Thomas Austen (1775 – 23 July 1859) was a British soldier and politician. He was the second cousin 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 novelist, and lived at Kippington Park,

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...

. He was educated at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

. As a soldier he fought in America with the 40th Foot regiment. He was made Aide Principale to the Viceroy of Ireland, leaving the army with the rank of colonel. In 1823, he was appointed

Sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instrum ...

and was

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

West Kent Kent is a traditional county in South East England with long-established human occupation. Prehistoric Kent Kent has been occupied since the Lower Palaeolithic as finds from the quarries at Fordwich and Swanscombe attest. The Swanscombe skul ...

from 1845 to 1847. He was an avid cricketer and played in the Duke of Dorset's team known as the "Gentlemen of Kent" He married twice: firstly the rich heiress Margaretta Morland and secondly in 1826 the young Caroline Catherine Manning, daughter of William Manning. He had no children and his heir was a nephew, John Francis Austen.

References

1775 births 1859 deaths British Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 19th-century British people 40th Regiment of Foot officers High Sheriffs of Kent UK MPs 1841–1847 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies People from Sevenoaks {{England-UK-MP-stub