Jane Austen's Clergymen Trivia Quiz

Answer: Charlotte Lucas

Mr Collins was probably the most absurd clergyman to be formed by Jane Austen's pen. His character was a mass of contradictions as he was pompous, proud and pontificating as well as clumsy, ignorant and servile. Overall he was a unappealing suitor to all of the Bennet sisters (with perhaps the exception of the religiously-minded Mary), but became a particular problem for the novel's heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, when he actually proposed to her. Fortunately for Elizabeth's peace of mind, after (eventually) accepting her refusal Mr Collins swiftly moved on and proposed to her best friend Charlotte Lucas just a few days later.

Maria Lucas was Charlotte's younger sister, Caroline Bingley was the unmarried sister of Mr Bingley and Mary King was an heiress targeted by Mr Wickham.

Answer: Winthrop

Charles Hayter's mother was the sister of Mrs Musgrove, but although the Hayter's estate of Winthrop was close to the Musgrove's home at Uppercross, only her eldest son Charles really featured in the story. He had been the acknowledged suitor of his cousin Henrietta Musgrove for some time, but his relative poverty meant that he wasn't able to support a wife and as a result their relationship faltered when both Musgrove sisters made the acquaintance of the dashing, handsome and rich Captain Wentworth. In the end though, it was Louisa Musgrove who became linked to Captain Wentworth and Charles Hayter was able to obtain a suitable living (albeit a temporary one), which allowed him and Henrietta to plan their wedding.

Kellynch Hall belonged to the Eliots, but was leased by the Crofts. Lyme was the coastal town visited by the Musgroves, Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth.

Answer: "A transplantation would be a risk of [his] comfort, perhaps even of his life"

The line "a transplantation would be a risk of [his] comfort, perhaps even of his life" actually comes from Jane Austen's 'Emma', and was one of Mr Knightley's thoughts about the impracticality of taking Emma's elderly father to live at Donwell Abbey after his and Emma's marriage.

Mr Norris was only mentioned a handful of times in 'Mansfield Park' and had died by the time Fanny Price was 15, several years before the period in which the majority of the novel was set. His relative poverty compared to his friend (and brother-in-law) Sir Thomas Bertram was described at the same time Austen noted that Mrs Norris had "found herself obliged to be attached" to him. The remainder related to the fact that he was too unwell to allow Mrs Norris to invite Fanny to live with her rather than the Bertrams ("he could no more bear the noise of a child than he could fly; if, indeed, he should ever get well of his gouty complaints"); the announcement of his death; and Mrs Norris's later comments about how she would have improved the rectory's garden but didn't want to because Mr Norris was too ill to appreciate the results ("he could hardly ever get out, poor man, to enjoy anything").

Answer: His mother discovered his secret engagement to Lucy Steele

The process of becoming a clergyman in England in the early 19th century was clearly somewhat different to what it is today. Appointments of clergymen to parishes were generally determined by patronage and under the control of the landed upper classes. However, prospective clergymen were often the younger sons or poorer relations of the gentry and attended university to be ordained specifically because they knew there would be jobs (or 'livings') waiting for them. A large proportion of the clergymen of this time probably took the job for the money rather than any specific vocation for the Church.

Although Edward Ferrars stated that he "preferred the church", he actually led the life of an idle gentleman due to the fact that his mother's wealth meant he had no need to earn his own living. Unfortunately, his lifestyle was dependent on the continued support of his mother and the price of that support was that he marry her choice of a suitably wealthy bride. When it came out that he had been secretly engaged for several years to Lucy Steele, the penniless niece of his former tutor, his mother duly disinherited him in favour of his younger brother. Ironically, his subsequent poverty then led Lucy Steele to abandon him and marry his younger brother instead.

Edward and the novel's heroine, Elinor Dashwood, did get married in the end, but it was the roguish Mr Willoughby who fathered a child with Colonel Brandon's ward.

Answer: Richard

The events of 'Northanger Abbey' suggested that Richard Morland was far from "neglected, or poor" and in fact a relatively wealthy clergyman. He was able to provide significant financial support for his ten children, as evidenced by the £400 a year living he intended to give his eldest son on his marriage and the £3,000 dowry he had set aside for his eldest daughter Catherine - the heroine of the novel. However, his respectability was qualified by the disclaimer "though his name was Richard"; a statement that might leave the reader scratching their head as to why Jane Austen thought that men named Richard were not respectable. Academic opinions on this mysterious line have suggested that it was probably some sort of private joke between Austen and her family and that it fits with the novel's comedic style.

