Jane Austen (1775 - 1817)

Born 16 Dec 1775 in Steventon, Hampshire, England

Ancestors

Died 18 Jul 1817 at age 41 in Winchester, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom

Problems/Questions Profile managers: England Project WikiTree [send private message] and Steve Austen [send private message]

Jane Austen is managed by the England Project. Join: England Project Discuss: england

Biography

Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, England.

Jane Austen is Notable.

Jane was baptised on the 16th December, 1775 at Steventon, Hampshire, England. ^[1]
She was the seventh child and second daughter of Rev. George Austen and Cassandra Leigh.

Jane was very close to her older sister, Cassandra-Elizabeth. When Cassandra was sent to school, Jane begged to be sent along with her even though she was too young. Her father couldn't really afford their schooling and they were back home after less than three years. Jane was very well educated for a female of that time. She have good knowledge of history as well as a little Latin, Italian and musical training. In 1787 she made the decision to devote all her time to writing.

Like most authors, her early efforts were rejected by Publishers. An early work was three volumes of "Juvenilia". In 1791, she wrote a parody of Oliver Goldsmith's "History of England" and when she was nineteen, she started work on "Lady Susan", a novel which was her first attempt at a serious theme.
Again it was rejected because of the format she used. She began another novel in 1795, which was titled "Elinor and Marianne", and in 1796 she start to works on "First Impressions". In August of 1797, she submitted "First Impressions" for publication, and it was turned down. But she persevered and over the next two years, she worked on Elinor and Marianne and renamed it "Sense and Sensibility." The rest was history. (mentioned in the bio on Find a Grave.)

Even today her books are studied as part of the school curriculum. She wrote romantic fiction and was the author of Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. She also wrote two novels that were published posthumously in 1818: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. She began a third, which was eventually called Sanditon but she died before it was complete.

In 1796 Thomas Langlois Lefroy, an Irish Huguenot politician began a flirtation with the young Jane Austen, who was a friend of an older female relative. Jane Austen wrote two letters to her sister Cassandra mentioning "Tom Lefroy", and some have suggested that it may have been he whom Jane had in mind when she invented the character of Mr. Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice", Jane Austen was writing Pride and Prejudice during that time . ^[2]

Around 1800 Jane met the young Harris Bigg-Wither. About a year later, on 2 December 1802, when he was 21, he proposed marriage to the 27 year old Jane, who was visiting the home of the Bigg-Withers, Manydown Park, Hampshire. While she accepted him that evening, she reconsidered over night, retracting her acceptance the following morning, and left Manydown forthwith. ^[3]. The affair was seen as a scandal in that time.

Jane Austen suffered from Addison's disease, and she passed away on the 18th July, 1817 at College Street, Winchester, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom.^[4]
She was buried in Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire. ^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ "Baptism Entry" Jane Austen baptised 16 Dec 1775 at Steventon, Hampshire, England. Citing this Record: "England, Hampshire Parish Registers, 1538-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGQG-2TT1 : 21 May 2020), Jane Austen, 17 Dec 1775; citing Christening, , Lancashire Record Office and Hampshire Record Office, England; FHL microfilm 1,041,307. Accessed 14 August, 2020
2. ↑ Wikipedia, Thomas Langois Lefroy, accessed 23 Sep 2016.
3. ↑ Marriage Proposal from Harris Bigg-Wither. Retrieved from digital austen (Here;) Accessed 9 May 2024.
4. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Austen,_Jane_(DNB00)
5. ↑ "Burial Entry" Find a Grave. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44/jane-austen) Citing: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 14 August 2020), memorial page for Jane Austen (16 Dec 1775–18 Jul 1817), Find a Grave Memorial no. 44, citing Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, City of Winchester, Hampshire, England ; Maintained by Find A Grave . Accessed 14 August 2020

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, entry for Jane Austen.

• Ancestry charts, Wikipedia.

• A Chronology of Jane Austen and Her Family: 1700-2000 By Deirdre Le Faye, Cambridge University Press Google books

• Find A Grave #44

• The Works of Jane Austen on Project Gutenberg[1]

• Baptism Dec 17, 1775: England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. FHL Film Number: 0973049 IT 9

See also:

• Beth Britten's biography of her brother Benjamin Britten the composer, entitled 'My Brother Benjamin', published by The Kensal Press in 1986 (ISBN 0-946041-40-7), includes extensive family trees. Hundreds of friends, professional connections and people in the 'music world' are also mentioned in the text.'My Brother Benjamin' by his sister Beth Britten

• 'Jane Austen's Family through Five Generations' by Maggie Lane, published by Robert Hale Limited, London. ISBN 0 7090 4832 7. Includes extensive family trees. Details of contemporaries and other connections are also mentioned in the text.Jane Austen's Family through Five Generations

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Steve Austen for creating WikiTree profile Austen-489 through the import of Austen-Lamb Family Tree_2013-05-09.ged on May 9, 2013. Click to the Changes page for the details of edits by Steve and others.