Dave Garrick’s Villa at Hampton on The Thames, Part Two

Copyright (c) Jane Austen’s World. Post written by Tony Grant, London Calling. In 1754 David Garrick became the lessee first and finally bought the house, which was to become his villa beside The Thames. It became his country retreat and the place where he and his wife entertained friends. He began to alter the original [...]

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David Garrick’s Villa at Hampton on The Thames, Part One

Copryright (c) Jane Austen’s World. Post written by Tony Grant, London Calling. For four days last week, I was working in a school in Staines near Heathrow Airport. To get there from Wimbledon I had to drive past David Garrick’s Villa and his temple to Shakespeare, at Hampton on The Thames. David Garrick was an [...]

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Happy 233rd Birthday, Jane Austen!

Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775.

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A Walk With Jane Austen by Lori Smith: Review, Part II

Often a journey is more pleasant if one slows down and savors it. I had hoped to review Lori Smith’s book, A Walk With Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love & Faith, in one fell swoop, but my busy summer schedule would not allow it. This was to my benefit. Everywhere I went I [...]

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Jane, A Tribute to A Too Short Life

On the anniversary of Jane Austen’s death – she died 190 years ago today – I thought I would put a different spin on things and celebrate her life. Jane means so many things to so many people, and her popularity, instead of diminishing, increases each year. What is it about Jane that attracts so [...]

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The Destruction of Jane Austen’s Letters

During her short life, Jane Austen was a prolific writer of letters, yet few survive. It is widely known that a majority of Jane’s letters were burned by her sister Cassandra and destroyed by other members of her family. Their reasons were varied. This excerpt from Jim and Ellen Moody’s website: English and Continental Literature, [...]

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On the anniversary of Jane Austen’s death

Jane Austen, 1775-1817: I have lost a treasure, such a sister, such a friend as never can have been surpassed. She was the sun of my life, the gilder of every pleasure, the soother of every sorrow; I had not a thought concealed from her, and it is as if I had lost a part [...]

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Jane Austen’s Father

Rev. George Austen was by all accounts a handsome man. Anna LeFroy, Jane’s niece wrote, “I have always understood that he was considered extremely handsome, and it was a beauty which stood by him all his life. At the time when I have the most perfect recollection of him he must have been hard upon [...]

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‘A Memoir of Jane Austen’ Boosted Her Popularity

During her life and shortly after her death, Jane Austen’s novels were not popularly known. Oh, she had her admirers, most notably the Prince Regent, to whom she dedicated Emma, and a few other distinguished personages, such as Lord Macaulay, Lord Byron’s wife, Ann, and writers Philip Sheridan and Robert Southey. But her works languished [...]

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Jane Austen’s Will

The website, Treasures from the National Archives, UK, links to a copy of Jane Austen’s Will which she wrote at Chawton just months before she died. Also find William Shakespeare’s Will on this site. Here is the transcript of Jane’s Will: I Jane Austen of the Parish of Chawton do by this my last will [...]

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Happy Mother’s Day, Cassandra Leigh

As Mother’s Day approaches, one’s thoughts turn to Cassandra Leigh Austen, Jane’s mother (1739-1827). In reading the dry biographies that are written about her, I asked the question: What was she really like? By all accounts, she lived a life that was representative of the gentry and a woman’s married status, that of wife, mistress [...]

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Landed Gentry

Men who inherit the responsiblities of the landed gentry, like Edward Austen Knight, depicted above, (or a Mr. Bingley or Mr. Darcy), are mainly preoccupied in preserving their inheritance for their heirs. This requires continuous oversight on their part, and day-to-day adminstration of servants and farm workers, usually with the help of a land steward [...]

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