Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 02.djvu/271

Austen captain to Lord Gambier, then commanding the home fleet, and was afterwards, 1811-14, in the Elephant, in the North Sea and Baltic. He attained the rank of rear-admiral in July 1830; vice-admiral, June 1838; admiral, August 1848; and admiral of the fleet, 27 April 1863. From December 1844 to June 1848, he was commander-in-chief in the West Indies. In February 1837 he was made K.C.B.; G.C.B. in May 1860; rear-admiral of the United Kingdom, 5 June 1862; vice-admiral of the United Kingdom, 11 Dec. 1862; and, full of years and honours, he died on 10 Aug. 1865.

 AUSTEN, JANE (1775–1817), novelist, was born at Steventon, near Basingstoke, 16 Dec. 1775. Her father, George Austen, was rector of Deane and Steventon. He was married in 1764 to her mother, Cassandra, youngest daughter of the Rev. Thos. Leigh, and niece of Theophilus Leigh, for more than fifty years master of Balliol. Jane was the youngest of seven children. Her brothers were James (died 1819); Edward, who inherited the property and took the name of his second cousin, Mr. Knight; Henry, a clergyman (died 1850); Francis William, and Charles; the two last became admirals, Francis dying in 1865, aged 92 [see ], and Charles in 1832, aged 73. Her sister, Cassandra, who died unmarried in 1845, was three years older than herself. For the first twenty-five years of her life, Jane Austen lived with her family at Steventon. We are told that she took part in some private theatricals given in a barn in summer, and the dining-room in winter, between her thirteenth and sixteenth years, and occasionally visited Bath, where her uncle. Dr. Cooper, vicar of Sonning, lived for some years with his family. Her father took pupils to increase a modest income; and Jane learned French, a little Italian, could sing a few simple old songs in a sweet voice, and was remarkably dexterous with her needle, and 'especially great in satin-stitch.' She read standard literature; was familiar with the 'Spectator;' minutely acquainted with Richardson; fond of Johnson and Cooper, and specially devoted to Crabbe, of whom she used to say that if she ever married at all, she could fancy being Mrs. Crabbe. In later years she was charmed with Scott's poetry, and admired the first Waverley novels. In 1801 the family moved to Bath, living first at 4 Sydney Terrace, and afterwards at Green Park Buildings. She spent some weeks at Lyme in 1804: and upon her father's death in February 1805, his widow and daughters, after a few months in lodgings, moved to Castle Square, Southampton, whence Jane visited Kent and Bath. In 1809 they settled in a cottage at Chawton, about a mile from Alton, on the property of her brother, Mr. Knight. There she spent the rest of her life, with occasional visits to London, till her health, which had given symptoms of decline in 1816, broke down. In May 1817 she moved to Winchester, to be near Mr. Lyford, a doctor of reputation. She took lodgings in College Street, Where she was nursed by her sister and attended by her two brothers, who were clergymen in the neighbourhood. She died quietly 18 July 1817, and was buried in the centre of the north aisle of Winchester Cathedral. The grave is marked by a slab of black marble. Jane is described as tall, slender, and remarkably graceful; she was a clear brunette with a rich colour, hazel eyes, fine features, and curling brown hair. Her domestic relations were delightful, and she was specially attractive to children. A vague record is preserved of an attachment for a gentleman whom she met at the seaside, and who soon afterwards died suddenly. But there is no indication of any serious disturbance of her habitual serenity.

Jane began to write stories in her childhood. Many had been written before she was sixteen. They were good-humoured non-sense; and one of them—a burlesque 'comedy'—is given in her memoir. She began 'Pride and Prejudice' in October 1796, and finished it in August 1797, having already written something similar to 'Sense and Sensibility ' called 'Eleanor and Marianne.' 'Northanger Abbey' was written in 1798, but not prepared for the press until 1803. At Bath, about 1804, she began a story, never finished, called 'The Watsons.' In the first year at Chawton she prepared for the press 'Sense and Sensibility,' begun in November 1797, and 'Pride and Prejudice.' Between February 1811 and August 1816 she wrote 'Mansfield Park,' 'Emma,' and 'Persuasion.' She then began, but never finished, another nameless story. Besides these she wrote another story, called 'Lady Susan,' which, like 'Sense and Sensibility, when first composed, was in the form of letters. Her father offered 'Pride and Prejudice' to Cadell on 1 Nov. 1797; but the proposal was rejected ]by return of post, without an inspection of the manuscript. 'Northanger Abbey' was sold to a publisher in Bath for 10l. in 1803. He did not venture to print it, and was glad to take back his money and return the manuscript to one of