From The Times
June 11, 2008
Tom Lefroy, the real-life inspiration behind Darcy
Carol Midgley: Wednesday profile
“Skinny geek”. “Pale wimp”. “Wispy-haired girlie”. Thank goodness none of these could apply to that rugged hero of many a female fantasy - Mr Darcy, from Pride and Prejudice, eh? When Colin Firth emerged dripping from a lake in the BBC's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel, a nation of women swooned that, yes, that is exactly how we'd imagined Darcy to look. As the novel says, he was a “fine, tall person”, with “handsome features” and “noble mien” and a sexy swagger of superiority.
But, oh dear, look what's happened. A 3in watercolour of Thomas Langlois Lefroy, the man thought to be the real-life inspiration behind Darcy, has just been made public and - how can we put this kindly? - we doubt that he'll be setting many hearts a-flutter. Though Lefroy, an Irish-born politician and judge who had enjoyed a flirtation in his early twenties with Austen, has a perfectly pleasant face in the picture; there's just no way that he has a six-pack. His features are so delicate that he looks like he might even weigh less than Elizabeth Bennet. Less sex god, more Lib Dem MP.
The portrait, painted by the English miniaturist George Engleheart in 1798 two years after Lefroy and Austen were forced to part because his family didn't consider her to be marriage material, will be on sale at the Grosvenor House Art and Antiques Fair next week with an asking price of £50,000. It is one of only two portraits of Lefroy known to exist. Austen was a rector's daughter and still 13 years away from her first success, Sense And Sensibility, so didn't fit the bill.
Lefroy later described his feelings for her as “boyish love”. Just before they separated Austen wrote: “At length the day is come on which I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy... My tears flow as I write at the melancholy idea.” Three years later Lefroy married the heiress Mary Paul and had a successful legal career, becoming chief justice of Ireland and dying at 93. He named his eldest daughter Jane - scant compensation for Austen, who never married.
As for the rest of us, they say you should never get too close to your heroes. Sweet-faced Lefroy may prove the point.
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There was one comment made on the story at the time I read it (earlier this evening):
Er - should a 19 year old Georgian-era Irish boy look like a 1990's 30+ Colin Firth? Tom Lefroy's first daughter was called Mary. There are at least 4 other paintings of him in existence, one in a very prominent place in UK law, and 2 marble busts, one on very prominent show in an Irish University.
Edward Lefroy, Marazion, UK
If this isn't a novel, it should be! Is this "Edward Lefroy" real - and if so, is he a descendant of THE Tom Lefroy??? And what's this about Tom Lefroy's oldest daughter being named Mary? So her name was actually MARY CHRISTMAS LEFROY? Oh Please - even the most idiotic parents would not do that to a kid, would they? On the other hand, that may be why reports say she never married...
According to Wikipedia (yeah, I know, everyone says Wiki entries should be taken with a grain of salt, but for my part, every single one of the entries I've ever checked in my admittedly obscure searches for information has - upon subsequent research - turned out to be accurate! So please, give Wiki a break, okay?) Tom Lefroy's oldest daughter was named Jane Christmas Lefroy, although she was most likely named after Tom's rich's wife's mother - a happy coincidence shall we say...
Unlike in novels, people don't die of broken hearts. Instead, they suck it up and carry on, because life is to be lived, unless one commits suicide. To put it bluntly, we continue to eat, poop and sleep day in and day out, and unless one is born independently wealthy, after a certain age we all have to make a living. A sad fact of life, not the stuff of romantic melodrama, perhaps, but true nonetheless. I love a sob story as much as anyone, but in the cold hard light of tomorrow morning, when I have to get up, scrub up, feed my critters and head off to the office on a foul, filthy, over-crowded bus, any "romance" in my soul goes temporarily underground, so to speak. Otherwise, one would never be able to give an "EXCUSE me" elbow in the ribs to an obnoxious hip-hopper as one is squeezing off the rear exit. As a woman of a "certain age," I can now get away with that now, tee hee. One of my life's little joys...
So, what about Tom? Of COURSE The Times did NOT publish the portrait of the wimpy 19 year old Tom Lefroy. However, Wiki did have a portrait of a very distinguished looking Tom at age 79 (if the caption is to be believed, as it was said to have been painted in 1855, and he died at age 93 in 1869). He's a handsome man, given his age - and sure doesn't look like 79 - at least, not what I'm certain 79 would have looked like 150 years ago! So perhaps the portrait artist was just a "wee bit kind" as the saying goes. He's a handsome man, nonetheless. Ditch the wig and put the dude in a 21st century Wall Street suit and he'd fit right in - he's got a modern-looking face and, obviously, while he lived, he had an eye to the main event...
Added at 8:45 p.m. What ho! I have found an image of the young Tom Lefroy. I don't think he looks wimpy at all, not according to the fashion of the times. The eyes and eybrows, especially, are quite sexy. Sort of reminds me of a man I had the hots for back in the 1980's -
Hi there... yes I am real and Tom Lefroy was my 4 greats grandfather.
ReplyDeleteOur family records show Thomas and Mary's first daughter died in infancy, and was named Mary. Their eldest surviving daughter was called Jane Christmas Lefroy.
So... their first child they named Mary, not Jane. Much as I would have liked the 'naming his first child after Jane Austen' story to be true, I'm afraid it isn't! It might have been a bit odd for Mary Paul to allow Thomas to name his first daughter after an old falme would it not? ;)
Hello Mr. Lefroy! I've been spending the past couple of months digging into my own past ancestry and have become fascinated with the subject. I now realize that of course you could be and as you say, are, a direct descendant of the Tom Lefroy. I would not have appreciated that fact quite so much if you had written when I first made this post back in 2008 - incredible that you found it at all.
ReplyDeleteI agree it would have been rather tacky to name one's first child after one's old flame, but as we know, truth is often much stranger than fiction. Thanks for setting the record straight.
I also continue to think the young Tom Lefroy in that miniature is just fine looking, Colin Firth notwithstanding :)