Jane's favorite reading nook at Chawton House

According to family lore, this is Jane's favorite reading nook in Chawton Great House, the mansion where her brother Edward lived with his 11 children. It has a lovely view onto the lawn. 

When Edward's wife died, he arranged for his mother and sisters to live in a cottage on his estate, and Jane saw her nieces and nephews almost daily. They were also invited for meals and celebrations. 

Jane's brother Frank rented a cottage nearby, and then rented the Great House for several years. Frank and his wife had 11 children too!

Can you imagine reading aloud to a flock of children in this nook? Her niece claimed that Jane read "just like a play."
 

Jane Austen's fourth great nephew

 I was honored to meet Jeremy Knight, who is descended from Jane's brother Edward. He volunteers at Chawton House and explained the genealogy of the family to visitors.

Jane Austen's Last Home

 

On May 24^th, Cassie took Jane to Winchester to be closer to her physician. They stayed at No. 8 College Street, where Jane tried to keep cheerful, writing to her nephew James Edward about the “neat little Drawing-Room with a bow window overlooking Dr. Gabell’s garden.”

She wrote a short poem Winchester at the Races to honor St. Swithun’s Day on July 15, but then for the next two days Jane slept most of the time. Her last words were “God grant me patience, Pray for me, Oh Pray for me.” Her sister, Cassandra, was holding her as she took her last breath on July 18, 1817.

No. 8 College Street today.

Home again!

 Heather and I had a wonderful time following in the footsteps of Jane Austen. Here are some highlights...

Winchester Cathedral hosted 400 guests for a Regency Ball. They taught us the dances, and it was magical moving in unison with three long lines of dances that filled the nave of the church. Jane Austen is buried there!

We explored the Jane Austen Museum in Bath.

We visited Jane's home in Chawton. It was a magical journey!

I hope to post more once I recover from jetlag...

Jane's Version of History

 This is the title page of the History of England that Jane wrote when she was young. Check out the note at the bottom: 

N.B. There will be very few Dates in this History.

Jane's Sailor Brothers

 

Action between the British Frigate Unicorn and the French Frigate La Tribune June 8, 1796

The newspapers in June 1796 were full of the impressive victory of the Unicorn, the ship on which Jane's brother Charles served. His captain was her Cousin Jane’s husband, and the family followed the ship closely. Without loss of life or injury, the crew had fought ten hours with the French ship La Tribune. Charles’s ship won at last by striking down her mast.

Jane’s brothers, Frank and Charles, became admirals in the Navy, and Frank was knighted. His first wife passed away, and in 1828 he married Jane's dear friend, Martha Lloyd, who became “Lady Austen.” You can read more in Jane Austen’s Sailor Brothers by J.H. and E.C. Hubbock (published in 1906).

This painting is on display at Jane Austen's House!

Sea Bathing in Jane's Day

 

A Bathing Machine in Jane Austen's time

Jane Austen tried sea bathing when they stayed on the coast. A section of the beach was designated for women, with bathing machines and female attendants in weighted coats to help.

Jane wrote to her sister about the experience. She enjoyed it so much that she stayed in the water too long!

To learn more about Christianity in Jane Austen's England

 

One of my favorite writers about Jane Austen is Brenda S. Cox. You can find her website at https://topazcrossbooks.com/. She reviews books about Jane Austen and writes original insights on Jane's life, as well as other interesting people.

She has a wonderful book called "Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen's England."

Elegant Extracts

Jane's copy of Elegant Extracts in Prose 

Jane's father assigned his children and students readings from Elegant Extracts in Prose, which had been assembled by his boyhood headmaster, Vicesimus Knox. The thick book contained essays organized into sections such as “Moral and Religious.” 

In their copy of Elegant Extracts, Jane and Cassandra admired the essays by Samuel Johnson, who wrote with force and elegance. They began calling him “dear Dr. Johnson.” 

The Abbey School

 

Jane Austen was educated at home for most of her childhood, but she did attend the Abbey School at Reading for about 18 months. This historic gate is now a museum, but in her day, it was a successful girls' school built around the ruined gate of an abbey.

A Preference for Mary, Queen of Scots

 Jane Austen admired Mary Queen of Scots, and Cassandra made this illustration of the unfortunate queen using Jane as her model. The illustration was for a book Jane wrote called:

 History of England from the Reign of Henry VI to the Death of Charles I: By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian.

