Cassandra Elizabeth Austen (9 January 1773 – 22 March 1845
[Cassandra Austen]
". (n.d.) ''Jane Austen Centre Magazine.'' Retrieved 31 December 2006.) was an amateur English
watercolourist
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
and the elder sister of
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
. The letters between her and Jane form a substantial foundation to scholarly understanding of the life of the novelist.
Childhood
Austen was born in 1773 at a rectory in
Steventon, Hampshire
Steventon is a village and a civil parish with a population of about 250 in north Hampshire, England. Situated 7 miles south-west of the town of Basingstoke, between the villages of Overton, Oakley and North Waltham, it is close to Junction 7 ...
, to The Reverend
George Austen (1731–1805), a
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
, and his wife Cassandra,
''née'' Leigh
Leigh may refer to:
Places In England
Pronounced :
* Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan
** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency)
* Leigh-on-Sea, Essex
Pronounced :
* Leigh, Dorset
* Leigh, Gloucestershire
* Leigh, Kent
* Leigh, Staf ...
(1739–1827). There were eight Austen children; as Cassandra and Jane were the only girls, they maintained an especially close relationship throughout their lives. Over one hundred letters addressed to Cassandra from Jane have survived. These letters have helped historians to construct details about the life of the novelist.
The sisters went to Mrs. Cawley, their uncle's sister, to be educated in 1783. Cawley lived initially in Oxford, and later in Southampton, and, when an epidemic broke out in Southampton, the Austen sisters returned to Steventon. Between 1785 and 1786 the sisters attended the
Reading Abbey Girls' School
Reading Abbey Girls' School, also known as Reading Ladies’ Boarding School, was an educational establishment in Reading, Berkshire open from at least 1755 until 1794. Many of its pupils went on to make a mark on English culture and society, part ...
. Jane was originally not to go, as she was considered to be too young for
boarding school
A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
, but ended up attending along with her sister. In their mother's words, "if Cassandra's head had been going to be cut off, Jane would have hers cut off too".
Art
The two Austen girls were also tutored at home in drawing and the piano. In 1791, Cassandra produced a series of circular illustrations of
British monarchs
There have been 13 British monarchs since the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland on 1 May 1707. England and Scotland had been in personal union since 24 March 1603. On 1 January 1801, the Kingdom of Great Brit ...
for Jane's manuscript ''
The History of England'', which are noted to have resembled members of the Austen family more than royalty.
Cassandra Austen is also credited with having created two paintings of her sister. One, painted in 1804, is a back view of Jane seated by a tree. The other, an incomplete frontal portrait dated circa 1810, was described by a family member as being "hideously unlike" Jane Austen's real appearance. This sketch is now housed in the
National Portrait Gallery, London
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...
.
Later life
George Austen was not wealthy and had supplemented his income as a country parson "by taking in pupils and tutoring them for Oxford".
[Berkshire Family Historian]
. Retrieved: 11 October 2007 After graduating from
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, in 1794, one former pupil, Thomas Fowle, became engaged to Cassandra Austen.
Fowle needed money to marry and went to the Caribbean with a military expedition as
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
to his cousin, General
Lord Craven.
There, Fowle died of
yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...
in 1797. Austen inherited
£1000 from him, which gave her a little financial independence but, like her sister, she never married.
After the death of her father in 1805, Austen, her sister, and their mother moved to
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, where they lived with their brother
Francis Austen
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Francis William Austen, (23 April 1774 – 10 August 1865) was a Royal Navy officer and an elder brother of the novelist Jane Austen. As commanding officer of the sloop HMS ''Peterel'', he captured some 40 ships, was ...
(family name 'Frank') and his family for five years. They moved again in 1809 to a cottage in the village of
Chawton
Chawton is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. The village lies within the South Downs National Park and is famous as the home of Jane Austen for the last eight years of her life.
History
Chawton's re ...
on their brother
Edward's estate.
Jane died in 1817 and Cassandra is reported to have destroyed two thirds of Jane's letters in 1843, a couple of years before her own death. She passed the remainder on to relations as mementos.
Austen continued living at Chawton, at first with her mother and a family friend,
Martha Lloyd
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Francis William Austen, (23 April 1774 – 10 August 1865) was a Royal Navy officer and an elder brother of the novelist Jane Austen. As commanding officer of the sloop HMS ''Peterel'', he captured some 40 ships, was ...
. Her mother died in 1827 and Martha left to marry Cassandra's brother Frank in 1828. Cassandra lived on alone at the cottage but continued to visit friends and relations. On one such visit to her brother Frank in March 1845, she suffered a stroke. Frank, who was still a serving Admiral at the age of 71, was preparing to depart to take command of the Royal Navy's North American Station and was obliged to leave his stricken sister at his home (Portsdown Lodge, Widley near Portsmouth) in the care of another brother,
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
. She died there a few days later on 22 March 1845, aged 72. Her body was returned to her home village of Chawton for burial at St. Nicholas' Church alongside her mother.
[St Nicholas, Chawton, Hampshire]
" (2004). ''Ukgraves.info.'' Retrieved: 31 December 2006.
Film portrayals
*
Lucy Cohu
Lucy Ann Cohu (born 2 October 1970) is an English stage and film actress, known for portraying Princess Margaret in '' The Queen's Sister'', Evelyn Brogan in ''Cape Wrath'' and Alice Carter in ''Torchwood'': ''Children of Earth''.
Background
L ...
plays Cassandra with Danielle Green playing a younger version in
''The Real Jane Austen'' (2002), starring
as Jane.
*
Greta Scacchi
Greta Scacchi, OMRI (; born 18 February 1960) is an Italian-Australian actress. She holds dual Italian and Australian citizenship. She is best known for her roles in the films '' White Mischief'' (1987), '' Presumed Innocent'' (1990), '' The Pl ...
plays Cassandra in the BBC drama ''
Miss Austen Regrets
''Miss Austen Regrets'' is a 2007 biographical drama television film directed by Jeremy Lovering and written by Gwyneth Hughes. It stars Olivia Williams as Jane Austen, with Imogen Poots, Greta Scacchi, Hugh Bonneville, Adrian Edmondson and Ja ...
'' (2007), starring
Olivia Williams
Olivia Haigh Williams (born 26 July 1968) is a British actress who has appeared in British and American films and television.
After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School for two years followed by three years at the Royal Shakesp ...
as Jane.
*
Anna Maxwell Martin
Anna Maxwell Martin (born Anna Charlotte Martin; 27 May 1977),Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1984–2006 listed birth name as ''Anna Charlotte Martin''; Registration year 1977; Registration District Beverley, Yorkshire som ...
plays Cassandra in the film ''
Becoming Jane
''Becoming Jane'' is a 2007 biographical romantic drama film directed by Julian Jarrold. It depicts the early life of the British author Jane Austen and her lasting love for Thomas Langlois Lefroy. American actress Anne Hathaway stars as the ...
'' (2007), starring
Anne Hathaway
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award, she was among the world's highest-paid actresses in 2 ...
as Jane.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austen, Cassandra
1773 births
1845 deaths
18th-century English painters
19th-century English painters
18th-century English women artists
19th-century English women artists
Austen family
English watercolourists
English women painters
Austen, Cassandra
People from Steventon, Hampshire
Women watercolorists