Crystal Clarke as Miss Lambe
Miss Lambe, introduced in Episode 1 at the assembly ball, is an intriguing character – a new one for Jane Austen that she intended to explore in depth before she abandoned her manuscript due to illness. By the Regency era, the British Empire had spread the world over. The term “Black” in England during that time denoted any skin color other than “white.” This included people from Africa and the East Indies and West Indies, such as Antigua, the land of Georgiana Lambe’s birth.
Georgiana is the ward of Sidney Parker, who, after she voices her displeasure at his power over her, reminds her that her father wanted her to take a place in polite society, that she was far richer than all of them put together. Neither relish his role, but both understand that because of her fortune she must be managed. It’s a mystery how Sidney achieved this position, but we’ll assume that an explanation of how his work in the West Indies led him to become Georgiana’s guardian will be given in future episodes.
The viewer instantly understands Georgiana’s views on her position when she angrily lashes out at Sidney that she is “not your slave to be served up as your general amusement.” She gestures dramatically and adds in mock tones, “Here’s a negress, rich and black as treacle. – feast your eyes!”
Anne Reid as Lady Denham
In the quest to cozy up to Georgiana, Lady Denham hosts a luncheon to introduce her to Sanditon society. Instead of behaving like a gracious hostess, she says the crudest, uncivil statements imaginable. As Georgiana makes her entrance, Lady D. turns to Sir Edward Denham, who is in need of a wife with a fortune, and says, “Edward, there’s your quarry. Hunt her down!”
Before anyone takes a bite of food, she addresses Georgiana, gesturing to a pineapple that was placed at the center of the table in her honor. Offended, Georgiana employs a thick island accent to indicate that pineapples are not grown in Antigua. The pair are off to a bad start.
During the soup course, Lady D asks, “Miss Lambe, what are your views on matrimony? —“An heiress with a 100,000 must be in want of a husband.”
And we’re off to the insult races!
Georgiana gives her a sideways glance: “I don’t care to be any man’s property.”
“Oh, hoity toity! … Was not your mother a slave?”
Pregnant pause.
“She was. But being used as a thing and liking it are not the same, my lady.”
“No, I’m beginning to think that you’re a very opinionated young lady, Miss Lambe.”
Georgiana wins the riposte, but she remains deeply unhappy and unsuccessfully attempts to escape to London by coach. Charlotte happens upon a despondent Georgiana standing dangerously close to the sea cliff’s edge and crying. She comforts her and the two lonely young women become friends.
Episode 3 presents many new revelations and developments, which will be addressed in a later review. Miss Lambe makes only two appearances. The first in a painting class to demonstrate her rebelliousness, and the other in a scene with Sidney to show her contrition for bad behavior. The episode ends with Georgiana examining a locket with a portrait of a young Black man and kissing it before finishing a letter.
My, oh, my! How the plot has thickened.
I’ve concentrated on Georgiana Lambe in this week’s review because she is such an unusual character in the Jane Austen canon. Jane visited her brother Henry in London on many occasions and to meet with her publishers. She would have noticed the many Blacks who lived in Britain, most notably in London and major port cities. By some estimates, around 15,000 Blacks lived in England at the end of the 18th century, 20% of whom were women. Around 10,000 Blacks lived in London.
Slavery was legal in Britain until 1772. While servitude there was preferred over life on a West Indies plantation, Black lives were not easy. After the slaves were freed, males and females found work as servants. During the Napoleonic wars, many Black males enlisted in the navy and army. Once the wars were over, these sailors and soldiers were no longer enlisted and stayed in the port cities they knew so well.
The Hon. John Spencer, his son the 1st Earl Spencer, and their slave, Caesar Shaw, ca 1744. Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain.
Overt racism was rampant. Servants of the rich were beautifully dressed, but treated like possessions (much like a brood stallion or a rare antique vase.) Portraits would show noble women and a Black servant, be it a child or adult, sitting at the edge of the painting, which served to increase the contrast of the female’s creamy white skin to the ebony complexion of the other sitter. The power differential between males and their Black servants was also evident.
