1765 - 1819

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James Austen was the eldest son of George Austen (Snr) and Cassandra Leigh, born at the Deane parsonage in Hampshire where they lived before moving to moving to the rectory in Steventon in 1768.

 

James was very studious. At the age of 14 he was sent to his father George's alma mater St John's College at Oxford to follow in his father's footsteps as a clergyman. 

 

James was very fond of theatricals and organized many amateur family plays at Steventon (as the characters attempt to do in Mansfield Park). James was an excellent writer and poet from a young age. Whilst at Oxford he edited (with his brother Henry) The Loiterer, a university magazine, which ran for 60 issues. The magazine was soon picked up by London publisher Thomas Egerton (Jane's future publisher). You can read The Loiterer online here: http://www.theloiterer.org/loiterer/contents.html [accessed 13th Oct 2016]

 

James took his Holy Orders and was ordained a deacon at St. David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire on 19 December 1787. He continued his clerical life as the curate of Overton in Hampshire in 1789, which was the nearest small town to his father’s parish at Steventon. It is likely that his father helped him obtain his curacy. 

 

A local gentleman, General Edward Mathew, who retired after returning from the West Indies, was known to be a bit of a tyrant and thought to be the inspiration for General Tilney in Northanger Abbey. James was not deterred by his character and began courting his daughter Anne. They married on 27 March 1792 at Laverstoke, and the cermony was performed by George Austen (Snr).

 

The couple lived at Deane parsonage with an income from her father and James' clerical wage of £300 a year, but they far exceeded their income. To help the couple's financial woes, General Mathew purchased the living of chaplaincy for James in the 86th Regiment of Foot in 1793. The same year the couple welcomed a daughter Jane Anna Elizabeth. 

 

Sadly Anne died in 1795 leaving James a widower. He initially courted his cousing Eliza de Feuillide, also a widow, but she eventually married his brother Henry and he moved on to Mary Lloyd, who was sister to Jane's close friend Martha. They married in 1797 and had two children, James Edward (1798) and Caroline Mary (1805). Despite being the sister of her close friend, Mary was not a favourite of Jane's.

 

When George Austen (Snr) retired to Bath in 1801, he left the living at Stevenage parsonage to James. Following George's death in 1805, he became rector at Stevenage and was the first of Jane's siblings to offer financial assistance to her, Cassandra and their mother. 

 

When Jane died in 1817, James was unable to attend her funeral due to digestive problems. He died at the age of 54 two years later on 13th December 1819. He is buried in the church yard of St Nicholas at Steventon and a plaque in honour of his service was placed in the church. His wife Mary lived until 1843 but is buried along with him in the churchyard.