Summary of Lucy Worsley's Jane Austen at Home

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 The story of the Austens at Steventon Rectory really begins in the late summer of 1768, when a wagon heavily loaded with household goods made its way through the Hampshire lanes from nearby Deane to the village of Steventon.

#2 Mr Austen had been in charge of the parish of Steventon for the last four years. But he had found his Rectory there so run-down and dilapidated that he and his family had been living instead in a rented house in the neighbouring village of Deane.

#3 Jane’s mother, Cassandra, was a powerful personality who had strong common sense. She was not necessarily attractive, but she was sharp and witty. In appearance, she was striking rather than beautiful.

#4 The heroine of any story should lose her parents when she was young. This was true in real life of Jane’s father, who had lost both of his parents when he was a baby. His stepmother could claim that her interest in his estate took priority, and that she did not want to bother with him anymore.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669375296

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Insights on Lucy Worsley's Jane Austen at Home

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The story of the Austens at Steventon Rectory really begins in the late summer of 1768, when a wagon heavily loaded with household goods made its way through the Hampshire lanes from nearby Deane to the village of Steventon.

#2

Mr Austen had been in charge of the parish of Steventon for the last four years. But he had found his Rectory there so run-down and dilapidated that he and his family had been living instead in a rented house in the neighbouring village of Deane.

#3

Jane’s mother, Cassandra, was a powerful personality who had strong common sense. She was not necessarily attractive, but she was sharp and witty. In appearance, she was striking rather than beautiful.

#4

The heroine of any story should lose her parents when she was young. This was true in real life of Jane’s father, who had lost both of his parents when he was a baby. His stepmother could claim that her interest in his estate took priority, and that she did not want to bother with him anymore.

#5

George Austen was a clergyman who was given two livings. He was able to live like a gentleman because of them. His extended family helped him when he needed it.

#6

The parish of Steventon, where Jane would be born, was three miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide. It contained only thirty families, and its management should give little trouble as it contained no Papists, Dissenters, or any nobleman, gentleman, or person of note.

#7

The Austen family’s new life in Hampshire was not very different from the life they had in Oxford, except that they were now in a much quieter environment. The houses they lived in were not very fancy, and they did not have much money to improve them.

#8

The house that Jane’s parents lived in had a carriage drive at the front, which was a mark of gentility. It had a pond, and a screen of Chestnuts and firs to the sunny south side of the house.

#9

The Austen family moved into the Rectory in 1792, and Mr Austen’s study was his own exclusive property safe from the bustle of all household cares. The study housed hundreds of books in Hepplewhite cases, but Mr Austen was not pretentious enough to rename it a library.

#10

The Austens were also farmers. They had a farm of 195 acres, named Cheesedown, and attempted to make money from it. They lived with the rhythm of the country year, the festivals at sheep shearing and harvest home.

#11

The Austen family, who were descendants of the original owners of the house, had a difficult time making their famous aunt’s life look easier than it was. They had a hard time digging up the materials, which had been carefully buried out of sight by the past generation.

#12

The Austen family moved to a new house in Hampshire, and Mrs Austen got used to the sleepy pace of