The gossip was started by Mr Elton: he told all the glory that was Miss Hawkins to anyone who would listen.

.No one who came from the centre of Bristol-the very heart of Bristol- and had a fortune of £10,000 and no connections with any landed gentry or aristocracy, would have been thought any thing other than the daughter of a mercantile family. Its as simple as that ;-)

If she had had a different name say, Cavendish, and came from a large estate in Derbyshire, then connections might have been proved , and she be assumed to be part of the family of the Duke of Devonshire. Then enquires would be made to ascertain exactly what was her connection. Rather like Sir Walter being annoyed that the Wentworths he knows slightly have nothing to do with the family of the Ear s of Srafford, though they share the same family name. ;-)