In 1847’s Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackery created two characters – Mr. Sambo, the Sedley’s male servant, and Miss Swartz, which means black in German and Dutch. Miss Swartz was described as a “rich, woolly-haired mulatto from St. Kitt’s,” as well as a Belle Sauvage, a dark paragon, and a dark object of conspiracy. George Osborne, her suitor, described her as “elegantly decorated as a she chimney-sweep on May-day.”
George might not have given Miss Swartz respect, but he and his family had a healthy regard for her money, which made her an acceptable prize. Lady Denham viewed Miss Lambe with much of the same interest and contempt, but this did not fool Miss Lambe, who was proudly not for sale. Her personal experience of society’s disdain for Blacks (such as in the stage coach scene) fuels her anger, combativeness, and sadness. She has nothing to lose by meeting the offensiveness of others head on.
The Advertisement for a Wife by Thomas Rowlandson. Internet Archive. University of California Libraries. No visible notice of copyright; stated date is 1903.
For The Third Tour of Dr. Syntax In Search of a Wife: A poem by William Combe, Thomas Rowlandson illustrates “The Advertisement for a Wife, in which a Black woman is placed prominently at the front and center of a group of spinsters. Dr. Syntax had asked an acquaintance, Mrs. Susanna Briskit, an “eccentric creature full of vivacity,” to help him find a wife. She embarked on a “scheme of fun” and invited a room full of loud, insistent females and their chaperones to apply for the position. The scene as written by Combe is funny and I imagine the inclusion of a Black lady heightened the comedy, but probably had a cruel undertone.
Portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay (1761-1804) and her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray (1760-1825), David Martin. Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain
Not all is misery for Georgian Blacks. This portrait of Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay and Lady Elizabeth Murray by David Martin in the late 18th century depicts a genuine friendship between the two women. Dido, an heiress, was born illegitimately in the British West Indies of a British navy captain, Sir John Lindsey, and Maria Belle, an African woman whom he captured from a Spanish ship. Dido was sent to England as a child and brought up by Sir John’s uncle, Lord Mansfield and his wife, who were childless. Elizabeth Murray, Dido’s cousin, was motherless. The two girls were raised together, but Dido, while beloved, was not always invited to dine with guests. In the film “Belle,” Dido expresses the same sentiments as a governess–her position was too high to eat with servants and too low to eat with guests. Dido eventually married, had 3 children, and died in 1804 at 42. Compared to most of her Black contemporaries, she led an idyllic life.
Ignatius Sancho, 1768 by Thomas Gainsborough, National Gallery of Canada. Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain.
There were other success stories, such as the boxer Bill Richmond, or Ignatius Sancho. Born on a slave ship, Sancho became a protege of the Duke and Duchess of Montagu. While working in their household, he had access to their books and taught himself to read. Today he is celebrated as a writer, composer, shopkeeper and abolitionist.
It would have been interesting to know how Jane Austen would have fully developed Miss Lambe and what information she learned about the West Indies and Blacks in the navy from her sailor brothers.
Post Note: In The World of Sanditon (see sidebar), Sara Sheridan writes of Austen’s romantic entanglement with Dr. Samuel Blackall, a minister. In a letter to Frank, her brother, Austen describes him as “a piece of perfection.” Nothing was to come of her infatuation. Years later, Blackall married a Miss Lewis of Antigua.
Sheridan concludes that this story “provides an intriguing real-life parallel to the world of Sanditon, as does the idea of a love interest with West Indian connections.”
More sources:
The First Black Britons: Sukhdev Snadhu, History, BBC,2011-02-17. Downloaded 2/20/2020.
Black People in Late 18th Century Britain: Histories and Stories, English Heritage. Downloaded 2-20-2020
Black lives in England: Historic England Blog, Research tab. Downloaded 2-20-2020.
