Profile Text
Date of Birth: 16 December, 1775
Place of Birth: Steventon, Hampshire, England
Date of Death: 18 July, 1817
Place of Death: Winchester, Hampshire, England
Ethnicity: English
Jane Austen was an English novelist. She wrote the novels Sense and Sensibility , Pride and Prejudice , Mansfield Park , Emma , Northanger Abbey , and Persuasion , the short epistolary novel Lady Susan , the short satirical work Plan of a Novel, According to Hints from Various Quarters , and three volumes of Juvenilia. Her work was part of the transition to literary realism in the 1800s. She also wrote the unfinished books Sanditon and The Watsons .
Jane was the daughter of Cassandra (Leigh) and George Austen, a cleric of the Church of England, who served as the rector of the Anglican parishes at Deane and Steventon. Her father’s family was originally wealthy. Her paternal aunt was socialite Philadelphia Austen Hancock, who married surgeon Tysoe Hancock. Her mother also came from a clerical family, as a clergyman’s daughter, and was descended from a founder of St John’s College, Oxford. Among Jane’s siblings were clergyman James Austen; Edward Austen Knight, who was High Sheriff of Kent; militia officer, clergyman, and banker Henry Thomas Austen; amateur watercolourist Cassandra Austen; Royal Navy officer, Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Francis Austen, who was Commanding officer of the sloop HMS Peterel; and Royal Navy officer, rear-admiarl Charles Austen. Jane’s cousin, Philadelphia’s daughter, was Eliza de Feuillide, who married Jane’s brother Henry; and was believed to have inspired some of her characters.
Jane’s paternal grandfather was William Austen MD (the son of John Austen IV and Elizabeth Weller). William was born in Broadford, Kent. John was the son of John Austen and Jane Atkins. Elizabeth was the daughter of Elizabeth Legate.
Jane’s paternal grandmother was Rebecca Hampson (the daughter of Sir George Hampson, Bart. MD and Mary Coghill). Rebecca was born in Frant, Sussex. Jane’s great-grandfather George was the son of George Hampson and Grace Holte.
Jane’s maternal grandfather was The Rev. Thomas Leigh (the son of Theophilus Leigh and The Hon. Mary Brydges). The Rev. Thomas was born in Adlestrop, Gloucestershire, and was rector at All Souls College, Oxford. Theophilus was the son of William Leigh and Elizabeth Whorwood. Mary was the daughter of James Brydges and Elizabeth Barnard.
Jane’s maternal grandmother was Jane Walker (the daughter of John Walker, MD and Jane Perrot). Jane’s grandmother Jane Walker was born in London, Middlesex. Jane’s great-grandmother Jane Perrot was the daughter of James Perrot and Anne Dawtrey.
Sources: Genealogies of Jane Austen – https://www.geni.com https://www.wikitree.com