Jane Austen
Who was she?
Wikipedia: Jane
Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist whose
works of romantic fiction set among the gentry have earned her a place
as one of the most widely read and most beloved writers in English
literature.
Why was she in Bath?
Austen's parents,
George Austen
(1731–1805), and his wife, Cassandra
(1739–1827), were members of substantial gentry families. George was
descended from a family of woollen manufacturers which had risen
through the professions to the lower ranks of the landed gentry.
Cassandra was a member of the prominent Leigh family; they married on
26 April 1764 at Walcot Church in Bath. From 1765 until 1801, that is,
for much of Jane's life, George Austen served as the rector of the
Anglican parishes at Steventon, Hampshire.
Jane first came to Bath with her mother in the summer of 1799. They
stayed for a month at no. 13, Queen Square.
In December 1800, Rev. Austen unexpectedly announced his decision to
retire from the ministry, leave Steventon, and move the family to Bath.
While retirement and travel were good for the elder Austens, Jane
Austen was shocked to be told she was moving from the only home she had
ever known. An indication of Austen's state of mind is her lack of
productivity as a writer during the time she lived at Bath. She was
able to make some revisions to
Susan,
and
she
began
and
then
abandoned
a
new
novel,
The Watsons, but
there was nothing like the productivity
of the years 1795–99.
The Austen family lived at 4, Sydney Place (below) for three years
until their lease expired. They moved to 27, Green Park Buildings,
where
George Austen died in January
1805. Afterwards they briefly lived at 25, Gay Street, then in Trim
Street before moving to
Hampshire. Her final novels,
Persuasion
and
Northanger Abbey, were
published in December 1817 after her death. They were both set largely
in Bath.
The text reads
"Here lived Jane Austen 1801 - 1805"
Location map of 4, Sydney Place
(c) 2012
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