Jane’s novels are timeless because they are concerned with human relationships. They demonstrate to us that even today, just as in her day, we have a choice as to what paths we follow, and a duty to differentiate between what is good and what is not – ‘goodness’ being one of Jane’s favourite descriptive words. We rejoice in Jane’s gaiety and her wit. We smile at her gentle teasing and dry sarcasm. We salute her courage, and we feel immensely sad that she died so young and that the love – of which she had so much to give to a prospective partner – remained unrequited.
Notes
1. Letter from Jane Austen to Cassandra, 27/28 December 1808.
2. Letter from Jane Austen to Fanny Knight, 30 November 1814.
3. Letter from Jane Austen to Fanny Knight, 13 March 1817.
4. Caroline Austen, My Aunt Jane Austen, pp. 2, 5, 10.
5. Ibid., p. 6.
6. James E. Austen-Leigh, A Memoir of Jane Austen, p. 16.
Appendix
STEVENTON RECTORY
Sadly, Steventon Rectory, Jane Austen’s birthplace, no longer exists. In 1826–27 Edward Knight built – for the occupation of his son William (Rector of Steventon from 1823–73) – a new rectory on the hillside opposite, overlooking the glebe land’s ‘Hanging Meadow’. This having been done, he demolished the old one together with its farm buildings and the cottage in the lane. Today, the site of the rectory is indicated by an area where snowdrops grow in springtime, and by the remains of the well from which the Austens obtained their water.
THE CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS, STEVENTON
It was during William Knight’s incumbency that a new spire was added to the church.
In 1936, Jane’s great-grandniece Emma Austen-Leigh placed a memorial to Jane on the left-hand side of the nave. In 1952 the fragment of Steventon’s Saxon cross was donated to Steventon church by Captain and Mrs Hutton Croft, the then owners of the Steventon Estate. It is now on display inside the church.
Repairs and renovations to the church have been carried out through the generosity of the Jane Austen Societies of Great Britain and North America. This includes the restoration of the roof and spire (1984), the redecoration of the interior (1988), and the renovation and re-hanging of the church’s three medieval bells (1995). In 1975, to mark the bicentenary of Jane’s birth, the east window, which suffered from extensive corrosion, was almost entirely replaced. Also, with the help of the Parochial Church Council and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, the wrought iron railings surrounding the churchyard were replaced. In 2000, to mark the millennium, a new cover for the font was donated to the church.
STEVENTON MANOR HOUSE
In c.1880 Henry Harris, the then owner of the Steventon Estate, built a new manor house which overlooked the original Tudor manor house. Unfortunately, in 1932 this Victorian building, together with an adjacent farm, was destroyed by fire, whereupon the owners, a Mr and Mrs Onslow Fane, decided to extend the Tudor manor house which, sadly, was demolished in 1970.
CHAWTON COTTAGE
Jane’s home for the last eight years of her life is now the Jane Austen’s House Museum, which has been owned by the Jane Austen Memorial Trust since 1947.
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Copyright
First published 2009
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