Jane Austen's House Museum is a small independent museum 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 ...

near

Alton Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia *Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario *Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealand, ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. It is a

writer's house museum Writers' homes (sometimes writer's, author's or literary houses) are locations where writers lived. Frequently, these homes are preserved as historic house museums and literary tourism destinations, called writer's home museums, especially when t ...

occupying the 17th-century house (informally known as Chawton Cottage) in which novelist

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 ...

spent the last eight years of her life, during which time she wrote, revised and made ready to be published all six of her novels, and the fragment ''Sanditon''. The museum has been a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building since 1963.

Jane Austen residence

Previously home to local farmers, the house was briefly a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

, The New Inn, between 1781 and 1787. The pub was the site of two murders, and after the second murder the house was let by Jane Austen's brother,

Edward Austen Knight Edward Austen Knight (born Edward Austen; 7 October 1767 – 19 November 1852) was the third eldest brother of Jane Austen, and provided her with the use of a cottage in Chawton where she lived for the last years of her life (now Jane Austen's ...

, to his bailiff, Bridger Seward. Jane Austen house museum 8

Later, Edward Austen Knight allowed his mother and sisters to live in the house so they had a permanent residence. Jane Austen lived in the house with her mother, her sister

Cassandra Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be believe ...

and a longtime 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 ...

from 7 July 1809 until May 1817, when because of illness she moved to

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

to be near her physician. She died in Winchester on 18 July 1817. Her mother and sister continued to live in the house until their deaths in 1827 and 1845 respectively. When she arrived at Chawton, Jane Austen had written three novels in draft form; these were ''

Sense and Sensibility ''Sense and Sensibility'' is a novel by Jane Austen, published in 1811. It was published anonymously; ''By A Lady'' appears on the title page where the author's name might have been. It tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor (age 19) a ...

'', ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'' and ''

Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' () is a coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the ...

''. She revised these novels at the house before getting them published. In addition, it was here that she wrote ''

Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews unt ...

'', '' Emma'' and ''

Persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for Social influence, influence. Persuasion can influence a person's Belief, beliefs, Attitude (psychology), attitudes, Intention, intentions, Motivation, motivations, or Behavior, behaviours. ...

''.

Museum

Following Cassandra's death, the house was divided into small apartments for labourers, before part of the building becoming a workman's club by the dawn of the twentieth century. The remainder of the house was split into cottages for estate workers, and had been known as Petty Johns and Chawton Cottage. Jane Austen's House Museum was established in 1947 and until 2014 it was governed by the Jane Austen Memorial Trust. The house was sold by Edward Knight to Thomas Edward Carpenter for £3,000 in 1948 (£ as of ). The house was given in trust in 1949 in memory of Carpenter's son, Lieutenant Philip John Carpenter, of the 1st Battalion East Surrey Regiment, 'who fell whilst leading his men at Trasimene, Italy, the 30th day of June 1944, aged 22'. Jane Austen house museum

The museum opened to the public in July 1949 and is visited by approximately 40,000 people each year. It is now owned and run by the Jane Austen's House Museum CIO, a registered charity which has as its objects "the advancement of education and in particular the study of English literature, especially the works of Jane Austen."(registered number: 1156458) The Museum's collection includes eight music books owned by Jane Austen, with pieces transcribed in her own hand. In addition, among the items of Jane Austen's furniture on display at the museum are a

Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly active in England. Encourag ...

pianoforte The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

(dated 1813) and a

Hepplewhite George Hepplewhite (1727? – 21 June 1786) was a cabinetmaker. He is regarded as having been one of the "big three" English furniture makers of the 18th century, along with Thomas Sheraton and Thomas Chippendale. There are no pieces of furnit ...

bureau-bookcase containing several of her works.. The museum also has a collection of other Austen family items and furniture. The museum owns the only three pieces of jewellery known to have been owned by Austen, a turquoise beaded bracelet, a topaz cross, and a turquoise and gold ring. The gold ring had remained in Austen's family until its 2012 sale at auction to the American singer

Kelly Clarkson Kelly Brianne Clarkson (born April 24, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. She rose to fame after winning the first season of ''American Idol'' in 2002, which earned her a record deal with RCA. Her debu ...

. The British government placed an export ban on the ring owing to its historic importance, and the museum eventually bought the ring by the export deadline, with the help of £100,000 from an anonymous donor. The ring was placed on display at the museum in February 2014. Regular events are held at the museum, both to further appreciation of Jane Austen, and to encourage new writers. There are also recitals using the Clementi pianoforte and performances based on her works.

References

External links

Jane Austen's House Museum websiteJane Austen Society of the United Kingdom
{{Coord, 51.1331, -0.9890, type:landmark_region:GB-HAM, display=title 1947 establishments in England Austen, Jane, House Museum Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire Grade I listed houses Grade I listed museum buildings Historic house museums in Hampshire Houses in Hampshire Literary museums in England Museums established in 1947 Museums in Hampshire Women's museums in the United Kingdom

House Museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a v ...

Jane Austen residence

Museum

See also

References

External links