Jane Austen's Favourite Brother, Henry

Christopher Herbert

• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Year: 2025
• Edition: 0
• eBook ISBN:
  9781036133207
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Women in History
• Index: Literature

Henry Austen, Jane Austen's favourite brother, was born into a large and lively clergy family in Hampshire. Of her seven siblings, Henry most shared Jane's mischievous wit and facility with words and his support enabled the publication of her novels. Henry's own life was much more incident-packed than his sister's. By turns he was an academic, magazine editor, soldier, financier and banker, bankrupt, and finally, clergyman. His career hit the heights of Regency society, becoming linked with the Prince Regent's set, before plummeting to the social disgrace and economic disaster of bankruptcy. Many of his activities hovered on the brink of illegality and his marriage to the enigmatic French countess, Eliza de Feuillide, also raised questions and eyebrows. Nevertheless, his kindness, charm and his loyalty to Jane never wavered. He ensured her burial in Winchester Cathedral, and he ended his days as a hard-working curate in a Surrey market town and in Hampshire villages. His life sheds a fascinating light on the vagaries of early nineteenth century society and this new and important study examines both his relationships within the Austen family and the many social milieux in which he worked, which, through his recounting of his experiences, may have provided inspiration for some of Jane's plots and characters. As Jane herself wrote to Cassandra, 'Oh, what a Henry!'

Table of contents

• Cover
• Book Title
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Timeline
• Chapter 1 Enter Henry Austen, Jane’s Favourite Brother
• Chapter 2 Growing up in the Rectory
• Chapter 3 The Political and Intellectual World of George Austen, Henry and Jane’s Father
• Chapter 4 Improvement, Enclosures and Livings
• Chapter 5 Henry Austen: Oxford University and The Loiterer
• Chapter 6 The Oxford Militia
• Chapter 7 Henry’s Promotion and Marriage
• Chapter 8 The Lure of Finance
• Chapter 9 Henry’s Success and Luck
• Chapter 10 More Banking Developments and Publications, 1807–1813
• Plates
• Chapter 11 Death, Taxes and New Opportunities
• Chapter 12 Increasing Work and Anxiety, 1814–1816
• Chapter 13 Henry’s Illness and his Bank’s Demise
• Chapter 14 The Empty Future?
• Chapter 15 Return to Chawton and Jane’s Death
• Chapter 16 Publishing Jane’s Books, Chawton and Berlin
• Chapter 17 What did Henry Believe?
• Chapter 18 Henry’s Life as a Clergyman in Farnham
• Chapter 19 Bentley and Final Days
• Chapter 20 Conclusion
• Appendix
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Back Cover