The places Dr. Darcy travels

Published March 26, 2013 · Updated March 16, 2023

Long ago I rather flippantly inserted the fact that George was widely traveled. That was in Loving Mr. Darcy, when a message arrives at Darcy House informing Fitzwilliam Darcy that his uncle was in England and soon to arrive. George, remember, was originally planned to be a “minor” character who was to swiftly depart the country. Thus it was easy for Fitzwilliam to tell Elizabeth, “He is ostensibly stationed in Bombay, but travels throughout the country to remote villages where doctors are not located, so reaching him can be a challenge… I receive a letter now and again, but he is often beyond any postal center and is very busy… He is focused and driven, typical Darcy traits taken to extremes in his case.” There were a number of similar off-hand comments written into George’s back-story during the Darcy Saga novels. Rising to the challenge of bringing this to life wasn’t easy, especially once I fully explored just how vast India is! Somehow I accomplished it, and although unable to delve deeply into every city or region he visited, I referenced enough to get the idea across.

One way I decided to capitalize on the traveling theme was in formatting the novel. Each chapter is titled based on where and when the main action begins. Some chapters cover a short span of time, others a longer interval, and not always does George stay in the noted location, but the titles aid in keeping tabs on his activities. For another sneak peak, here are the chapters:

Derbyshire, April 1789
Bombay Island, February 1790
Mazagaon, July 1790
Kalyan, February 1791
Mysore, September 1796
Derbyshire, October 1798
Thana, June 1801
Junnar, April 1803
Derbyshire, June 1805
Agra, January 1807
Calcutta, November 1812
Bombay, May 1816
London, May 1818
Europe, January 1819
Kent, April 1820

Below is the map found in the novel that shows where he went. Many thanks to Frank E. Smitha who created the original map that I revamped to fit George’s travels. Mr. Smitha graciously granted permission for me to reprint his map, it being the best one I found for this purpose. You can click the image below to view the larger version.