Henry Woodhouse was the father of the title character of 'Emma', Henry Dashwood was the father of the Dashwood sisters in 'Sense and Sensibility' and Sir Walter Elliot was Anne Elliot's father in 'Persuasion' - none of them were clergymen. Jane Austen's own father was a clergyman and his first name was George. (Austen never revealed the first names of either Mr Bennet from 'Pride and Prejudice' or Mr Price from 'Mansfield Park'.)

Answer: Dr Grant

Dr Grant took over the living of Mansfield when Sir Thomas Bertram was effectively forced to sell it to pay off the debts of his eldest son, Tom. His previous intention had been to hold on to it in order to give it to his younger son Edmund once he was old enough to be ordained. He lectured Tom on how his profligacy had seriously damaged his brother's future income, but Tom was able to assuage his guilt by noting "that the future incumbent, whoever he might be, would, in all probability, die very soon". He was therefore quite relieved to note that despite being only 45 years old, Dr Grant was "a short-necked, apoplectic sort of fellow, and, plied well with good things, would soon pop off." Dr Grant did eventually justify this description when he died a few years after Edmund and Fanny's marriage following "three great institutionary dinners in one week".

Mr Rushworth and the Hon. John Yates married Maria and Julia Bertram respectively. Mr Crawford was Dr Grant's brother-in-law who wanted to marry Fanny.

Answer: Emma herself

Although Emma Woodhouse thought she was a brilliant matchmaker, her interference in the love life of her friend Harriet Smith was nothing short of a disaster. She dissuaded Harriet from marrying a farmer whom she truly loved and instead talked her into love with the clergyman Mr Elton. Unfortunately she had failed to notice that Mr Elton was only interested in social status and wealth and would never have considered an illegitimate and penniless young woman like Harriet as a suitable bride. Instead he had actually set his sights on the influential Miss Woodhouse and her £30,000 dowry. Emma had assumed that Mr Elton only paid attention to her because she was Harriet's friend, so got a nasty shock when he proposed to her instead.

Emma's sister Isabella had already been married to Mr John Knightley for a number of years before the events of the novel. Jane Fairfax turned out to be secretly engaged to Mr Frank Churchill and Miss Bates was Jane's spinster aunt.

Answer: Captain Wentworth

Edward Wentworth was a clergyman who had previously held the curacy of Monkford, a village close to the Kellynch Hall estate. He was therefore a neighbour of both the Elliot and Musgrove families. During his residence there - around seven years before the main events of the novel - he had been visited by his brother Frederick, an unemployed naval captain. This visit had provided the opportunity for the novel's heroine, Anne Elliot, to meet and fall in love with Captain Wentworth. Her subsequent rejection of his marriage proposal due to the persuasion of her friend, Lady Russell (and the years she spent regretting that decision) formed the background to the whole plot of the novel.

The other relation of Edward Wentworth who played a major role in the events of 'Persuasion' was Mrs Croft, his sister. When she and husband, Admiral Croft, rented Kellynch Hall from the Elliots she provided the opportunity for Captain Wentworth to return to the neighbourhood and rekindle his relationship with Anne.

Answer: Gloucestershire

Henry Tilney was the son of General Tilney, the owner of a large house called Northanger Abbey about 30 miles away from the city of Bath in the county of Gloucestershire. As a second son he wasn't destined to inherit Northanger but instead held the living of Woodston, a large village about a three-hour drive (by horse and carriage) from his father's home. Henry Tilney was not portrayed by Jane Austen as being all that dedicated to his parish, as he spent a lot of his time at Northanger with his sister and evidently went frequently to Bath. He also noted that he "must be at Woodston on Monday to attend the parish meeting, and shall probably be obliged to stay two or three days" - which apparently meant the parish clergyman didn't plan to conduct mass himself at the church on the Sunday!

Derbyshire was the home county of Mr Darcy in 'Pride and Prejudice', Surrey was the setting for 'Emma' and the eponymous Mansfield Park was in Northamptonshire.

Answer: Thornton Lacey

After initially losing out on the living at Mansfield itself thanks to his brother's debts, Edmund Bertram became the clergyman for the nearby village of Thornton Lacey after his ordination. This event took place at Christmas, shortly after the ball held at Mansfield in honour of Fanny Price's 'coming out' into society and around the same time that Henry Crawford proposed marriage to Fanny and was rejected. The event also marked a major stumbling block in Edmund's relationship with Mary Crawford. She had a large fortune and had spent a lot of time in London society - simply put, she expected to marry a wealthy landed gentleman, not a humble clergyman.

Everingham was Mr Crawford's estate; Sotherton Court was the estate that belonged to Maria Bertram's husband, Mr Rushworth; and Compton was an estate that belonged to one of Rushworth's friends.