Jane Austen's World 
Just a thought — a frank one. You may have seen I’ve been posting on Sanditon on your face-book page and my time-line. I mean to write a blog eventually. For now just on the actress chosen for Miss Geogiana Lambe: Crystal Clarke. As you know Miss Lambe in Austen’s fragment is called a “mulatto,” a word which suggests lighter skin, a person who show that one of her parents was white. Let me suggest that casting chose deliberately a dark-skinned actress to make emphatic the shock that Regency people would feel to see Miss Lambe and to shock (yes) the modern audience, viscerally keep them aware, wake them up. Here is someone who will not pass. In the US (and UK) darker skin matters. It was courageous departure (in effect) of casting to do this and so prevent the modern audience from trying to ignore the issues.
Excellent comment, Ellen. I didn’t know that. It’s interesting to see that Dido was a dark complected Black. Her mother was of African descent, which explains the stark contrast in the portrait with her cousin.
Miss Lambe is described as half-mulatto in Austen’s Sanditon, a term not found anywhere else, to my understanding.
Thanks for the info on blacks in Britain Vic. I wish that the Miss Lambe that Andrew Davies and company have created was more appealing. I understand her anger and frustration and applaud her spunk, but I would like to see her softer and kinder side too. I hope that that develops with her friendship with Charlotte. Everyone but Charlotte in this new adaptation/continuation is so nasty to each other. The anger and hatred needs to be tempered to the times.
Thanks for stopping by, L.A. I find the characters such as Esther, Edward, Clara, and Lady D rude and crude. Miss Lambe is angry because she feels powerless, but, yes, she’s hard to like when she’s so sad or angry or despondent all the time.
Charlotte is wise beyond her years, which I attribute to her being the eldest of 11 children. She probably took on responsibility for the household and children while her mother was pregnant and lying in. She’s good with Mary and Tom Parker’s children as well. I think the marriage of actress and character is nearly perfect. As for Sidney, he is softening towards Charlotte, which makes him more pleasing to my way of thinking.
I was interested in this line: “elegantly decorated as a she chimney-sweep on May-day.” In Germany, chimney sweeps wore a special costume, at least on special occasions. I’m not sure if they still do, but I remember being surprised when I first saw it back in the 60s. I would post a picture if I could, but I don’t know how or whether that’s even possible in this forum.
Chimney sweeps in Britain used young boys to clamber down the chimneys. Because of the soot, their faces looked black. Here’s a Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimney_sweep
The situation of chimney sweeps is a good illustration of the often fuzzy distinction between slavery and servitude in the eighteenth century. Little boys as young as four years of age were purchased from their parents, or sometimes even kidnapped, then forced to work under hellish conditions by their masters.
Lady D is just “I’m rich, old and opinionated”
I love that painting of Dido and Elizabeth!
Lady D is meaner than Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who Jane made both opinionated and ridiculous at the same time. Davies show none of Austen’s ability to poke fun of her characters and make mince meat of them. He tells a compelling cinematic story, but Jane Austen he ain’t.
That portrait of Dido and Elizabeth is lush. I agree with you and love it too.
So glad you mentioned and featured the portrait of Dido Lindsey and Elizabeth Murray – I thought of their story instantly as I read your post, Vic. The movie “Belle” was particularly moving and I would recommend it to anyone. There were some liberties taken with the actual back-story but it touches on the same issues that we are seeing in Sanditon, just a little earlier in time.
Lady Denham is definitely an annoying character and Anne Reid is certainly doing a great job making her unlikable!
As always, great insight and blog!
Thank, you Lynne. Although advances in science, industry, and technology characterized the sweeping changes in the Georgian era, attitudes towards class and race remained firmly fixed, as evidenced by Thackaray’s “Vanity Fair.”