For King Henry VIII, she wrote: 

Abolishing Religious Houses and leaving them to the ruinous depredations of time has been of infinite use to the landscape of England in general, which probably was a principal motive for his doing it, since otherwise why should a Man who was of no Religion himself be at so much trouble to abolish one which had for Ages been established in the Kingdom.

Childhood Home in Steventon

This is Steventon Rectory, where Jane grew up. Her father served the local parishes of Steventon and Deane. Her home rose three stories high—a rectangular block with dormer windows poking from the roof. Most people would not have guessed that seven small bedrooms populated the second floor, and there were rooms for student boarders in the attic.

In addition to the seven children who grew up in the house, Jane's father usually had 3-4 students whom he tutored during the school year.

 

Chawton Great House

 Jane's brother Edward had two homes, and this one is Chawton Great House near the cottage where Jane, her mother, her sister Cassandra, and her friend Martha Lloyd lived. 

Edward had eleven children, and they visited the cottage almost daily, helping to make a patchwork quilt that ultimately included 3,000 pieces. "Aunt Jane" was a frequent guest at the Great House, and her niece Fanny recorded how they explored the house, often getting completely lost as they followed hallways and passages. 

This sketch is by Ellen G. Hill, who illustrated an excellent book: 

Jane Austen: Her Homes and Her Friends by Constance Hill, illustrated by Ellen G. Hill, 1901 (in public domain: https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hill/austen/homes.html).

Chawton Great House is a historic site today. I visited the lovely house and grounds.

Chawton Cottage

 

Chawton Cottage

When Jane was 33 years old, she and her family moved into Chawton Cottage, which was provided by her brother, Edward. Her mother was a widow now, and the family was glad to return to the Hampshire countryside after living in Southampton and Bath for years.

Their cottage was similar to their old country parsonage with its low ceilings and small rooms. The dining room window looked out on the busy coach road, which forked at this spot to send half the coaches to Fareham and the other to Winchester.

    The traffic added to the daily excitement, especially the Collyer’s Flying Machine—a stagecoach that passed daily on its route from Southampton to London. It had six horses and passengers inside and on the roof, along with an armed guard to protect from highwaymen. A man rode one of the front horses to keep the team in order, and the coachman was Mr. Falkner, who lived nearby. (Jane later dubbed it Falkner’s Car or ‘the Car of Falkenstein’ in a joke with her niece, Anna.)

The Jane Austen House from the front.

The Jane Austen House from the backyard.

George Austen's Bible from the Church of St. Nicholas in Steventon

 

Jane's father used this Bible as the rector of Steventon Parish. The Church of St. Nicholas was built 500 years before Jane's time. You can read more about it here.

The Winchester Ball

Today is the day of the Winchester Ball in honor of Jane Austen! I'm hoping to learn more about dancing in Jane Austen's time. My friend Edyne taught us many vintage dances over the years, and I hope to put them to good use!

One of my favorite pictures just before the ball...

Winchester Cathedral

 Jane Austen was buried at Winchester Cathedral. 

Her sister Cassandra wrote in a letter to Fanny Knight two days after Jane’s death, “I have lost a treasure, such a Sister, such a friend as never can have been surpassed, —She was the sun of my life, the gilder of every pleasure, the soother of every sorrow.” She also wrote, “I know you suffer severely, but I likewise know that you will apply to the fountain-head for consolation, and that our merciful God is never deaf to such prayers as you will offer. The last sad ceremony is to take place on Thursday morning; her dear remains are to be deposited in the Cathedral. It is a satisfaction to me to think that they are to lie in a building she admired so much; her precious soul, I presume to hope, reposes in a far superior Mansion. May mine one day be reunited to it!”

This is the epitaph over Jane's grave in Winchester Cathedral.

Jane Austen's tour of Bath

 This is our plan for seeing Bath, where Jane Austen lived for seven years. Bath is famous for Bath Abbey, the Roman Baths that still pipe water, and the Jane Austen Museum. In addition to the museum, we hope to see the exteriors of some of Jane's homes, including 25 Gay Street, No. 1 The Paragon, and No. 4 Sydney Place, as well as Sydney Gardens (where she walked regularly) and the Bath Assembly Rooms (which her family attended for balls or evening events.)

This is what the Assembly Rooms looked like in Jane's day.

This is 25 Gay Street where Jane lived for some of her time in Bath.

St. Swithin's Church in Bath in 1790 near Aunt and Uncle Leigh-Perrot

St. Swithin's Church

 Jane Austen's parents were married at this church in Bath, and it was just down the street from her aunt and uncle (the Leigh-Perrots), who lived at No. 1 Paragon in a row of townhomes that ran alongside a gracefully curved street. Jane's father was also buried in the churchyard of this church.

