---
type: Person
title: Mr. Collins
description: Obsequious clergyman and heir to Longbourn, patronized by Lady Catherine
  de Bourgh.
resource: raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt
tags:
- clergy
- longbourn
- hunsford
- kent
- gentry
aliases:
- William Collins
timestamp: '2026-07-16T18:15:29Z'
citadel_version: 0.3.0
---

Mr. Collins is [Mr. Bennet](../persons/mr-bennet.md)'s cousin and, under the
[entail](../concepts/entail.md) on [Longbourn](../misc/longbourn.md), stands to inherit the estate
and "may turn you all out of this house" after Mr. Bennet's death.[^s1] He writes from Hunsford,
near Westerham in Kent, proposing to visit and mend the old quarrel between the families.[^s2] He
is "a tall, heavy-looking young man of five-and-twenty," with a grave, stately air and formal
manners.[^s3] He holds the clergy living at Hunsford through the patronage of
[Lady Catherine de Bourgh](../persons/lady-catherine-de-bourgh.md), and considers "the clerical
office as equal in point of dignity with the highest rank in the kingdom."[^s4]

He proposes marriage to [Elizabeth Bennet](../persons/elizabeth-bennet.md), giving three reasons:
that a clergyman in easy circumstances should set an example of matrimony, that it will add to his
own happiness, and that Lady Catherine herself has advised him to marry.[^s5] Elizabeth refuses
him, but within days he proposes to and is accepted by [Charlotte Lucas](../persons/charlotte-lucas.md),
Elizabeth's friend.[^s6]

On hearing of [Lydia Bennet](../persons/lydia-bennet.md)'s elopement with
[George Wickham](../persons/george-wickham.md), Collins writes Mr. Bennet a letter of "condolence"
that calls it a "grievous affliction" and states "the death of your daughter would have been a
blessing in comparison of this"; he reports that he has related the affair to
[Lady Catherine de Bourgh](../persons/lady-catherine-de-bourgh.md) and her daughter, who agree the
scandal will damage the marriage prospects of all the Bennet sisters, and he advises Mr. Bennet to
"throw off your unworthy child from your affection for ever."[^s7]

## Letter on the rumoured Darcy match

After [Jane Bennet](../persons/jane-bennet.md)'s engagement to [Bingley](../persons/charles-bingley.md)
becomes known, Collins writes again, congratulating Mr. Bennet on that match and adding "a short
hint" warning [Elizabeth](../persons/elizabeth-bennet.md) against a rumoured match with
[Mr. Darcy](../persons/fitzwilliam-darcy.md), reporting that
[Lady Catherine de Bourgh](../persons/lady-catherine-de-bourgh.md) "does not look on the match with
a friendly eye."[^s8] Mr. Bennet reads the letter aloud to Elizabeth's mortification, finding it
highly diverting given Darcy's reputed indifference to her; his reply to Collins jokes, "Console
Lady Catherine as well as you can. But, if I were you, I would stand by the nephew. He has more to
give."[^s9]

## See also

- [Longbourn](../misc/longbourn.md)
- [Entail](../concepts/entail.md)
- [Charlotte Lucas](../persons/charlotte-lucas.md)
- [Lady Catherine de Bourgh](../persons/lady-catherine-de-bourgh.md)
- [Lydia Bennet](../persons/lydia-bennet.md)
- [Fitzwilliam Darcy](../persons/fitzwilliam-darcy.md)
- [Mr. Bennet](../persons/mr-bennet.md)

## Sources

[^s1]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 2967-2971 — Collins as heir to Longbourn (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s2]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 2998, 3021-3033 — Collins's letter of reconciliation (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s3]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 3081-3084 — Collins's appearance and manner (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s4]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 4295-4298 — Collins on the clergy's dignity (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s5]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 4571-4577 — Collins's stated reasons for marrying (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s6]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 4616-4618, 5159-5161 — Elizabeth's refusal and Charlotte's acceptance (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s7]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 11084-11094; 11109-11121 — Collins's letter of condolence on Lydia's elopement (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s8]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 13554-13575 — Collins's letter warning of the rumoured Darcy match (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s9]: [raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt](../../raw/pride-and-prejudice.txt), lines 13582-13584; 14334-14337 — Mr. Bennet's reaction and reply to Collins (ingested 2026-07-16)
