Edward Austen Knight (born Edward Austen; 7 October 1767 – 19 November 1852) was the third eldest brother 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 ...
, and provided her with the use of a cottage in
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 ...
where she lived for the last years of her life (now
Jane Austen's House Museum). He was also
High 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 ...
in 1801.
Family
Edward was born in
Deane, Hampshire
Deane is a village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire, England. Its name appears in the name of the borough in which it is placed, Basingstoke and Deane.
Governance
The village is a civil parish and part of the Oakley and North Waltham ...
, the third of eight children born to Rev. George Austen and Cassandra
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 ...
. He had five brothers:
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
(1765–1819), George (1766–1838),
Henry Thomas
Henry Jackson Thomas Jr. (born September 9, 1971) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor and had a lead role in the film '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), for which he won a Young Artist Award and received Golden Globe ...
(1771–1850),
Francis William (Frank) (1774–1865),
Charles John (1779–1852), and two sisters,
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
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 ...
.
He married Elizabeth Bridges (1773–1808) on 27 December 1791, and together they had eleven children:
* Fanny Catherine (1793–1882) (one of Jane Austen's favourite nieces)
*
Edward
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”.
History
The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...
(1794–1879)
*
George Thomas (1795–1867)
*
Henry
Henry may refer to:
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*Henry (given name)
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* 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, ...
(1796–1843)
* Reverend William (1798–1873)
* Elizabeth (1800–1884), who married
Edward Royd Rice
Edward Royd Rice (25 April 1790 – 27 November 1878) was an English politician and first-class cricketer. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Dover from 1847 to 1857.
In cricket, he was associated with Middlesex and was active from 1826 to ...
* Marianne (1801–1896)
* Charles (1803–1867)
* Louisa (1804–1889), second wife of
Lord George Hill
Lord George Augusta Hill (9 December 1801 – 6 April 1879) was an Anglo-Irish military officer, politician and landowner.
Hill was the posthumous son of Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire and his wife Mary Hill, Marchioness of Downshire, ...
* Cassandra Jane (1806–1842), first wife of
Lord George Hill
Lord George Augusta Hill (9 December 1801 – 6 April 1879) was an Anglo-Irish military officer, politician and landowner.
Hill was the posthumous son of Arthur Hill, 2nd Marquess of Downshire and his wife Mary Hill, Marchioness of Downshire, ...
* Brook John (1808–1878)
Knight inheritance
![EdwardAustenPresentation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/EdwardAustenPresentation.gif)
When Edward was twelve years old he was presented to
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
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* List of people with given name Thomas
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* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the Ap ...
and Catherine Knight, who were relatives of his father and were wealthy.
[Jane Austen World](_blank)
/ref> Thomas had given George Austen the living at Steventon in 1761. They were childless and took an interest in Edward, making him their legal heir in about 1783.[Stanford WH Auden Family Ghosts](_blank)
/ref>[John Burke ''A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain'']
/ref>
The Knights paid for Edward to go on a Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...
when he was 18 years old, and he recorded many of his experiences in his Journals. These have been edited by Jon Hunter Spence and published by the Jane Austen Society of Australia in 2004.
When Thomas died in 1794 he left the Godmersham Park
Godmersham Park is a Grade I listed house in Godmersham in the English county of Kent. The house is on the edge of the North Downs between Ashford and Canterbury. It has associations with the writer Jane Austen, and is depicted on the new B ...
estate to his wife for her life, with the remainder
In mathematics, the remainder is the amount "left over" after performing some computation. In arithmetic, the remainder is the integer "left over" after dividing one integer by another to produce an integer quotient (integer division). In algebr ...
going to Edward. She left Godmersham before her death to move to Canterbury, and gave up the estates to Edward.
Edward inherited three estates from Thomas Knight, in Steventon, Chawton and Godmersham (which included a manor at Wittersham
Wittersham is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It is part of the Isle of Oxney.
History
The Domesday Book of 1086 does not mention Wittersham, but it does assign the manor of Palstre to Odo, Bishop of ...
). The libraries from these estates were used extensively by Jane Austen. When war broke out with France, Edward raised and was appointed Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
of the Godmersham and Molash Company of the East Kent Volunteers
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
.
In 1812 due to a stipulation in Catherine Knight's will, he changed his legal name to Knight.
Estates
The rectory at Steventon, where the Austen family had spent their time growing up, and Jane is said to have written the first drafts of several of her books, was severely damaged by flooding and was knocked down by Edward in about 1823,
and a new rectory was built by Edward for his son, William Knight, who had taken on the living
Living or The Living may refer to:
Common meanings
*Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms
** Living species, one that is not extinct
*Personal life, the course of an individual human's life
* ...
.Jane Austen’s World
/ref>
Edward made several improvements to Chawton House
Chawton House is a Grade II* listed Elizabethan manor house in Hampshire. It is run as a historic property and also houses the research library of The Centre for the Study of Early Women's Writing, 1600–1830, using the building's connectio ...
, including planting a walled garden, and forming new parkland to take advantage of the views from the house.
References
External links
Edward's silk coat:
BBC History
Link to portrait:
Art Finder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Edward Austen
1767 births
1852 deaths
Austen family
People from Steventon, Hampshire
High Sheriffs of Kent
People from Chawton
People from Godmersham
People from Deane, Hampshire