by Jane Austen
CHAPTER XI. BATH AGAIN
CHAPTER XII. FROM BATH TO SOUTHAMPTON
CHAPTER XIII. FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO CHAWTON
CHAPTER XIV. SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
CHAPTER XV. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
CHAPTER XVI. MANSFIELD PARK
CHAPTER XVII. EMMA
CHAPTER XVIII. PERSUASION
CHAPTER XIX. AUNT JANE
CHAPTER XX. FAILING HEALTH
CHAPTER XXI. WINCHESTER
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PREFACE
Since 1870-1, when J. E. Austen Leigh published his Memoir of Jane Austen, considerable additions have been made to the stock of information available for her biographers. Of these fresh sources of knowledge the set of letters from Jane to Cassandra, edited by Lord Brabourne, has been by far the most important. These letters are invaluable as memoires pour servir; although they cover only the comparatively rare periods when the two sisters were separated, and although Cassandra purposely destroyed many of the letters likely to prove the most interesting, from a distaste for publicity.
Some further correspondence, and many incidents in the careers of two of her brothers, may be read in Jane Austen's Sailor Brothers, by J. H. Hubback and Edith C. Hubback; while Miss Constance Hill has been able to add several family traditions to the interesting topographical information embodied in her Jane Austen: Her Homes and Her Friends. Nor ought we to forget the careful research shown in other biographies of the author, especially that by Mr. Oscar Fay Adams.
During the last few years, we have been fortunate enough to be able to add to this store; and every existing MS. or tradition preserved by the family, of which we have any knowledge, has been placed at our disposal.
It seemed, therefore, to us that the time had come when a more complete chronological account of the novelist's life might be laid before the public, whose interest in Jane Austen (as we readily acknowledge) has shown no signs of diminishing, either in England or in America.
The Memoir must always remain the one firsthand account of her, resting on the authority of a nephew who knew her intimately and that of his two sisters. We could not compete with its vivid personal recollections; and the last thing we should wish to do, even were it possible, would be to supersede it. We believe, however, that it needs to be supplemented, not only because so much additional material has been brought to light since its publication, but also because the account given of their aunt by her nephew and nieces could be given only from their own point of view, while the incidents and characters fall into a somewhat different perspective if the whole is seen from a greater distance. Their knowledge of their aunt was during the last portion of her life, and they knew her best of all in her last year, when her health was failing and she was living in much seclusion; and they were not likely to be the recipients of her inmost confidences on the events and sentiments of her youth.
Hence the emotional and romantic side of her nature -- a very real one -- has not been dwelt upon. No doubt the Austens were, as a family, unwilling to show their deeper feelings, and the sad end of Jane's one romance would naturally tend to intensify this dislike of expression; but the feeling was there, and it finally found utterance in her latest work, when, through Anne Elliot, she claimed for women the right of 'loving longest when existence or when hope is gone.'
Then, again, her nephew and nieces hardly knew how much she had gone into society, or how much, with a certain characteristic aloofness, she had enjoyed it. Bath, either when she was the guest of her uncle and aunt or when she was a resident; London, with her brother Henry and his wife, and the rather miscellaneous society which they enjoyed; Godmersham, with her brother Edward and his county neighbours in East Kent; -- these had all given her many opportunities of studying the particular types which she blended into her own creations.
A third point is the uneventful nature of the author's life, which, as we think, has been a good deal exaggerated. Quiet it certainly was; but the quiet life of a member of a large family in the England of that date was compatible with a good deal of stirring incident, happening, if not to herself, at all events to those who were nearest to her, and who commanded her deepest sympathies.
We hope therefore that our narrative, with all its imperfections and its inevitable repetition of much that has already been published, will at least be of use in removing misconceptions, in laying some new facts before the reader, and in placing others in a fresh light. It is intended as a narrative, and not as a piece of literary criticism; for we should not care to embark upon the latter in competition with biographers and essayists who have a better claim to be heard.
Both in the plan and in the execution of our work we have received much valuable help from another member of the family, Mary A. Austen Leigh.
An arrangement courteously made by the owners of the copyright has procured for us a free and ample use of the Letters as edited by Lord Brabourne; while the kindness of Mr. J. G. Nicholson of Castlefield House, Sturton-by-Scawby, Lincolnshire, has opened a completely new source of information in the letters which passed between the Austens and their kinsmen of the half-blood -- Walters of Kent and afterwards of Lincolnshire. Miss Jane Austen, granddaughter of Admiral Charles Austen, and Miss Margaret Bellas, great-granddaughter of James Austen, are so good as to allow us to make a fuller use of their family documents than was found possible by the author of the Memoir; while Mr. J. H. Hubback permits us to draw freely upon the Sailor Brothers, and Captain E. L. Austen, R.N., upon his MSS. Finally, we owe to Admiral Ernest Rice kind permission to have the photograph taken, from which the reproduction of his Zoffany portrait is made into a frontispiece for this volume. We hope that any other friends who have helped us will accept this general expression of our gratitude.
W. A. L.
R. A. A. L.
April 1913.
