compiled as of late beyond the scope of Radovici’s discussions. Nevertheless, we are still indebted to her book, and hence we ask any potential publishers to reprint Radovici’s book and make it widely available for the public to read.

Pic: cover to Radovici's 1995 book, out of print

My review of the Becoming Jane DVD

I just wanted to write a quick post as my ‘long-awaited’ Becoming Jane DVD arrived yesterday and I watched it the first chance I could last night.
I am heartbroken all over again!!! I have been wondering why this film has such a powerful impact on me. Firstly I think I am just a romanticist at heart and any doomed love story just plucks at my heart strings and bothers me for days (in this case, months) to follow! But this story is different…..I was really worried that all of the reading and insight that I have gained over the past few months would actually deter be from loving the film so much but this was not the case for I loved it more! I think that the Tom/Jane story is just so special. Since I have read more about the subject and visited Steventon and Ireland to see first hand where Tom and Jane walked and breathed, I think that I truly believe their story and feel that we cannot rest until we have done everything we can to find the truth.


Anyway, about the DVD. I ordered mine from http://www.play.com/ as I am confident in the reduced prices and service they offer. I am not saying this because of my love for everything Becoming Jane but the special features on this DVD are actually better than other’s in my collection.
Firstly, there are interviews with the director and other people involved in the making of Becoming Jane such as the fabulous people responsible for the costumes and make-up.
Also, there is the behind-the-scenes footage of the filming of two scenes from the film; the first is the boxing scene at Laversham fair when Tom launches into the ring and begins fighting. From this we see how wonderful James McAvoy is and how serious he was ensuring that it was just right. The other scene is the cricket scene. I have not watched this footage yet for I love this scene so much and I am not sure I want to see how it was filmed; I am sure that my intrigue will take over soon but at the moment I want to remain in a state of belief that it is all real and not a film!


Also amongst the special features is a series (approximately 10) of deleted scenes which made me very excited. You will be pleased to know that there are none involving Tom and Jane so they did not deprive us of any Tom/Jane interactions. There were, however, a few involving Cassandra that did not make the final cut. As I said to Icha and the others, this was such a shame for it really gave a better insight into the closeness of Jane and Cassandra. Also, Anna Maxwell Martin’s acting is so superb that it would have given her more of a chance to shine if the scenes had been included. I cannot remember all of the scenes right now but the ones that stood out for me were two in particular.
Firstly was an extended version of Cassandra’s grief for the loss of her fiancé. Right at the beginning of the film we saw Cassandra and Tom Fowle meet at the top of the stairs when they are awoken by Jane’s loud piano playing? Well in the deleted scene Cassandra retraces her footsteps to the top of the stairs, grieving for the loss of her Tom. It was really moving.
The other scene that I found particularly good showed Cassandra and Jane taking cover under a tree for it is raining hard; upon which they encounter Lucy Lefroy (Tom’s cousin) and her friend. It is set at the time when Tom returns to visit his aunt and uncle and does not go to see Jane (after the cork street meeting and before the meeting in the woods when Jane is out walking with her brother George). This deleted scene shows Jane asking Lucy with pleading eyes whether Tom is currently visiting nearby Ashe and when Lucy replies that he is, Jane appears devastated. I liked it because it is very emotionally evocative.
I think that overall, however, the final cut is perfect.

Finally on the special features is the theatrical trailer and a photo gallery. The photo gallery is fabulous; although most of the shots we have already posted here on the Becoming Jane site, there were a few treats that I had not seen before.


Sorry this post has turned out rather long but I just wanted to make you aware of something else that I noticed upon watching the film last night which actually shocked me.
When I returned from Ireland with photographs from ‘The King’s Inn’ (see my post below); myself, Icha and the others thought that the gate was used in the film. I confirmed that on viewing the film and in fact all of the shots which show Tom late and running to court were actually filmed at ‘The King’s Inn’ in Dublin. Very exciting!
If you again look at the photographs I took of the stained glass window with the ‘Thomas Lefroy’ inscription located within the building of ‘The King’s Inn’, the same shot of the glass is used in the film! We see Tom running up the stairs into the court room and he passes the stained glass window.
What I found so fascinating to comprehend is that the scenes in Becoming Jane involving a 20 year old Tom Lefroy studying in London were filmed in a place (Dublin) where the ‘real’ 50 year old Tom Lefroy actually walked! Also, James McAvoy is running up steps in front of glass that has an actual inscription of his character. Very spooky!