Uncle Leigh-Perrot was the brother of Jane's mother and liked to write witty poems like her mother. He read about the marriage of Captain Foote to Miss Patten and wrote a poem. (Pattens were wooden overshoes with an iron ring that raised the wearer above the mud.)

Through the rough paths of life,

With a patten your guard,

May you safely and pleasantly jog;

May the knot never slip, nor the ring press too hard,

Nor the foot find the Patten a clog.

Pattens

This is St. Swithin's now:

Sydney Gardens in Jane Austen's Day

 This is a map of the Labyrinth at Sydney Gardens in Bath, where Jane Austen liked to stroll. Can you navigate your way to the center?

The gardens were beautiful, with paths that took her past groves, cascades, and ornamental bridges. 

This is Sydney Gardens today:

 

Jane Austen's Portable Writing Desk

 

For Jane’s birthday on December 16, 1794, Jane's father bought her a writing desk. It was made of mahogany with a drawer that locked. It folded to make it portable and came with a glass inkstand. Jane wrote on small strips of paper that she tucked into the drawer. 

Jane took her desk with when she traveled, it had its own adventure as she related to Cassie by letter: “After we had been here a quarter of an hour, it was discovered that my writing and dressing boxes had been by accident put into a chaise which was just packing off as we came in, and were driven away towards Gravesend on their way to the West Indies. No part of my property could have been such a prize before, for in my writing-box was all my worldly wealth.”

Jane especially worried that her manuscript would be hard to replace. Fortunately, a man on horse went after the chaise and brought back the boxes within half an hour. 

Jane Austen's School Blues

Jane shared her French primer with her older brother Frank or Francis. They both wrote in the book. Can you see her message? Look near the top of the left page: "I wish I had done," in Jane's handwriting. On the right page:

Mothers

angry 

Fathers gone out.

Games in Jane Austen's Day

 

Battledore and Shuttlecock

Jane was popular with her young nephews, who loved this game. They kept a count of how long they could keep the shuttlecock in the air, and one of their records was six times.

 

Picture Books in Jane Austen's Day

 Jane Austen had a beloved copy of Goody Two-Shoes that told the story of Miss Margary. She and her brother lost their parents when they were young. They were so poor that they had no shoes. A kind man provided shoes for her. She was so proud of them that she soon became known as Goody Two-Shoes. 

She learned to read and helped others learn as well, and was so good with children that she became the local teacher. She was also kind to animals and rescued a raven and a lamb. She made learning to read fun by hiding wooden letters around the school room for the children to find. 

Though "Goody Two-Shoes" has a different meaning today, she was one of Jane's earliest heroines!

Jane Austen's Fifth-Great Niece

 I learned that Caroline Jane Knight (Jane Austen's Fifth-Great Niece) has started the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation to support literacy around the world. You can check out their website here: https://janeaustenlf.org/

You can also join the community for free: https://janeaustenlf.org/community

Caroline helped me understand that Jane's older brother, Edward, inherited the Knight estate without the type of formal adoption that we have today. When he inherited, he changed his name from Austen to Knight but continued his close family relationship with his Austen family. He spent part of the year at his Chawton Estate, where his mother and sisters lived in a cottage nearby.

Jane Austen's Devotions

 

This is a copy of the page for May in The Book of Common Prayer (1762) that Jane Austen's family used for morning and evening prayer. "Leff" is short for "Lessons" in the old-style type. 

The family read through the Psalms each month using the Psalter, and with this schedule, could read through the Old Testament once a year and the New Testament about three times a year. 

Jane Austen Adventure!

 

I'm leaving for the UK for a Jane Austen adventure. Check out posts here for some of the artifacts we are researching for my new children's biography of Jane Austen!

 

A curricle

The curricle was a popular mode of transportation in Jane Austen's day. Her younger brother, Charles, loved anything with wheels, and when she was twelve, she wrote him a story with every type of vehicle:

"Mr. Clifford... travelled in his Coach & Four, for he was a very rich young Man & kept a great many Carriages of which I do not recollect half. I can only remember that he had a Coach, a Chariot, a Chaise, a Landau, a Landeaulet, a Phaeton, a Gig, a Whisky, an Italian Chair, a Buggy, a Curricle, & a wheelbarrow."

    ~ Jane Austen, Memoirs of Mr. Clifford: An Unfinished Tale

 

This is a drawing of a cup and ball game called “Catch” that the Austens owned. Jane was famous for being able to catch the ball in the cup one hundred times to the amazement of her nieces and nephews.

