Dorsetshire

Colonel Brandon places Eliza Williams "under the care of a very respectable woman, residing in Dorsetshire" about three years before Sense and Sensibility begins. We also know Mrs. Jennings has a brother in Dorsetshire, living in Weymouth.

Miss Godby

Miss Godby is a young lady in Anne Steel’s circle of acquaintance in London. She gossips with Miss Sparks about the Lucy and Edward business.

Weymouth

Weymouth is a real-life town on the seaside in Dorsetshire. In Sense and Sensibility, we learn that Mrs. Jennings has a brother in Weymouth, whom Charlotte Palmer is visiting while her mother is at Barton Park.

Biddy Henshawe

Biddy Henshawe is or was an aunt of Miss Grey, likely of Mrs. Jennings’ generation. Mrs. Jennings says: “I remember her aunt very well, Biddy Henshawe; she married a very wealthy man. But the family are all rich together.”

It is unclear whether Henshawe is her maiden name or married name. Likely, her first name is actually “Bridget.”

The Late Mr. Ferrars

Though Mr. Ferrars is already deceased when the novel opens, we know that he was the husband of Mrs. Ferrars and the father of Edward and Robert Ferrars and Mrs. Fanny Dashwood.

We are told that he died “very rich” and managed to leave almost the whole of his fortune to his eldest son Edward in such a way that it depended on “the will of his mother.” As Edward was educated privately but younger brother Robert went to public school, it’s entirely possible that Mr. Ferrars’ status and/or wealth increased over the course of the boys’ childhoods. As he was able to write his widow's input so wholly into his son's inheritance, it seems likely that the fortune was gathered during his lifetime and is not an ancestral estate.

Miss Sophia Grey

Age

Mrs. Jennings says she is “of age” when she gets engaged to Willoughby, which likely means at least 25.

Family and Situation

Though we learn little of Miss Grey’s family, we know that she is living with guardians named Mr. and Mrs. Ellison, suggesting that her parents may well be deceased or are otherwise out of the picture. Mrs. Jennings hears gossip that Miss Grey and Mrs. Ellison do not get along and that the Ellisons are likely happy to see her married off.

We do know that Miss Grey had an aunt whom Mrs. Jennings knew “very well” and calls “Biddy Henshawe.”

We know that Miss Grey has a dowry of £50,000, which would be very large for the time. Mrs. Jennings says that “the family are all rich together,” so there may be additionally good connections.

Connections

Miss Gray Is “particular friends” with someone who knows Mrs. Taylor. This common acquaintance has the whole story about the Willoughby engagement.

Miss Grey made the acquaintance of Mr. Willoughby prior to his sojourn in Devonshire; he even says that “I had reason to believe myself secure of my present wife, if I chose to address her, and I persuaded myself to think that nothing else in common prudence remained for me to do.”

Appearance

When seen across the room by Elinor and Marianne, the narrator describes Miss Grey as a “very fashionable looking young woman.” Mrs. Jennings later conveys that the consensus is that she is “a smart, stylish girl...but not handsome.”

Character

When Elinor asks if Miss Grey is reputed to be amiable, Mrs. Jennings says "I never heard any harm of her; indeed I hardly ever heard her mentioned,” suggesting, when coupled with her older age and enormous dowry, that she is not likely to be very outgoing or engaging.

On the other hand, Willoughby characterizes her as “jealous as the devil.” He later explains that she discovered the correspondence with Marianne by playfully reading his letters and then taking the revelation with “wretchedness,” “passion” and “malice.” He then insists that the cold letter he send to cut ties with Marianne was dictated by Sophia. Of course, we know Willoughby has warped the truth in other contexts, so this may just be an excuse for acting poorly.

Mrs. Smith evaluates her to be “a woman of character,” thus ensuring her forgiveness of Willoughby. Willoughby insists to Elinor that “She does not deserve your compassion.—She knew I had no regard for her when we married.—Well, married we were, and came down to Combe Magna to be happy, and afterwards returned to town to be gay.” The narrator does tell us that Willoughby eventually finds some measure of “domestic felicity,” so she must be able to overlook his faults and find a comfortable equilibrium.

Mr. Donovan

Mr. Donovan is either a surgeon or a physician who is called upon to check on the Palmers’ new baby when Charlotte is concerned that he may have red gum.

Presumably, the man is well connected in London society; on his call to the Palmers’ home, he tells Charlotte and Mrs. Jennings the gossip about Edward and Lucy being engaged.