Pic 1: Becoming Jane DVD cover, taken from www.play.com
Pic2: Jane and Tom in cricket scene, taken from www.annie-hathaway.com
Pic 3: Jane and Cassandra, taken from www.annie-hathaway.com
Pic 4: Jane and Tom in the woods, taken from www.annie-hathaway.com
Pic 5: Stained glass window at The King's Inn, Dublin. Taken by me.

More 'Becoming Jane' clips!

OMG OMG OMG! My dearest friends, my sincere apology for leaving you without a new post for two days! I have been engaged with my real life... but thank the Force, I lurked into the YouTube just now, and found out that Willow09 has posted more BJ clips! So, here they are, and thanks a lot, Willow! So far, here's clips 7 to 13.

Oh, and my Blockbuster will have Becoming Jane DVD tomorrow, so I will be off early tomorrow evening for a very sacred ritual in front of the TV! My own DVD copy is winging its way across the sea from London now... hopefully will arrive soon. HMV is extremely reliable!



Clip 7: Tom Lefroy and Jane Austen started the elopement; Jane found the letter; tavern scene....Sigh...



Clip 8: the last reading. Jane Austen, meet Jane Lefroy.



Clip 9: Willow returned to the Selbourne Wood scene. Love their first banter!



Clip 10: the first reading, Tom's abrupt entrance... cute!



Clip 11: Discussing Tom Jones. All sorts of trouble!



Clip 12: the Laverton boxing scene. Ouch!



Clip 13: Jane and Tom's conversation after Judge Langlois' wrath in London. Sob-sob! Goodbye, Mr. Lefroy!

Mary Paul’s Genealogy

As Rachel returned to Ireland with the precious pedigree of Mary Paul, I can write a short article about it (thanks so much, Rachel!). The family tree is summarised from Burke’s Peerage and Baronetage 1843, a very old book and cannot be copied without extra cautions. Rachel took notes of it and created the pedigree below based on Burke's descriptions.

From the picture, you can see that Mary Paul was indeed related to the Christmas name. Here’s the recap of Rachel’s finding:

Combining with the Roots Web, we see that Jeffrey Paul (died in 1730) and Elizabeth Christmas (born 1689) were married in 1708, and had eight children, among others Christmas Paul, who later married Ellen Carew of County Wexford (!) circa 1739. Christmas Paul and Ellen Carew had seven children, among others Joshua Paul, who married Sarah Gun of County Kilmaney in 1771. One of their sons, Robert Joshua Paul, used to be an officer in the army before becoming very rich. The Rootsweb site stops at Robert Joshua Paul, without any information on his marriage and descendants, but Burke's book that Rachel found revealed that Robert Joshua was indeed Mary's grandfather.

We have not found Mary Paul’s date of birth yet, but it’s pretty much confirmed that the ‘Christmas’ element in Jane Christmas Lefroy was a homage to Mary’s ancestors. I also searched for the naming tradition circa 17-19 centuries, and I found among others this one:

The first son was named after the father's father.

The second son was named after the mother's father.

The third son was named after the father.

The fourth son was named after the father’s eldest brother.

The first daughter was named after the mother's mother.

The second daughter was named after the father's mother.

The third daughter was named after the mother.

The fourth daughter was named after the mother’s eldest sister.

At least, Thomas Langlois Lefroy followed the rules by naming his eldest daughter, his own Guardian Angel, after Mary Paul's mother (Jane Patterson) and he used her ancestor's name for ‘Christmas’. I duly give in to these facts.

But my romantic side still thinks that Tom paid a safe silent homage to Jane Austen there, for Christmas holidays were important for both Jane and Tom (not only once Jane inserted Christmas references as important events in her novels). And as dear Kari noticed, Tom had such a ‘coincidence’ to have a mother-in-law named Jane, whose husband was related to Christmases, hence the perfect name of ‘Jane Christmas’. In Kari’s words: ‘how eerily-coincidental that her name would become Jane AND her middle name Christmas. Even with the historical tradition of it it's just too perfect really.’