Timelines are fun!

 Part of the fascination of writing biographies is researching the timeline. As one writer friend pointed out, it's like the plot is already written for me. There's also the delight of finding tiny details, like which books they read as children or what people ate for breakfast in their day.

I'll be sharing more over the next few weeks, but here's a timeline I've put together...

Timeline

1764	26 April –Rev. George Austen married Cassandra Leigh.
1765	13 February – James Austen born.
1766	26 August – George Austen born..
1767	7 October – Edward Austen born.
1768	July – The Austen family moves to Steventon, Hampshire.
1771	8 June – Henry Thomas Austen born.
1773	9 January – Cassandra Elizabeth Austen born. Rev. Austen takes in pupils to live with the family.
1774	23 April – Francis (Frank) Austen born.
1775	16 December – Jane Austen born at Steventon Rectory.
1779	23 June – Charles Austen born.
1782	Time of Jane’s walking to New Down with Charles.
1783	Edward Austen became the heir of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Knight. Spring – Jane and Cassandra go to school with Mrs. Cawley.
1785	Spring – Jane and Cassandra start at the Abbey School.
1786	December – Jane and Cassandra leave the Abbey School.
1787	Jane begins writing Juvenilia.
1788	Summer – Austen family visits Kent and London. 23 December – Francis Austen sails to the East Indies.
1789	Publication of James’s periodical The Loiterer (to March 1790). Jane works on Jack and Alice.
1790	Autumn – Edward Austen returns from the Grand Tour. Jane working on Love and Freindship and her History of England.
1791	Charles Austen enters the Royal Naval Academy. 27 December – Edward Austen marries Elizabeth Bridges.
1792	27 March – James Austen marries Anne Mathew. October – Jane and Cassandra visit the Lloyds at Ibthorpe. Winter – Cassandra engaged to Rev. Tom Fowle. Jane works on Lesley Castle.
1793	Jane begins to write a parody of Sir Charles Grandison. 23 January – Edward Austen's first child, Fanny, is born. 15 April – James Austen's first child, Anna, is born. 3 June – Jane writes last of juvenilia, the poem "Ode to Pity." Winter – Francis Austen returns home from the Far East. December – Jane visits cousins in Southampton.
1794	22 February – Eliza de Feuillide's husband executed in Paris. August – Jane and Cassandra visit Edward’s family at Rowling. September – Charles Austen goes to sea. Autumn – Jane working on Lady Susan. Jane receives book A Companion to the Altar.
1795	Jane begins Elinor and Marianne (Sense and Sensibility).  3 May – Death of James’s wife, Anne Autumn –Tom Fowle joins the West Indian campaign. December–Tom Lefroy visits Ashe rectory and meets Jane.
1796	January – Tom Fowle sails for the West Indies. August to October – Jane visits Edward’s family in Rowling. October – Jane begins First Impressions (Pride and Prejudice).
1797	17 January – James Austen marries Mary Lloyd. April – News arrives of Tom Fowle’s death from fever. August – Jane finishes First Impressions. 1 Nov. – Rev. Austen offers First Impressions to publisher. Nov. – Jane re-writes Elinor and Marianne (Sense and Sensibility.) November – Family visits the Leigh-Perrots in Bath. Winter – Rev. Samuel Blackall visits Ashe and meets Jane. 31 December – Henry Austen marries Eliza de Feuillide.
1798	August to October – Family visits Edward at Godmersham. August – Jane possibly begins writing Susan (Northanger Abbey). 9 August – Cousin Jane Williams killed in a road accident. 17 November – James Austen's son, James-Edward, born.
1799	March – Cassandra returns to Steventon from Godmersham. 17 May–June –Jane visits Bath with Edward’s family. End of June – Jane finishes Susan (Northanger Abbey). 14 August – Jane's aunt, Mrs. Leigh Perrot, charged with theft.
1800	End of Nov. to mid-Dec. – Jane visits the Lloyds at Ibthorpe. December – Revd. Austen decides to retire and move to Bath.
1801	January – Henry Austen sets up as a banker in London. May – Austen family settles in Bath and James’s family moves into Steventon rectory. Summer –Jane's romance may have occurred during holiday. 5 October – Austen family returns to Bath.
1802	April – James, Mary, and Anna visit the Austen family at Bath. Summer – Charles Austen joins the Austens for the holidays. 3 Sept. to 28 Oct. –  Jane and Cassandra visit  Godmersham. 25 Nov. to 2 Dec. – Jane and Cassandra visit the Bigg-Wither family at Manydown and Harris unexpectedly proposes marriage to Jane. Winter – Jane revises Susan (Northanger Abbey)
