Jane Austen and her links to Hertfordshire explored. Picture: Britannica/supplied - Credit: Archant In the over 240 years since Jane Austen was born on this day today (Dec 16, 1775) one of our reporters is looking at the history and relationship that the eminent author had to her county and towns including Harpenden, Kimpton, Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City. As an ardent reader of Ms Austen, I have never picked up on the myriad of references to Hertfordshire especially in her most famous work ‘Pride and Prejudice’. And it was with a certain start, that I sat up during my annual binge-watch of the 1995 version of the social comedy with Colin Firth at hearing that Mr Firth’s Mr Darcy, “is not at all liked in Hertfordshire".