"Jane Austen and Her Times"
by Geraldine Mitton.
The original choice of book proved uninspiring and these notes have been created from various sources.
Jane was born in 1775 as the 7th child of Rev. George Austen and Cassandra Austen, and as such was a minor member of the landed gentry.
She had 6 brothers and 1 sister, Cassandra, who, like Jane, did not marry.
The living was Steventon, Hampshire, 7 miles west of Basingstoke, which in turn is a further 50 miles west of London.
The first mail coach ran from Bristol to London in 1784, William Pitt the Younger was Chancellor of the Exchequer and the journey time was reduced from 38 hours to 16.
The electric battery was invented in 1800 along with the jacquard loom.
The first steam loco was 1804.
The first industrial revolution saw the rapid adoption of mechanisation around 1780.
The metal printing press appeared in England around 1800 with significant improvement in efficiency.
During William Pitt’s period as PM Wilberforce and Clarkson started their campaigning for the end of Slavery and the Slave Trade act was passed in 1807 with the Duke of Portland as PM.
The corn laws were passed in 1815, so the merchant classes were flexing their muscles as ever.
Abroad, the French revolution took place 1787 – 1797, Napoleon was defeated in 1815.
As a clergyman, George Austen was a minor member of the landed gentry and a part of Society.
The Austen family will have seen their social standing as superior to the working classes.
However, it is thought that George would have supplemented his income by farming and teaching.
So Jane will have grown up in a largish family, in a vicarage, probably self-taught, probably in isolation from the tide of politics, but well aware of her social status and the need to understand relationships.
In this environment she eventually became a published author with her novels achieving lasting popularity.
So Jane will have grown up in a largish family, in a vicarage, probably self-taught, probably in isolation from the tide of politics, but well aware of her social status and the need to understand relationships.
In this environment she eventually became a published author with her novels achieving lasting popularity.
PC
November 2025
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