Jane Austen

16th December 1775 – 18th July 1817

Jane Austen was a Hampshire girl. She was born and grew up in Steventon near Basingstoke, where her father was Rector.

The family moved to Bath in 1800 when her father retired and stayed there until after his death in 1805.

In July 1809, Jane moved to Chawton with her sister Cassandra and her mother. This was the beginning of the most prolific phase of Jane’s life. Sense and Sensibility was released in 1811, Pride and Prejudice in 1813, Mansfield Park in 1814 and Emma in 1815. Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were both published after her death in 1817.

The books brought her little fame during her lifetime as they were published anonymously.

Jane and her sister would, like other ladies of their class, have spent their days looking after the poor and the sick in the area, teaching the local children to read or to write, attending relatives who were sick or during childbirth, supervising servants, sewing, reading and playing the pianoforte. Jane wrote almost daily, sitting at a little table. Her writing was secret and a squeaking door gave her notice of advancing visitors, so that she could hide her work. There is evidence that Jane was relieved of some of the domestic work in order to allow her more time for her writing.

Jane Austen’s house is 11.5 miles from Langrish House. A pony and carriage can trot at 8.7 miles per hour so it would have been perfectly possible for Jane to have visited Langrish House in a day, or for the owners of Langrish House to have paid a visit to Chawton.

The drive between Chawton and Langrish is particularly pretty. The road (now the A32) winds through the Rother valley and is an example of Hampshire Countryside at its best.