Chris Salmon, the Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, talks about a new note with the picture of Jane Austen, its design and when it will come into circulation.
Self-study activity:
Watch the video clip and answer the questions below.
The activity is suitable for intermediate students.
1 Why has Jane Austen been chosen to appear on a new note?
2 What can you see on the right-hand side?
3 What does '1817' refer to?
4 What are we commemorating this year?
5 About the quote, who was reading a book and who said the quote?
6 What is Elizabeth Bennet doing in the image in the background?
7 Who owned Godmersham Park?
8 What information is given about Winston Churchill?
9 What is said about a publicity campaign?
To check the answers you can read the transcript below.
The Bank of England has confirmed that Jane Austen will appear on a forthcoming Bank of England banknote: the next new character to follow Sir Winston Churchill. Chris Allen, executive director of banking services and chief cashier is here to tell us more. Chris, thank you for joining me.
Thank you.
First, can you give us some background on why Jane Austen was chosen?
Well, as you know we are very fortunate to be able to use our bank notes to celebrate the contribution of eminent figures of our past, to give people the chance to remember and enjoy their contribution to our lives. Austen is undoubtedly one of the most popular and widely read authors in the English language. People come to her novels for the books, for the serializations, for the films. Many people enjoy and love and know her work. Moreover, from the more literary perspective, many critics emphasize the importance of her novels in the development of the British writing tradition.
The Bank has released the concept image of what the reverse of Jane Austen note will look like. Can you talk us through to the design and explain the significance of each of the features?
So as you noted, the concept contains a number of different elements. Most obviously, on the right-hand side is the image of Jane Austen herself. The other elements are drawn from her books, which is how we relate to Jane Austen today, but also we believe captured aspects which has been important to Jane Austen during her life.
First and most important is the image of Austen herself. It’s from an 1817 memoir published by James Edward Austen Leigh, her nephew, and it was on the frontispiece of that book. The illustration itself is by James Andrews and was based on an original sketch of Jane Austen that her sister herself Cassandra Austen drew.
The next two elements I want to emphasize are both taken from Pride and Prejudice. This year, of course, is the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice and it is the book that Austen herself described as her own darling child. The first element is the quote ‘I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!’ Now actually if you read the book it was said with a degree of irony by Miss Bingley when she was seeking to catch the attention of Darcy and failing, and he was reading a book. But, of course, this is the impression that many of us feel when we are reading a work by Jane Austen herself.
The second element drawn from Pride and Prejudice is the image in the background of Elizabeth Bennet undertaking an examination of all the letters which Jane had written to her, from the drawing by Isabel Bishop that illustrated a 1976 edition of Pride and Prejudice.
The final element that I want to mention is the house itself, which is of Godmersham Park, a house which was owned by Austen’s brother, Edward Austen Knight, and which she visited often and it’s believed to be the inspiration of a number of her novels.
When will the Jane Austen note be issued into circulation?
So as you know, we announced early this year that Sir Winston Churchill will appear on the next bank note to be issued, currently the plan is that he will appear on the five-pound note, the plan is that Austen will then appear on a ten-pound design and we have a strong intention that the two new notes will be issued within around a year of each other. Currently we are planning for Churchill in 2016, which will imply Jane Austen will be issued in 2017.
When will the public find out more information about the Jane Austen note?
So when we get to the point that we are ready to issue the Austen note, we’ll gradually withdraw the current Darwin design, we will run a very energetic publicity campaign to make sure everyone is aware that that is happening and to educate the public about the new security features that we’ll introduce along with the Austen design. But the correct time to do that is when we issue the new note, in a few years time.
Thank you very much, Chris Allen.
Thank you.