Lord Courtland

Lord Courtland is a friend that Robert Ferrars mentions as having recently been trying to build a house with plans by Bonomi.

Mrs. Dashwood

Age

Fanny Dashwood calculates that she is “hardly forty.”

Family and Situation

Mrs. Dashwood is the second wife and widow of Henry Dashwood and the mother of Elinor, Marianne and Margaret Dashwood. She is also the stepmother of John Dashwood but, we know, does not get along with his wife Fanny.

Though Henry had intended to save up to provide for his wife and daughters, his own income, apart from his inheritance at Norland Park was quite limited and Norland was entailed in such a way that he could not break a part off to provide for the ladies. The narrator tells us that when Henry died “ten thousand pounds, including the late legacies, was all that remained for his widow and daughters.”

We have little information on Mrs. Dashwood’s upbringing, but we know her daughters are affected by the succession of Norland because she “had nothing” to bring into the marriage. However, the narrator does describe Mrs. Dashwood as “a woman who never saved [money] in her life.” Additionally Mrs. Dashwood says to her daughters “It is very right that you SHOULD go to town; I would have every young woman of your condition of life acquainted with the manners and amusements of London,” suggesting she likely had a London season herself. Overall, the picture painted is that she may not have been well-dowered, but seems to have been brought up in a genteel family.

We also know that Sir John Middleton is “a relation” of Mrs. Dashwood’s own, suggesting at least some gentility in the family. The narrator tells us that Mrs. Dashwood would have considered Devonshire too far to relocate before she became desperate to escape cohabitating with Fanny Dashwood, so it may well be that the Middletons were not especially close to Mrs. Dashwood’s branch of the family.

After she married Henry Dashwood, they lived together at a place called Stanhill for a number of years before Henry’s uncle encouraged them to come live at Norland Park, the place Henry would one day inherit. In settling Henry Dashwood’s estate, Fanny says “When [John’s] father and mother moved to Norland, though the furniture of Stanhill was sold, all the china, plate, and linen was saved, and is now left to [Mrs. Dashwood].”

Of Fanny and Mrs. Dashwood’s relationship we are told: “The contempt which [Mrs. Dashwood] had, very early in their acquaintance, felt for her daughter-in-law, was very much increased by the farther knowledge of her character, which half a year's residence in her family afforded; and perhaps in spite of every consideration of politeness or maternal affection on the side of the former, the two ladies might have found it impossible to have lived together so long, had not a particular circumstance occurred to give still greater eligibility, according to the opinions of Mrs. Dashwood, to her daughters' continuance at Norland./This circumstance was a growing attachment between her eldest girl and the brother of Mrs. John Dashwood.”

Appearance

At one point, Fanny Dashwood describes her as “stout and healthy.” As both Elinor and Marianne are described as attractive, it seems likely Mrs. Dashwood was as well as one time, if not now.

Character

Mrs. Dashwood is noted as being the origin of Marianne’s tremendous emotional volatility -- we are even told of Marianne that “the resemblance between her and her mother was strikingly great.” In the midst of mourning their deceased father and husband, we are told “They encouraged each other now in the violence of their affliction. The agony of grief which overpowered them at first, was voluntarily renewed, was sought for, was created again and again. They gave themselves up wholly to their sorrow, seeking increase of wretchedness in every reflection that could afford it, and resolved against ever admitting consolation in future.” We also know that, like Marianne, she can be very engaging; as she attempts to get to know shy Edward Ferrars, we are told “Her manners were attaching, and soon banished his reserve.”

This can also cause Mrs. Dashwood to be petty. When Fanny Dashwood (with John in tow) turns up to take possession of Norland Park immediately after the funeral of Henry with no advance warning, Mrs. Dashwood is very upset because “in HER mind there was a sense of honor so keen, a generosity so romantic, that any offence of the kind, by whomsoever given or received, was to her a source of immovable disgust. Mrs. John Dashwood had never been a favourite with any of her husband's family; but she had had no opportunity, till the present, of shewing them with how little attention to the comfort of other people she could act when occasion required it.”

Mrs. Dashwood also have very fixed and romantic notions about love and matchmaking. She is insistent that husband-hunting is not a hobby to which her daughters have been brought up and the narrator tells us that while some mothers might have limited Elinor and Edward’s romance out of prudence, Mrs. Dashwood didn’t “It was enough for her that he appeared to be amiable, that he loved her daughter, and that Elinor returned the partiality. It was contrary to every doctrine of hers that difference of fortune should keep any couple asunder who were attracted by resemblance of disposition; and that Elinor's merit should not be acknowledged by every one who knew her, was to her comprehension impossible.” On a later occasion, Mrs. Dashwood herself says “I have never yet known what it was to separate esteem and love.”

