Or - asking this question differently - has a real person ever existed who was the literary model for Jim ?

The basic story of the novel leads to the fate of the pilgrims ship 'Jeddah' which was abandoned by her (mainly British) crew in 1880 - with nearly one thousand pilgrims on board. On board the 'Jeddah' was Augustine Podmore Williams, the First Officer of the ship. Augustine Podmore Williams was born in Conrwall on May 22nd, 1852. Like Jim Williams later worked as a water clerk 'in a port of the East' (more precisely: in Singapore). Williams also was the son of a parson, he had four brothers, he usually wore white clothes and had blue eyes. However, one could note that most Europeans in this region wore (and still wear) white clothes; and blue eyes for Englishman or Dutch people are not uncommon. In addition to it this question might appear: When could Conrad have met Williams?

Most likely as early as 1883, when he came to Singapore after the 'Palestine' ship-disaster? A location where the two could have met was the restaurant 'Emmerson's' in Singapore, which was something like a central meeting-point for everybody in the marine-business then. Or not sooner than 1885, when he visited Singapore as the 2nd Officer of the 'Tilkhurst', maybe even as late as 1888 when he served as the Captain of the 'Otago' ? However, Williams worked for the company 'McAlister & Co.' for the next 27 years. He married a Eurasian girl in 1883 and had sixteen children with her. He lived in Singapore until his death on April 17th, 1916. Four weeks before his death he had slipped and broke his hip. He did not recover from this accident. Photos of Williams, taken shortly before or around 1890, however, show a tall, extremely fat, disgusting guy, who was unlikely the man to stimulate Conrad for the description of Jim. Rather for the definition of Cornelius, but that was not the question.

In a manuscript (written around 1898) with the title 'Tuan Jim. A Sketch' Conrad describes Jim as very tall and strong. It might be possible that Conrad did actually mean Williams when he wrote this first version of Jim's story.

'The earth is so small that I was afraid of, some day, being waylaid by a blear-eyed, swollen-faced, besmirched loafer, with no soles to his canvas shoes, and with a flutter of rags about the elbows, who, on the strength of old acquaintance, would ask for a loan of five dollars.'

But it is also quite likely he had changed his opinion when writing the full novel (caused by another meeting with Williams and the changes of his appearance, and by the thought that Williams might fit for the figure of the 'Patna-Only-Story', but not for the whole novel ?) Talking to Viola Allen Conrad said about Williams: '... wondered why a man of that - well - class should be a ship chandler's clerk'. But - if at all - this must have been his very first impression. The final story describes Jim as a man 'one or two inches smaller than six feet big' . We could say: medium height. At least when writing the manuscript 'Lord Jim. A Sketch' (consisting of a few pages only, which cover the first chapters of the later novel) Conrad seemed not having to clarified the outer shape of Jim for himself (the first full publication of 'Lord Jim' in 'Blackwood's magazine' is also subtitled 'a sketch').

In addition to Williams: Also James Brooke, a British citizen, called the 'Rajah of Sarawak', was a man we could mention when it comes to to the question: 'Who was Lord Jim ?'

Another person Jim could be modeled after was the business-man Jim Lingard (photo below). Lingard was widely known for his perfect manners. After the breakdown of the rubber-business he moved to the interior of Borneo and married a native woman. He paid much attention to a proper education of his children. His sons later served in the British army, his daughter became a teacher. Lingard was usually called 'Tuan Jim'.

Ultimately, it is much likely that Conrad has drawn himself. Conrad was aged 44 when he wrote 'Lord Jim' and with some certainty he was not old enough for not wanting to see himself in the role of the tragic (younger) hero. Some literary scholars believe that Conrad had his friend and fellow writer Stephen Crane in mind when he wrote the book. To a certain extent, this might be true. Conrad was 15 years older than Crane. That is roughly the age difference we can assume between the narrator Marlow and Jim. Crane could also have been the 'good boy' in Conrad's eyes, as he tells us that Jim was. But much more important is the fact that Crane died on June 5, 1900, not even 29 years old. In June 1900 Conrad was writing the last chapters of the novel. With great certainty at least the last chapter (Jim's death) is influenced by the death of Conrad's friend Crane.

Sorting out all possibilities: Most likely Conrad had created - and this is the right of every writer - the final figure of Jim purely from his imagination, based on several people, acquaintances and experiences.

And what keeps us from believing Conrad's words ? '... He's not a figure of Northern Mists either. One sunny morning, in the commonplace surroundings of an Eastern roadstead, I saw his form pass by - appealing - significant - under a cloud - perfectly silent ...'