Thanks to kayakamina and Mintyman. According to the rubric: "Two unclued lights (one a proper name) combine to suggest an answer to one of the queries." Not to me, they don't! Only the first letter of the shorter unclued light is missing in my solution, but despite much head-scratching and a bit of research, the penny stubbornly refuses to drop. Could anyone kindly give me a nudge without giving the game away for other solvers?
This may be a stretch, but if you take the 4 letter name beginning at 3a, and the name at 30d, they are connected. Thus if you consider one of the queries to be (5,4) beginning at 11, this suggests a possibility for the letter at 16.
That's weak enough that I'm happy to consider alternative explanations.
I took the question far too literally, and trawled unsuccessfully around notable figures of the 18thC and their doings.
I think it may be as simple as "think nationality" .
Sorry dr b, I can't buy that. The missing word location answers the first question. We have to answer the second and I don't see where the proper name or the word above it fit in. No word which fits the spaces of 16d seems to link with 30d at all. What does 'combine' mean?
To those struggling with 16d, assuming you have the right name at 30 down you have the second part of the perimeter word. The first part, when looked up in Chambers, will lead you to 16 down. It is an archaic definition. Hope that makes sense without giving the game away too much.
Thanks, novalis! Lord David Cecil accused Charlotte Bronte of "stretching the long arm of coincidence until it dislocated". What *would* he have made of Dumpynose's offering this week?