Fairly unique among matrons in many of Austen’s novels, Mrs. Dashwood’s character and ideas do evolve over time. Though initially she is confused by Elinor’s affection for Edward, once she gets to know him “She speedily comprehended all his merits; the persuasion of his regard for Elinor perhaps assisted her penetration; but she really felt assured of his worth: and even that quietness of manner, which militated against all her established ideas of what a young man's address ought to be, was no longer uninteresting when she knew his heart to be warm and his temper affectionate.” Mrs. Dashwood also comes to see that her instincts about Willoughby are quite wrong (though she never acknowledges as much), and comes to root for Colonel Brandon as suitor for her middle daughter.

Whitwell

Whitwell is a stately home approximately 12 miles from Barton. The owner is brother-in-law to Colonel Brandon (presumably through his sister), and is from home when the group from Barton attempt to picnic there in the first half of the novel.

Though no one ever enters Whitwell, we are told “The grounds were declared to be highly beautiful,....They contained a noble piece of water.”

Stanhill

Based on conversations in the novel, it appears that Stanhill is a home dwelt in by Henry and Mrs. Dashwood before they moved to Norland Park. Fanny Dashwood says “When your father and mother moved to Norland, though the furniture of Stanhill was sold, all the china, plate, and linen was saved, and is now left to your mother.”

Norland Park

Norland Park is the residence at the center of the Dashwood family’s large country estate.

Architecture and Decor

Partway through the novel, we hear that the Dashwood girls discover “an ancient respectable looking mansion” in the neighborhood of Barton which, we are told, reminds them a little of Norland. We find out later that this house is Allenham.

Based on conversations between John Dashwood and Elinor, we are led to believe that John and Fanny make significant change to the home after Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters leave. Since much of the furniture and china go with the Dashwood women, John says, he and Fanny have to replace much of it. Furthermore, he adds that they are planning a flower garden and a green house “upon the knoll behind the house. The old walnut trees are all come down to make room for it. It will be a very fine object from many parts of the park, and the flower-garden will slope down just before it, and be exceedingly pretty. We have cleared away all the old thorns that grew in patches over the brow."

Park, Gardens, and Land

We also know that John Dashwood begins the enclosure process for Norland Commons somewhere after taking possession and before February, when he is in London.

New London Inn

The New London Inn is located in Exeter, Devonshire.

Thomas from Barton Cottage is there relaying a message of one of the post boys from the post boy’s sister Sally, who works at Barton Park. There, he sees Lucy Ferrars née Steele and Robert, just married.

Newton

Newton is a fictional town in the vicinity of Barton. At one point, Sir John says “here are the two Miss Careys come over from Newton.”

Mrs. Jennings' London House

Mrs. Jennings owns a townhouse in Upper Berkeley Street, near London's Portman Square, which houses the Dashwood girls during the course of the novel. We know that her husband had a career trading in the City, so it’s likely that the townhouse was a purchase later in life.

Architecture and Decor

When Elinor and Marianne arrive, they discover “The house was handsome, and handsomely fitted up, and the young ladies were immediately put in possession of a very comfortable apartment. It had formerly been Charlotte's, and over the mantelpiece still hung a landscape in coloured silks of her performance.”

We are given few details about the rest of the house, but we do know that the girls receive many callers while in town and Mrs. Jennings hosts several dinners, so it’s likely the public rooms are quite large.

Staffing

Mrs. Jennings mentions a Cartwright who must be either the butler or the housekeeper. We also know that Mrs. Jennings has a maid she calls Betty whom she seems to know quite well.

East Kingham Farm

East Kingham Farm is a large property abutting Norland Park’s estate owned by “old Gibson,” presumably later put up for sale upon Gibson’s demise.

Partway through the novel, John Dashwood purchases this property saying “The land was so very desirable for me in every respect, so immediately adjoining my own property, that I felt it my duty to buy it. I could not have answered it to my conscience to let it fall into any other hands.”

The Rectory at Delaford

There is some debate about the rectory--and living--at Delaford. Colonel Brandon says that it is “but a small one,” going on to say that “the late incumbent...did not make more than £200 per anum, and though it is certainly capable of improvement, I fear, not to such an amount as to afford...a very comfortable income.” He later explains that he thinks a bachelor could live there comfortably, but does not see how one could raise a family on such a sum.