Why, my dear Kari, I whole-heartedly agree. And to me, Jane Christmas is still one of the most beautiful Anglo-Saxon name, in my humble opinion ;-)

Pic 1: Paul family tree, compiled by Rachel Kingston from Burke 1843

Pic 2: 'Dance of the Christmas Angel' by Deanna C.

Update 28 October 2007

Many thanks to Anielka for her eagle eyes… spotting that the name of Mary’s father was actually JEFFRY Paul, instead of Joshua Paul. It is our mistake for not detecting it earlier, hence we apologise for that. The picture you see now already has the part altered… and now Mary’s father was indeed Mr. Jeffry Paul.

My Trip To Ireland

As regular readers of the fansite probably know, I went to Ireland for three days last week on a mission to seek more information about the Lefroy’s, the Austen’s and the Paul’s (Tom’s wife Mary’s family).

I spent most of my time in the National Library of Ireland and the National Archives, both in Dublin reading various manuscripts and trying to gather as much information as possible. The bits and bobs that I did find will be posted in articles in the coming weeks but I thought that I would use this post to take you through what I did, what I felt, the people I met and the pictures I took along the way.

Wednesday late afternoon I arrived in Dublin. I had booked a hotel in the centre of the city so I settled myself then went for a wander! It really is a wonderful city. I love the people and their welcoming and friendly nature always makes me feel humble about the general attitude in England at times. I have to confess I spent the first evening enjoying the electric atmosphere of Temple bar!

Thursday morning I headed straight to the National Library and spent most of the day there. After I left, I went to nearby St Ann’s Church to find the graveyard as we learnt before my trip that Mary Paul (Tom’s wife) and other members of her family are buried there. I wanted to pay my respects but upon my arrival I realised that there was no graveyard in sight. I knocked on the door of the church and was told that there was no graveyard. I was baffled but determined to pursue it so I rang the Vicar of the church! He came to the church to meet me (I cannot explain how wonderful Irish people generally are, they always want to help) and told me the terrible story that 20 years ago permission was given to build a car park where the original graveyard was! Predictably there was a public uproar and it was agreed that the remains would be put in a vault within the church. The story gets worse; they did not identify the names of the bodies before placing them in the vault. Therefore Mary is most certainly there (I know she is!) but there is no mention of her name within the church. I personally think it is disgraceful and it made me very sad.

I next went to Leeson Street where we know that Tom and Mary lived. We were unsure of the specific house but I went to Ireland thinking that it was now a convent. I was mystified when I could not see a convent (much like the feeling of the missing graveyard!) I walked up and down and clearly must have looked lost, or even crazy to the passers by. I noticed a Catholic School run by priests so I thought that must be my best hope of locating the missing convent. I saw an old man walking down the steps. He thought I was a nun which led to a very interesting conversation! The man was a priest and has lived near Leeson Street all his life. He told me that in the 1980’s they closed the convent and showed me the original building (i.e. Tom’s house).

Here is a picture of the house with the original door. Another delightful man, one of many!

On my way back I took some photos of Trinity College; Tom’s university. It is such a magnificent set of buildings. I sat for a long time and contemplated my day, trying to imagine how different the college would have looked 200 years before. I really wanted to be transported back in time and have a conversation with Tom….oh how many questions I would have to ask!

Friday morning I visited Mt Jerome’s cemetery. It is huge and I was baffled about how I was going to find the grave of Tom Lefroy. Another nice person in the office helped me by retrieving a very large, very old book which had hand-written accounts of all the burials. It was so amazing and again I took a photo of the book. Tom was buried in a vault with other relatives so there is no headstone. What I found interesting was that in 1861 two coffins were moved from the city to this vault. I am not sure who these two people were. I found the vault and to my dismay there was a lorry parked in front delivering horses, yes horses, and there was no driver in sight! I thought that this situation was highly amusing considering the connections between horse riding and the Lefroy family! The plaque on the front of the vault refers to the last person to be buried in there. I had a good chat with Tom (although I am sure the others were all listening too) and asked him nicely to help us on our quest to find out the truth. It was a surreal moment and I know this sounds odd, but I felt very privileged to be there.

