'The Thing About Austen' with Emma Rutherford

 Emma Rutherford, portrait miniature consultant at Philip Mould & Company sits down with Zan Cammack and Diane Neu in this week's instalment of their podcast The Thing about Austen. The possible inspiration behind Lydia Bennet and portrait miniatures were topics of conversation.

This portrait miniature of Mary Pearson was featured in this podcast (fig.1, previously with Philip Mould & Company). Mary Pearson became engaged to Henry Thomas Austen, the brother of Jane Austen, in 1796. She was the daughter of the distinguished naval officer Sir Richard Pearson and his wife Margaret and it is likely that Mary & Henry met whilst his regiment was stationed at Sheerness. It was around this time that Jane first started writing her militia novel First Impressions, later to be named Pride and Prejudice. Austen notes the attraction of military men to vulnerable young women like Mary Pearson. The brief engagement of Mary and Henry was short-lived and handled badly by Henry who swiftly moved his attentions to his cousin Eliza Hancock.

Listen to the full podcast here, and find out more about Austen's treatment and reaction to Mary Pearson, along with more on 18th-century portrait miniatures.

Listen to the podcast here: The Thing About Austen