1803	Spring – Jane sells copyright for Susan to publisher for £10. 18 May – Henry and Eliza nearly trapped in France. September–October – Austen family stays at Godmersham. November – Austen family visits Lyme Regis.
1804	Jane begins The Watsons, (as it was later titled) but does not finish it. Spring – Mrs. Austen seriously ill. Summer – Austens, with Henry and Eliza, visit Lyme Regis. 25 Oct. – Austens move to 3 Green Park Bldgs. East in Bath. 16 Dec. –Mme. Lefroy killed in a riding accident.
1805	21 January – Jane’s father, Rev. George Austen dies suddenly. 25 March – Austen family moves to 25 Gay Street, Bath. June – Family with niece Anna visit Godmersham. 18 June – James Austen's daughter, Caroline, born. Summer – Martha Lloyd joins the Austen household.
1806	29 January – Mrs. Austen takes lodgings in Trim Street, Bath. Feb. to mid-March – Jane and Cassandra visit the Bigg sisters. 2 July – Family leaves Bath, and visit Adlestrop. 24 July – Francis Austen marries Mary Gibson. 5 Aug.– The Austens travel to Stoneleigh Abbey. October – Austen family takes lodgings in Southampton.
1807	March – Austen family moves into a house in Castle Square, Southampton with Frank and wife Mary. 19 May – Charles Austen marries Fanny Palmer in Bermuda. Sept. –Family gathering at Chawton Great House.
1808	January–March – Jane and Cassandra visit family and friends. 14 June to 8 July – Jane visits Godmersham. 10 Oct.– Edward’s wife, Elizabeth, dies after 11th childbirth.
1809	February – Cassandra returns to Southampton. 5 April – Jane writes to Crosby to ask about publishing Susan. 15 May – Mrs. Austen and her daughters visit Godmersham. 7 July – Austen family moves to Chawton Cottage.
1810	July–August – Jane and Cassandra visit friends and family. Winter – Sense and Sensibility accepted for publication.
1811	February – Jane starts planning Mansfield Park. Mar. – Jane (in London) corrects proofs of Sense and Sensibility. August – Charles Austen and family return to England. 30 October – Sense and Sensibility published anonymously. Winter – Jane revises First Impressions (Pride and Prejudice).
1812	April – Edward Austen and Fanny visit Chawton. 9–25 June – Mrs. Austen and Jane visit Steventon 14 Oct. – Edward Austen changes surname to "Knight." Autumn – Jane sells copyright of Pride and Prejudice for £110.
1813	28 January – Pride and Prejudice published anonymously. 21 April to Sept. – Edward’s family at Chawton Great House 22-25 April – Jane takes care of cousin Eliza (de Feuillide) Austen. July –Jane finishes Mansfield Park. November – Second editions of first two novels released. November – Mansfield Park probably accepted for publication.
1814	1 January – Jane begins Emma. 1 March to April – Jane visits Henry in London. April to June– Edward’s family at Chawton Great House 9 May – Mansfield Park published anonymously by Egerton. August – Frank’s family at Chawton Great House for 2 years. 6 September – Charles's wife Fanny dies in childbirth.
1815	29 March – Emma finished. 8 August – Jane begins Persuasion (called The Elliots). 4 October – Jane moves to London to nurse Henry. 13 November – Jane visits the Prince Regent's mansion. End of December – Emma published.
1816	Spring – Henry buys back manuscript of Susan and Jane changes heroine’s name to Catharine (Northanger Abbey). 18 July – First draft of Persuasion finished. 6 August – Jane revises final two chapters of Persuasion. Second edition of Mansfield Park published by Murray. December – Henry ordained and becomes curate of Chawton.
1817	27 Jan. to 18 Mar. – Jane works on novel The Brothers (Sanditon). 27 April – Jane makes her will. 24 May – Cassandra takes Jane to Winchester for medical care. 18 July – Jane dies early in the morning at her lodgings. 24 July – Jane buried in Winchester Cathedral in aisle of nave. End of December – Northanger Abbey and Persuasion published.
1833	Richard Bentley publishes the collected works of Jane Austen in an illustrated five volume series known as the Standard Novels. They remain in print to this day.
1869	Jane’s nephew Edward (James Edward Austen-Leigh) publishes the first biography: A Memoir of Jane Austen.
1925	The Brothers (Sanditon) is published under the title Fragment of a Novel.