I wanted to get a clearer copy of the records from the burial book so I went to the public library (Gilbert’s Library on Pearce Street) and viewed a microfilm there to print. Here is the document.

It was to the National Archives next where I met with a genealogist. She was really nice but again had very little on the Paul’s which was a shame. Lastly on Friday I went to Henrietta Street to the King's Inns. I was in pursuit of a glass window with the inscription of Tom Lefroy’s name. I met a man who said that he had been looking at the glass every day for years without much knowledge of its significance. It is beautiful! It was a real treat to the end of the day. On the window were the Coat’s of Arms of all the relevant people in the history of Irish law. Of course the Chief Justice, our Tom, was presented, in the bottom right hand corner. This picture is of the outside gate and as Icha suggested, it may well have been the same gate in the scene where Tom was late and rushing towards court; the scene when the wonderful Bond Street Airs is played.

Saturday morning I caught a train to Bray and got a taxi asking for either ‘New Court’ or ‘Ardmore Studios’. I was looking for the house that Tom lived in and died in after he retired from his post as Lord Chief Justice in 1866. He lived in Bray for three years and died 4th May 1869. To be honest I was rather unsure what I was looking for. We had references to ‘a villa in New Court’ based on the letters sent from Tom during his time in Bray. I found references to ‘Ardmore’ during my searches at the library and Icha spotted a link in the Huguenot paper of JAP Lefroy (1979) to a country club. So a very uncertain me presented the dilemma to the nicest person I met on my visit, the taxi driver. He so desperately wanted to help me so I couldn’t believe my luck when he drove me to a little book shop in Bray. The owner, Henry, is a local historian who has written many books on Bray. He did not know which house it was and is now also on a mission as I think I have now made him very intrigued! He gave me three possibilities though which I visited and here are the pics. What do you think? Do you think any of these houses were Tom’s?

Henry explained that in the 1850’s there was a family called the Putnam’s who owned a house called ‘New Court’. To me this seemed to be the most probable house as we have seen letters which stated ‘New Court.’ I mentioned the Ardmore link and he said that there are two more possible houses that existed at that time. One is actually in the complex of the Ardmore Film Studio’s which is very odd considering that Ardmore Studio’s were used in the production of Becoming Jane. The final house is in Ardmore Park. It was such a fascinating part of my trip. I have to say that my gut feeling was the house that he called ‘New Court’ but we shall see.

In the afternoon before my flight home I went to Kilruddery House in Bray. Parts of Becoming Jane were filmed there and we at the fansite have always thought it was very coincidental that some of the film was shot in the place where the real Tom Lefroy died. Especially considering that Bray is such a small town. Kilruddery House is utterly beautiful and I hope that this is reflected in the pictures.

I noticed that the area of trees in the grounds of the house would have been perfect for the Selbourne Wood scene. What do you think? The tour guide said that the trees were over 300 years old so it would have been accurate- I do hope that it was filmed there, it was such a perfect location.

I know that this is a very long post but I really wanted to share my adventure and pictures with all of you. It was so special and I feel even closer to Tom and Jane than I did before. I think I was guided on this trip and I think I know who by…..

Pic 1: St Ann's Church

Pic 2: 18 Leeson Street

Pic 3: Original Door at Leeson Street

Pic 4+5: Trinity College

Pic 6: Church at Mt Jerome Cemetery

Pic 7: Vault of Tom Lefroy

Pic 8: Burial Records Book

Pic 9: Gate at the King's Inns

Pic 10+11: Glass with inscription of Thomas Lefroy

Pic 12: House 1- Once called 'New Court'

Pic 13: House 2- Inside Ardmore Film Studio's

Pic 14: House 3- At Ardmore Park

Pic 15: Kilruddery House

Pic 16: Kilruddery Gardens

Pic 17: Woods in the grounds of Kilruddery House