Stuart Halliday

Mr Edward Bennet of Longbourn Stuart Halliday

These are the recollections of Mr Edward Alston Bennet (1755-1841), father of the five Bennet sisters made famous by Jane Austen's great work of fiction. The long span of the memoirs (1765-1825) on which the book is based, makes it both a prequel and a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. It tells of Mr Bennet's days at Rugby School and Cambridge, of his Grand Tour, and of his later life; especially of his 12-year tenure as a radical whig MP. It tells of the people he met and who enriched his life - William Pitt, Thomas Paine, Casanova, to name but three. He also tells of his love affair with the notorious Elizabeth Lamb, Lady Melbourne. Mr Bennet's recollections concentrate on his friends, on his family members, and on their life after the momentous year 1811-12. The work also provides possible answers to some open questions raised in Miss Austen's magnum opus.