‘Jane Austen is quietly waiting in the wings’

AUTHOR Jane Austen was “waiting in the wings” to become the next famous Briton to be honoured on the country’s banknotes, outgoing Bank of England governor Mervyn King said this week.

The writer of 19th-century classics such as Pride and

Prejudice , Sense and Sensibility and Emma is already a “reserve” figure whose image could be a clear candidate to replace that of naturalist Charles Darwin on the £10 note when his time was up, he said.

This may defuse criticisms of a future lack of female figures on the currency that have been levelled at the central bank since it said in April that wartime leader Winston Churchill would feature on the £5 note from 2016, replacing prison reformer Elizabeth Fry.

Churchill and Darwin will complement economist Adam Smith and steam engine inventors Matthew Boulton and James Watt to complete the all-male line-up — other than the image of Queen Elizabeth on the overleaf.

The monarch is on one side of each of Britain’s four denominations of banknotes, while celebrated Britons take their turn for 10- to 20-year stints on the other side.

Austen’s novels of romance among the Regency gentry, spiced with sharp social comment, still regularly feature on bestseller and literature course reading lists. They have spawned numerous period-drama TV shows and film adaptations.

Historical women figures should be chosen as individuals rather than for their gender, King told parliament’s Treasury committee.

The notes featuring Fry would continue to circulate for some time, and although the final decision as to the identity of the next figure would be one for the incoming governor, Canadian Mark Carney, it was unlikely there would be a time when there were no females, King said.

“It is extremely unlikely that we should ever find ourselves in the position where there are no women among the historical figures on our banknotes.

“Jane Austen is quietly waiting in the wings.” —