Jane Austen

16 December 1775

Jane Austen is born in the village of Steventon in Hampshire. She is the seventh child, and second daughter of the village rector Reverend George Austen, and his wife Cassandra (née Leigh). Jane is close to her sister, Cassandra, who was nearly three years her senior and who like herself, never married.
Her brothers enter traditional careers for example in the Navy and Clergy. Another is adopted by a wealthy family and she also has a brother who is disabled and does not live with them.

1783 - 1786

Austen is mainly educated at home. In 1783 she is briefly educated by a relative in Oxford, then in Southampton. Between 1785-1786 she attends the Reading Ladies Boarding school, in Berkshire.

1787 - 1790

Her earliest known writings date from 1787. Her family are avid readers and she is encouraged to write by her brother Henry, who writes a little himself. Her father also supports her by buying her paper and a writing desk.
The family often act out plays, where Jane presents her stories. They borrow books from the local library and she also benefits from her father's extensive library.

1790

As a child she writes comic stories, now referred to as Juvenilia e.g. 'Love and Freindship' (the misspelling in the title is famous) which she writes in 1790 aged 14.

1796

She has a flirtation with Tom Lefroy, later Lord High Justice of Ireland, who she mentions in her letters to her sister.
It does not seem to have been a long or serious relationship, but some suggest that Austen might have had him in mind when she created the character of Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice.

1797

Austen writes her first novel, 'Sense and Sensibility'. It is the revision of a sketch called 'Elinor and Marianne' which she wrote when she was 20. But it will not be published until 1811, when she is 35, 6 years before her death.
She also writes 'Pride and Prejudice' (originally 'First Impressions') around this time, but her father fails to get it published.

1801

Following the unexpected retirement of her father, the family sells up and moves to Bath. She dislikes this uprooting from the countryside to the city.

During the five years she lives in Bath, Austen begins one novel, 'The Watsons' which she never completes.

1802

Jane receives a marriage proposal from Harris Bigg-Wither who is wealthy but a "big and awkward" man. The marriage would free her from the constraint of spinsterhood and she accepts his offer, but refuses him the next day.

1803

Austen sells the epistolary novel 'Lady Susan' (later to become 'Northanger Abbey') to a publisher for 10 pounds but it remains unpublished until her brother Henry buys it back a year before her death for the same price, the publisher not realising how successful the writer had become. It is then revised by Austen and published posthumously.

1805

Jane's father dies. After Mr Austen's death, her brothers financially assist their sisters and mother who live together with their close friend Martha Lloyd.

1806

They move to live with her brother Frank and his family for several years, being stationed at the Naval Dockyard, in Southampton.

1809

The family moves to Chawton, to live in a cottage on her brother Edward's Estate, Chawton House, Hampshire. She is happy here and it is her most productive time.

1811

It is in Chawton that Jane succeeds in publishing her first novel, 'Sense and Sensibility'. It only identifies the author by the title 'A Lady'.

1813

'Pride and Prejudice' is published. She describes it as her "own darling child" and it receives favourable reviews.

1814

Austen publishes 'Mansfield Park'.

1815

'Emma' is published. It is dedicated to the Prince Regent, an admirer of her work. The title page in each book refers to her previous novels, increasing her growing reputation, but it does not give her name.

1815

Jane begins writing the novel 'Persuasion' and finishes it the following year, by which time her health is begining to deteriorate. The probable cause is Addison's disease.

18 March 1817

Jane manages to write twelve chapters of 'Sandition' before stopping on 18th March due to poor health. It remains unfinished and is not published until 1925.
During the last few weeks of her life, Jane and Cassandra live in College Street, Winchester, to be close to her doctor.

18 July 1817

Jane dies in her sister's arms, at Winchester, aged 41. After her death Cassandra destroys many of her letters, but the remaining ones are of historical and biographical interest.

Jane is buried in Winchester Cathedral. Her gravestone does not mention that she was an author.

December 1817

'Persuasion' and 'Northanger Abbey' are published posthumously together with a 'Biographical Notice' written by Henry, in which for the first time Jane is identified as the author of her novels.

The microwave oven is invented

1947

The house at Chawton is purchased by the Jane Austen Memorial Trust and it becomes a museum. Today it is visited by tourists and admirers from all over the world.

Jane Austen Information.
Links to webpages about Jane Austen's House, Societies and fan sites.

Further Reading
Books about Jane Austen.

Filmography
A list of films and TV adaptations based on Austen's books.