Jane Austen Timeline
Created by Bettina Pedersen on Thu, 09/15/2022 - 18:35
Part of Group:
This timeline includes biographical details from Jane Austen's life, including personal events and events related to the writing and publishing of her novels.Dates span her lifetime and include the posthumous publication of her final works.
Timeline
Chronological table
| Date | Event | Created by | Associated Places | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Sep 1814 |
MichaelmasMichaelmas is a traditional Christian holiday specifically celebrated in Western churches. It is categorized as a "Christian feast" ("Michaelmas"), recognizing "St. Michael's traditional position as leader of the heavenly armies" ("Michaelmas"). The other main angels mentioned in the Gospels and beyond are also included in the recognition and festivities of this holiday. Michaelmas is celebrated on September 29 and is specifically relevant to Persuasion in being the day on which the Crofts move into Kellynch Hall. At this point in the novel, Anne Elliot had been living at Uppercross for three weeks. Our version of the novel details Michaelmas as "one of the four days fixed by custom as marking the quarters of the year" (Austen 71). The 29th of September, therefore, acts as a practical day for the Crofts to take up their new residence as Michaelmas was considered one of the days when houses' rents and tenancies would've been due as well as started.
Austen, Jane, and Linda Bree. Persuasion. Broadview Press, 2004. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Michaelmas.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 20 July 1998, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Michaelmas.
|
Meghan Coley | ||
| 18 Jun 1815 |
The Battle of Waterloo The renewal of war, as Anne and the characters in Persuasion were anxious about at the end of the novel, happened shortly after the novel ended. However Austen began writing Persuasion just a month after Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815. War was very much on everyone’s mind. The navy had not been remobilized, and Austen, as well as the rest of the country, was hopeful that they had entered lasting peace. Napoleon had escaped exile in Elba, but his return was short-lived because he was defeated in the Battle of Waterloo, fought in present day Belgium. History.com Editors, History.com Editors. “Battle of Waterloo.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Nov. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/battle-of-waterloo.
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Sofie Fransen | ||
| 13 Nov 1815 |
Jane Austen visits Carolton HouseJane Austen's Emma was dedicated to a specific person, though this dedication was not entirely Austen's idea or pleasure. This person was the Prince Regent, a fervent admirer of Austen's work, who invited her to visit his residence in London on November 13, 1815. Emma is the only one of Austen's novels to be dedicated to anyone since Austen was not as ardent of an admirer of the Prince as he was of her. At this point in time, the Prince would have read Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and potentially parts of Emma. There are some speculations that Austen most likely wrote letters about this interaction and visit with the Prince to her sister Cassandra. But these letters no longer seem to exist due to their potential "anti-P.R sentiments" (Deb). Emma's dedication is as follows: "TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT, THIS WORK IS, BY HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS’S PERMISSION, THE AUTHOR" (Deb). Deb, BookLady. “Jane Austen's Visit to Carlton House ~ November 13, 1815.” Jane Austen in Vermont, 13 Nov. 2015, https://janeausteninvermont.blog/2015/11/13/jane-austens-visit-to-carlto....
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Meghan Coley | ||
| 23 Dec 1815 |
"Emma" Publication Jane Austen began writing Emma in on January 21, 1814, according to Cassandra. She finished writing it on March 29, 1815 and it was published on December 23, 1815, although the first edition says 1816. The publisher, John Murray, first offered to purchase the novel for £450 with the rights to Sense and Sensibility and Mansfield Park included. She said no, and instead negotiated with him to sell it on commission basis with a second edition of Mansfield Park. This was the last book published in her lifetime. She wrote Emma while living at Chawton. Austen began Persuasion on August 8, 1815, which was shortly after she had finished writing Emma. She was writing Persuasion while she was in the midst of publishing Emma. JASNA. “Emma.” Jane Austen Society of North America, 2022, https://jasna.org/austen/works/emma/. |
Sofie Fransen | ||
| 1816 |
Henry Austen Becomes OrdainedIn December of 1816, Henry Austen became an ordained deacon and was appointed curate of Chawton, Hampshire, where Mrs. Austen and his two sisters, Jane and Casandra lived. This is the same year that Jane begins to feel seriously ill.
“Jane Austen’s Siblings – Rev. Henry Thomas Austen 1771-1850." Austenprose, https://austenprose.com/2009/10/06/jane-austens-siblings-rev-henry-thomas-austen-1771-1850/. Accessed 6 December 2022. |
Samantha Rey | ||
| 1816 |
bankruptcy of Austen Maude & TilsonHenry originally started this banking company with partner Henry Maunde in 1801. The company moved to Parliament street in London of May 1803. The company would have 15 successful years before its collapse. Henry’s ill health, poor investment choices, and the aftermath of the war lead to the eventual Bank failure and bankruptcy of Austen Maude & Tilson in London in 1816.
“Jane Austen’s Siblings – Rev. Henry Thomas Austen 1771-1850.” Austenprose, https://austenprose.com/2009/10/06/jane-austens-siblings-rev-henry-thomas-austen-1771-1850/. Accessed 6 December 2022. “Henry Thomas Austen.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Thomas_Austen. Accessed 6 December 2022.
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Samantha Rey | ||
| 18 Jul 1817 |
Jane Austen's Death Based off of letters from Jane Austen and others, it seems as though Austen dealt with health issues for a lot of her life, and the most serious one (which ended in her death), first took hold at the beginning of 1816. This illness is unknown, but it's been theorized that she may have had Addison's disease or cancer. She describes having fever, weakness, and languor and being bedridden with this illness. Her and Cassandra eventually left their house in Chawton and moved to Winchester, seeking improved medical treatment. Unfortunately, the Winchester surgeon that treated her declared that in her condition, it was, "impossible for any person to last long". Austen spent her final days in Winchester surrounded by her family, and died on July 18, 1817. She was buried in the Winchester Cathedral, where you can still visit Austen's grave today. Looser, Devoney. “The Final Years of Jane Austen and Her Death.” Wondrium Daily, Wondrium, 20 Sept. 2022, https://www.wondriumdaily.com/the-final-years-of-jane-austen-and-her-death/. |
Emma Peters | ||
| 20 Dec 1817 |
Persuasion is Published Posthumously Cassandra Austen (Jane Austen's sister) claims that Austen began writing Persuasion on August 8, 1815. There were two chapters that she concluded the book with that she wrote in July 1816, which she eventually revised and wrote three new chapters for by August 1816. Even though Austen had completed the manuscript for the novel, she hadn't taken any steps to get it published. In a letter to Austen's niece Fanny Knight from March of 1817 she mentions the novel, stating, "I have a something ready for Publication, which may perhaps appear about a twelvemonth hence. It is short, about the length of Catherine". Austen passed away on July 18th of that same year, and had left the rights to her unpublished novels to Cassandra. Henry and Cassandra Austen published the manuscripts in a four-volume set which included Northanger Abbey and Persuasion on December 20th, 1817. Within this set was Henry Austen's "Biographical Notice of the Author" which finally revealed that Jane Austen had been the author of Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, and Emma. “Persuasion.” Jane Austen Society of North America, Jane Austen Society of North America, https://jasna.org/austen/works/persuasion/. |
Emma Peters |
