[1] The name "Lord Emsworth" first appears in Wodehouse's works as a passing mention in a short called "The Matrimonial Sweepstakes", a version of "The Good Angel" printed in Cosmopolitan in the US in February 1910.
As a child, he once took a dead pet rabbit to bed with him; at the age of fifteen, he smoked his first cigar, and he has rarely been called on to think quickly since hearing his father's footsteps approaching the stable-loft where he sat that day.
Never the brightest of minds, at Eton College, they called him "Fathead"; and, by the time readers meet him, his slowness of thought has become a byword; he is prone to distraction and misunderstanding but is generally amiable.
His simple outlook makes him an excellent sleeper; and, for twenty years, he has rarely got less than his eight hours, usually managing ten (he is particularly fond of sleeping at the start of train journeys).
He is a long, thin, bald old man with a tendency towards scruffiness, generally found in a worn old tweed jacket and trousers that bag at the knees.
[3] Note that some marriages occur during the Blandings series of stories, and the spouses of Lord Emsworth's nieces and nephews are not included in this list.
He has some success in the field of large pumpkins, taking first prize in the competition with his "Blandings Hope" (cruelly nicknamed "Percy" by his son Freddie).
The Empress's primary competitor is the Pride of Matchingham, who belongs to Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, Emsworth's neighbour and rival.
In less salubrious weather, he likes to mess around in his museum or sit comfortably in the library, reading some informative tome of agricultural lore; his favourite being Whiffle on The Care of the Pig.