London is the capitol and the most populous city in the United Kingdom; during the time Jane Austen wrote and set her novels, it was also the center of high society in the British Isles as peers and gentlemen came to the city in the winter to attend parliament and they and their families entertained themselves with balls, dinners, the arts, and various other entertainments.
In the Novels[]
Sense and Sensibility[]
Mrs. Jennings invites Elinor and Marianne to join her in her house in Berkeley Street, near Portman Square, where she stays every winter. Other inhabitants of London that winter include Mrs. Ferrars, in Park Street; Sir John and Lady Middleton, in Conduit Street; Colonel Brandon, in St. James Street; and Thomas Palmer and his wife, Charlotte, in Hanover Square.
John Willoughby stays in Bond Street, where the characters shop and run into each other while shopping (such as Mrs. Palmer's meeting with Colonel Brandon). Elinor and Marianne Dashwood also patronize Thomas Gray’s shop in Sackville Street while Mrs. Jennings calls on a lady living on the other end of the street. Elinor exchanges some of her mother's old-fashioned jewelry, and while there, they encounter Robert Ferrars and then their half-brother John. John claims he could not call on them earlier because yesterday he had to take his son Harry to the Exeter Exchange.
Anne and Lucy Steele visit their cousin’s house in Bartlett’s Buildings, Holburn. Fanny Dashwood invites them to stay with her at Harley Street to avoid inviting her husband's half-sisters, and during their stay, Anne reveals her sister's secret engagement to Fanny's brother Edward.
Pride and Prejudice[]
Sir William Lucas often reminisces about his presentation at St. James's Palace and wishes his children could also be presented. He claims he cannot set up a house in London because the air would disagree with Lady Lucas, but really, he cannot afford it. Other families in the neighborhood of Meryton presumably can because several return from London after the militia leaves.
The Miss Bennets' tradesman uncle Edward Gardiner lives on Gracechurch Street with his family, within view of his warehouses, and both Jane and Elizabeth visit over the course of the novel; together with Sir William Lucas and his daughter Maria, they shop and attend the theater. Mr. Hurst has a house on Grosvenor Street, and Jane calls upon his wife and her sister there.
When Lydia Bennet runs away from Brighton with George Wickham, they end up in London rather than to continue on to Scotland like Lydia thought they would. Fitzwilliam Darcy discovers them after bribing or threatening Mrs. Younge, who now has a boarding house on Edward Street, but she was unable to let lodgings to them. The address of the lodgings they did take is omitted, though within the parish of St. Clement's.
Mansfield Park[]
Tom Bertram's friend Charles Anderson lives at Baker Street with his family.
Henry and Mary Crawford were raised in Hill Street by their uncle Admiral Crawford and his wife. When Mrs. Crawford died and Admiral Crawford brought his mistress to live with him, Mary was forced to go live with her half-sister Mrs. Grant. Mary returns to London as a guest of her friends Janet Fraser and Lady Stornaway, and while visiting them, Edmund Bertram comes to court her and impresses Janet Fraser with his appearance. In a letter to Fanny Price, Mary teases her that she might like to stop in St George's, Hanover Square, a fashionable chapel for weddings, while passing through London.
Edmund also visits his sister Maria Rushworth at her house on Wimpole Street, previously occupied by Lady Lascelle. Worried by Maria's ongoing flirtation with Henry Crawford, her sister Julia goes to visit cousins near Bedford Square while Maria visits the Aylmers in Twickenham.
Emma[]
John and Isabella Knightley live at Brunswick Square with their family, and John claims they do not attend large parties and never dine with anybody. While Isabella's sister Emma has never been able to visit them, they often receive John's elder brother George. Colonel Campbell also lives in London with his wife, daughter, and ward Jane Fairfax, and they have met the John Knightleys in town. The Campbells are also acquainted with the Churchills, though they didn't know Frank Churchill well until they met him again at Weymouth.
Philip Elton goes to Bond Street to get Emma Woodhouse's drawing of Harriet Smith framed.
Mr. Weston's brothers are engaged in trade in London, and he saw his son Frank Churchill there every year. Frank Churchill goes to London, supposedly to get his hair cut, but really to purchase a pianoforte for his secret fiancee Jane Fairfax. Later, Mrs. Churchill goes to stay in Manchester Street, in London, when Enscombe is too northern and cold for her, but when London is too noisy for her, the Churchills remove to Richmond where she dies.
After Emma Woodhouse and George Knightley's engagement, Harriet Smith goes to stay with the John Knightleys at Brunswick Square. Robert Martin goes to London on business, and he brings John Knightley some papers from his brother. They attend Astley's with John, Isabella, and their two eldest sons, and Robert proposes to Harriet again, and this time, is accepted.
Northanger Abbey[]
The Tilneys regularly visit London, and the Thorpes, who live in nearby Putney, claim to be familiar with the city. Catherine Morland tells Eleanor Tilney that she heard something "very shocking indeed" was soon to come out in London, and Eleanor fears she means a riot. Henry Tilney teases her, mentioning St. George’s Fields, the Bank of England, and the Tower of London, before explaining that Catherine obviously meant a novel.
General Tilney goes to London for a week, during which he meets John Thorpe again. Resentful that the Morlands are not as wealthy as he imagined, he claims they are instead impoverished and ambitious. The general returns to Northanger Abbey and forces Catherine to leave without any money or protection.
Persuasion[]
Sir Walter Elliot and his daughter Elizabeth's expenses during their trips to London is one reason they have to retrench, and Mr. Shepherd wants them to settle in Bath rather than London because he knows they couldn't keep to a budget there. On one such visit, they became acquainted with William Elliot, their cousin, who is the heir to the baronetcy and Kellynch Hall; however, the introduction does not lead to Elizabeth and William Elliot's marriage, as they had hoped.
William Elliot apparently lives in London. He learns of Sir Walter's residence in Bath when he stops there on his way to London, and his letter to Charles Smith, sent in July 1803, is addressed from there. When he takes Penelope Clay as his mistress, he establishes her in a house there.
Lady Susan[]
Lady Susan Vernon sends her daughter Frederica to Miss Summers's school on Wigmore Street and stays briefly at 10 Wigmore Street. Her friend Alicia Johnson lives on Edward Street, and when Lady Susan comes to London, she engages for her a drawing-room apartment in Upper Seymour Street. Once in London, Lady Susan's schemes fall apart as her lover's wife Mrs. Mainwaring meets her other lover Reginald De Courcy, but she recovers by marrying her daughter's suitor Sir James Martin.