I agree that Anne Reid is doing a great job playing an unlikable, formidable lady. Thank you for the compliment. (Though I wish I was better at editing my own work. :) )
Vic, I was looking forward to your next post on Sanditon and found it very enjoyable. Jane Austen introduced Miss Lambe so casually on the last page of what there was of her novel that it is quite maddening to have no idea of what she intended to do with her. I don’t like what Andrew Davies has done with her. There has been a recent trend in British historical movies and television to demonstrate a commitment to diversity (which is a good thing) by introducing non-white characters and then making them mouthpieces for modern commentary on slavery, racism etc instead of writing them as interesting characters. There is nothing in Jane Austen’s book to indicate that Miss Lambe’s mother was a slave, and as the beneficiary of a large fortune that was probably founded on slavery I think Miss Lambe would have had a more nuanced view of the matter than is demonstrated in the TV series. The exchange regarding marriage was interesting because in the book it is made clear that Lady Denham is no man’s property, having inherited her fortune from her first husband, and successfully kept control of it during her marriage to her second husband.
Your comments on black lives in England in the Georgian era are very interesting, and the pictures are lovely. Another, slightly later, success story was Ira Aldridge, originally from the USA, who made a great success in London and Europe as an actor and playwright from the 1820s onwards.
Thank you for your insights, Polly. Davies’ version of Sanditon is not subtle, I agree.
My views on ‘Sanditon’ are shaped by considering the continuation by Jane’s niece Anna Lefroy (mostly written circa 1845) as well as the original Austen fragment. The word ‘mulatto’ may have racist connotations today, but in neither the Austen nor the Lefroy is there any overt racism as seen in the ITV dramatisation. In the originals Miss Lambe is treated as any other heiress would be, because she has money and has the social graces of the Upper Classes; although without a courtesy title, or knowledge of her parents, it would be difficult to know where she would fit in that stratification of class. In the original books she is under the firm control of Mrs Griffiths, that she is a ‘ward’ of Sidney Parker is Colin Davies’ invention.
I have had the difficult and sensitive task of casting professional actresses to play Miss Lambe twice, firstly for my 2014 Play and 10 minute short film, and secondly for my 2019 Musical. I considered that Austen’s description of Miss Lambe as ‘half Mulatto’ was higly significant and that an ambiguity of skin tone was important, and should be relevant to the plot. In my 2019 Musical I wrote a song for Miss Lambe, ‘The Life We’re Born Into’ in which she sings about the problem of how you ‘identify’ racially with the rest of the world, and how you choose your direction in life.
I am disappointed that Andrew Davies chose to write Miss Lambe as such a mentally weak character. This is unlikely given her background and wealth, and even more so that in the 21st Century (and especially post-‘Hamilton’) we look for opportunities to write about both strong women, and strong black characters.
I’m not sure that Crystal Clarke could have been entirely happy playing that role, for which also she was really too old (her playing age is 16 to 28). Most actresses of colour are looking to play ‘colour-blind’ roles such as ‘Girl in Star Wars’, where colour is rightly of no significance.
I never saw Ester Denham as a significant character. I was however fascinated by the contrast between the other three main female characters; Charlotte, Clara and Miss Lambe, and what would happen when they compared their very different backgrounds:- daughter of a country gentleman farmer, poor girl from the East End, and daughter of (let’s say) a slave owner in Antigua, respectively. For the short film and play I wrote Miss Lambe a blistering account of her upbringing in Antigua, and how she became an heiress. For the musical I toned the back-story down and made Miss Lambe (in her 21st Century role) a character who could in the song ‘Mrs Griffith’s Finishing School aka ‘Rock Quadrille’ literally throw off her bonnet and in a rap expose all the hypocracy and reality of life for a woman, of whatever colour, in the England of 1817.
Chris Brindle- Colchester – England
Chris, as always your research is fascinating. I will post it on this blog, along with the links you provided, as soon as I free up some time. Thank you for visiting.
Many thanks, I appreciate your reasoned analysis, drawing on all the information available, and am very happy to be challenged, or contribute further to anything I’ve said. I’d still like to take ‘Sanditon’ further and my next step is to make a full music video version of my song ‘Books’ where all the people Austen names as members of the Sanditon Subscription Lending Library all come into the library at the same time wanting to change their books, and sing about all Austen’s books and those by other authors she has named in her other works! From there hopefully use that cast for a big stage production of ‘Sanditon The Musical’, I’ve written to PBS to see if they might be interested!!!!