A new period drama aired on Apple TV+ this week – featuring a character called Lady Brightlingsea.
The Buccaneers is an eight-part series based on author Edith Wharton’s unfinished final novel of the same name.
It tells the tale of a group of fun-loving American girls sent to secure husbands and titles in 1870s London – and the ensuing Anglo-American culture clash.
But mystery surrounds how the American author lit upon the name of Brightlingsea for one of her characters. Did Wharton, who died in 1937 – the book was published the next year – ever visit the town?
Nothing on Wharton’s Wikipedia page suggests that was the case. But the fact that the book tells us that Brightlingsea is pronounced “Brittlesea” implies that she had some local knowledge, or at least knew someone from the town. Apple’s press office was unable to shed any light on the source of the name either.
The Buccaneers has been televised before. In a BBC adaptation screened in 1995, Rosemary Leach played Lady Brightlingsea, with Dinsdale Lansden taking the part of her husband, Lord Brightlingsea.
In the latest series, Fenella Woolgar – who played Sister Hilda in Call the Midwife – takes the role. A trailer for the series can be seen here.