CHRONOLOGY OF JANE AUSTEN'S LIFE
1775,
Dec. 16
Birth, at Steventon.
1779,
June
Charles John Austen born.
1780,
July
James Austen matriculated at Oxford (St. John's).
1782
Jane and Cassandra at Oxford under care of Mrs. Cawley (sister of Dr. Cooper).
1783
Mrs. Cawley having moved to Southampton, Jane nearly died there of a fever.
Mrs. Cooper (her aunt) took the infection and died (October).
1784
The Rivals acted at Steventon.
1784
or 1785
Jane and Cassandra left Mrs. Latournelle's school at Reading, and returned home.
1786
Eliza Comtesse de Feuillide came to England.
Birth of her son.
1787
James Austen in France.
1788,
July
Henry Austen matriculated at Oxford (St. John's).
Francis Austen went to sea.
1791
Edward Austen married Elizabeth Bridges.
1792,
March
James Austen married Anne Mathew.
1794,
Feb.
Comte de Feuillide guillotined.
1795
(?)
Cassandra engaged to Thomas Fowle.
May
Mrs. James Austen died.
1795
-6
Mr. Tom Lefroy at Ashe.
1796
First Impressions (Pride and Prejudice) begun.
Jane subscribed to Camilla.
1797,
Jan.
James Austen married Mary Lloyd.
Feb.
Thomas Fowle died of fever in the W. Indies.
Nov.
Jane, with mother and sister, went to Bath.
First Impressions refused by Cadell.
Sense and Sensibility (already sketched in Elinor and Marianne) begun.
Dec.
Henry Austen
married Eliza de Feuillide.
1798,
Aug.
Lady Williams (Jane Cooper) killed in a carriage accident.
Mrs. Knight gave up Godmersham to the Edward Austens.
Jane's first visit there.
1798,
Aug.
First draft of Northanger Abbey begun.
1799,
May
Jane at Bath with the Edward Austens.
Aug.
Mrs. Leigh Perrot's trouble at Bath.
1801,
May
Family move from Steventon to Bath. Visit to Sidmouth.
Possible date of Jane's romance in the west of England.
1802
Austens at Dawlish and Teignmouth.
Visit of sisters to Steventon and Manydown.
Jane received an offer of marriage from an old friend.
1803
Northanger Abbey (called Susan) revised, and sold to Crosby of London.
1804
Probable date of The Watsons.
Sept.
Austens at Lyme.
Dec.
Mrs. Lefroy of Ashe killed by a fall from her horse.
1805,
Jan.
Death of Jane's father at Bath.
1806,
July
Austens left Bath for Clifton, Adlestrop, and Stoneleigh.
1806
-7
Austens settled at Southampton.
1807,
March
Took possession of house in Castle Square.
1808,
Sept.
Cassandra at Godmersham.
Oct.
Mrs. Edward Austen died there after the birth of her eleventh child (John).
1809,
April
Jane attempted to secure publication of Susan (Northanger Abbey).
Austens left Southampton.
July
Austens took possession of Chawton (having been at Godmersham).
Jane's authorship resumed.
1811,
April
Jane with Henry in London (Sloane Street) bringing out Sense and Sensibility.
Oct.
Sense and Sensibility published.
1812
Death of Mrs. T. Knight. Edward Austen took the name of 'Knight.'
1813,
Jan.
Publication of Pride and Prejudice.
April
Death of Mrs. Henry Austen (Eliza).
Sept.
Jane's last visit to Godmersham.
Second edition of Sense and Sensibility.
1814,
Jan.
Emma begun.
March
Jane went to London with Henry (reading Mansfield Park by the way).
May
Mansfield Park published.
Threat of lawsuit for Chawton.
Nov.
Marriage of Anna Austen to Ben Lefroy.
1815,
March
Emma finished.
Oct.
Illness of Henry.
Nov.
Jane shown over Carlton House by Dr. Clarke.
Dec.
Publication of Emma.
1816,
March
Bankruptcy of Henry Austen (Jane's health began to break about this time).
May
Jane and Cassandra at Kintbury and Cheltenham.
July
Persuasion finished.
Aug.
End of Persuasion re-written.
Henry took Orders.
1817,
Jan.
Jane began new work.
March
Ceased to write.
Death of Mr. Leigh Perrot.
Jane made her will.
May 24
Jane moved to Winchester, and revived somewhat.
June 16
Cassandra sent a hopeless account to Fanny Knight.
July 18
Death.
July 24
Burial in Winchester Cathedral.
CHAPTER I. AUSTENS AND LEIGHS
1600-1764
At the end of the sixteenth century there was living at Horsmonden -- a small village in the Weald of Kent -- a certain John Austen. From his will it is evident that he was a man of considerable means, owning property in Kent and Sussex and elsewhere; he also held a lease of certain lands from Sir Henry Whetenhall, including in all probability the manor house of Broadford in Horsmonden. What wealth he had was doubtless derived from the clothing trade; for Hasted instances the Austens, together with the Bathursts, Courthopes, and others, as some of the ancient families of that part 'now of large estate and genteel rank in life,' but sprung from ancestors who had used the great staple manufacture of clothing. He adds that these clothiers 'were usually called the Gray Coats of Kent, and were a body so numerous that at County Elections whoever had their vote and interest was almost certain of being elected.'