Later on, Mrs. Jennings dismisses these claims, calling him “a ninny” and saying that “because he has two thousand a-year himself, he thinks that nobody else can marry on less.”She is sure that a savvy housekeeper (which, she assumes would be Lucy Steele) could live quite comfortably on what is available.

Either way, we know that the rectory is quite close to the Delaford manor house.

Delaford

Delaford is the ancestral home of Colonel Brandon, which he inherited upon the early death of his brother. It is located in Dorsetshire and is reasonably close to Barton. The action in the novel never actually travels to Delaford but the reader hears much of it from Mrs. Jennings and, occasionally, Brandon himself.

Delaford appears to have its own surrounding village. Mrs. Jennings says that it is “close to the church, and only a quarter of a mile from the turnpike-road, so ‘tis never dull.” She later adds that there is “a butcher hard by in the village and the parsonage-house within a stone’s throw,” little anticipating that this proximity will later be of interest to the Dashwood girls.

We are led to believe that the estate is a fairly modest one. Mrs. Jennings says that it was never reckoned at more than £2,000 per anum and that she suspects Brandon inherited quite a bit of debt and ill-management from his brother.

Architecture and Decor

Mrs. Jennings describes Delaford as a “nice old fashioned place, full of comforts and conveniences.”Later on, she adds that it “has five sitting rooms on the ground-floor, and I think the housekeeper told me could make up fifteen beds!”

Park, Gardens and Land

Mrs. Jennings says that the house is “quite shut in with great garden walls that are covered with the best fruit-trees in the country,” with “such a mulberry tree in one corner!” She goes on to say that “there is a dove-cote, some delightful stew-ponds, and a very pretty canal; and every thing in short, that one could wish for.”

Later on, Mrs. Jennings mentions a yew arbor back behind the house with trees high enough to climb. John Dashwood later confirms this, praising the woods associated with the estate and saying “I have not seen such timber any where in Dorsetshire, as there is now standing in Delaford Hanger.”

History and Context

Based on the general attitude towards Delaford, it sounds like an older home -- perhaps an early Palladian, but more likely Baroque or even Jacobean. We are given several clues, such as Mrs. Jennings’ praise of the gardens or how comfortable the home is, that suggest Brandon has is a diligent master who has carefully maintained the house, despite the condition it was in before he inherited.

Combe Magna

Combe Magna is the estate home owned by John Willoughby. We know that it is in Somersetshire and between 10 and 30 miles from Cleveland, where Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Palmer live.

As the characters never travel to Combe Magna, we have little information about its design. Elinor seems to think that the estate brings in around £2,000, which suggests it is fairly modest, perhaps explaining why the general attitude is that inheriting Allenham will significantly enhance Willoughby’s stature.

Mr. Palmer says that the house is “as vile a spot as I ever saw in my life,” which may mean it is old fashioned and in need of repair, in contrast to the Palmers’ “modern-built” home.

Cleveland

Cleveland is a stately home in Somersetshire and the county seat of hopeful M.P. Mr. Thomas Palmer, Esq. He lives there with his wife, Charlotte Palmer, and, by the end of the novel, their infant son.

We know from events in the novel that Cleveland is fairly close to Bristol, between 10 and 30 miles from Combe Magna, and reasonably close to Barton, Devonshire.

Architecture and Decor

Cleveland is described as “a spacious, modern-built house.” We know there is a library but have few other details.

Park, Gardens and Land

The narrator tells us that Cleveland is “situated on a sloping lawn. It had no park, but the pleasure-grounds were tolerably extensive; and like every other place of the same degree of importance, it had its open shrubbery, and closer wood walk, a road of smooth gravel winding round a plantation, led to the front, the lawn was dotted over with timber, the house itself was under the guardianship of the fir, the mountain-ash, and the acacia, and a thick screen of them altogether, interspersed with tall Lombardy poplars, shut out the offices.”

We also know there is a Grecian temple which overlooks a big vista to the southeast. Marianne takes several walks around the grounds during her stay there and especially enjoys the “most distant parts of them, where there was something more of wildness than in the rest, where the trees were the oldest, and the grass was the longest and wettest.”

History and Context

Because the house is described as “modern” in design but Marianne is not particularly in raptures about it, we can guess that it is likely English Palladian and not fully Gothic revival.