Posted by Peter Ceresole on September 13, 2013 at 11:49:21 user PeterC.
In Reply to: Re: Water and Empire: Examination Paper posted by Duncan on September 13, 2013 at 04:03:17:
as we get the impression that Molly and Jim lived at Beckfoot with the Great Aunt, so it wasn't Bob Blackett's property but passed down the Turner line.
Surely, the GA living at Beckfoot with them in their youth would have been fairly normal for the times; she was family, and doesn't imply that she owned the house. Her imposing nature, actually celebrated at the close of PM, is explicitly associated with that of Nancy, and a basic complicity between them is one of the most rewarding aspects of the story. It seems to me that AR was enjoying a cheerfully satirical view of Victorian matriarchs, combined with a chilling threat which made for good, racy stories in SD and PM. Every author enjoys deploying a Dracula...
It's clear that the Blacketts were pretty well off; Jim Turner was a gentleman amateur who clearly didn't need to earn his living, even if he did indulge in schemes like copper mining. AR himself was fairly hard up and had to earn his money throughout his life and only got off the journalism treadmill after the success of SA. But I guess that the Collingwoods would be an example of 'Blacketts'. The other 'Big House' families on the Lakes would also furnish examples.