John Austen died in 1620, leaving a large family. Of these, the fifth son, Francis, who died in 1687, describes himself in his will as a clothier, of Grovehurst; this place being, like Broadford, a pretty timbered house of moderate size near the picturesque old village of Horsmonden. Both houses still belong to the Austen family. Francis left a son, John, whose son was another John. This last John settled at Broadford (while his father remained at Grovehurst), and, when quite young, married Elizabeth Weller. He seems to have been a careless, easy-going man, who thought frugality unnecessary, as he would succeed to the estate on his father's death; but he died of consumption in 1704, a year before that event took place. One of his sisters married into the family of the Stringers (neighbours engaged in the same trade as the Austens), and numbered among her descendants the Knights of Godmersham -- a circumstance which exercised an important influence over the subsequent fortunes of the Austen family.
Elizabeth Weller, a woman happily cast in a different mould from her husband, was an ancestress of Jane Austen who deserves commemoration. Thrifty, energetic, a careful mother, and a prudent housewife, she managed, though receiving only grudging assistance from the Austen family, to pay off her husband's debts, and to give to all her younger children a decent education at a school at Sevenoaks; the eldest boy (the future squire) being taken off her hands by his grandfather. Elizabeth left behind her not only elaborately kept accounts but also a minute description of her actions through many years and of the motives which governed them. It may be interesting to quote one sentence relating to her move from Horsmonden to Sevenoaks for the sake of her children's education. 'These considerations with ye tho'ts of having my own boys in ye house, with a good master (as all represented him to be) were ye inducements that brought me to Sen'nock, for it seemed to me as if I cou'd not do a better thing for my children's good, their education being my great care, and indeed all I think I was capable of doing for 'em, for I always tho't if they had learning, they might get better shift in ye world, with wt small fortune was alloted 'em.'
When the good mother died in 1721, her work was done. Schooldays were over, the daughter married, and the boys already making their way in the world.
The young squire and his son held gentle sway at Broadford through the eighteenth century; but much more stirring and able was the next brother, Francis. He became a solicitor. Setting up at Sevenoaks 'with eight hundred pounds and a bundle of pens,' he contrived to amass a very large fortune, living most hospitably, and yet buying up all the valuable land round the town which he could secure, and enlarging his means by marrying two wealthy wives. But his first marriage did not take place till he was nearer fifty than forty; and he had as a bachelor been a most generous benefactor to the sons of his two next brothers, Thomas and William.
His second wife, who became in due course of time godmother to her great-niece, Jane Austen, was the widow of Samuel Lennard, of West Wickham, who left her his estate. Legal proceedings ensued over the will, and Mrs. Lennard to
ok counsel of Francis Austen, who ended by winning both the case and her hand. Francis's son by his first wife (known as Motley Austen) rounded off the family estate at Sevenoaks by purchasing the Kippington property. Motley's third son, John, eventually inherited the Broadford estate. Francis's two most distinguished descendants were Colonel Thomas Austen of Kippington, well known as M.P. for Kent, and the Rev. John Thomas Austen, senior wrangler in 1817.
Both the two next brothers of Francis Austen adopted the medical profession. Thomas, an apothecary at Tonbridge, had an only son, Henry, who graduated at Cambridge, and, through his uncle's interest, held the living of West Wickham for twenty years. His descendants on the female side are still flourishing.
William, the surgeon, Jane Austen's grandfather, is more immediately interesting to us. He married Rebecca, daughter of Sir George Hampson, a physician of Gloucester, and widow of another medical man, James Walter. By her first husband she had a son, William Hampson Walter, born in 1721; by her second she had three daughters, and one son, George, born in 1731. Philadelphia -- the only daughter who grew up and married -- we shall meet with later. Rebecca Austen died in 1733, and three years later William married Susanna Holk, of whom nothing is known except that she died at an advanced age, and did not mention any of the Austens in her will; neither is there any trace of her in any of the family records with which we are acquainted; so it is hardly probable that little George Austen (Jane's father), who had lost both his parents when he was six years old, continued under the care of his stepmother. However, all that we know of his childhood is that his uncle Francis befriended him, and sent him to Tonbridge School, and that from Tonbridge he obtained a Scholarship (and subsequently a Fellowship) at St. John's College, Oxford -- the College at which, later on, through George's own marriage, his descendants were to be 'founder's kin.' He returned to teach at his old school, occupying the post of second master there in 1758, and in the next year he was again in residence at Oxford, where his good looks gained for him the name of 'the handsome proctor.' In 1760 he took Orders, and in 1761 was presented by Mr. Knight of Godmersham -- who had married a descendant of his great-aunt, Jane Stringer -- to the living of Steventon, near Overton in Hampshire. It was a time of laxity in the Church, and George Austen (though he afterwards became an excellent parish-priest) does not seem to have resided or done duty at Steventon before the year 1764, when his marriage to Cassandra Leigh must have made the rectory appear a desirable home to which to bring his bride.