I am hugely indebted to the countless scholars who have written before me on the topics of Jane Austen, her family and friends, and life in Georgian England. Here are the sources I used to write The Austens of Chawton. 

LETTERS AND MEMOIRS OF THE AUSTEN FAMILY

Austen, F.W. (2024-25) Memoir of Francis Austen. Jane Austen’s House Online Collection. Available at: https://janeaustens.house/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/FULL-MASTER-OF-FRANCIS-AUSTEN-MEMOIR-1.pdf

Austen Leigh, J.E. (2017) A Memoir of Jane Austen - Illustrated & Annotated. A 200^th Anniversary Edition. Kent: Solis Press.

Austen Leigh, M.A. (1920) Personal Aspects of Jane Austen. London: John Murray

Austen Leigh, R.A. (1942) Austen Papers 1704-1856. Colchester: Privately printed by Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co. Ltd.

Emma Adaptations (2025) Letters Pertaining to the Printing and Dedication of Emma. Available at: https://www.strangegirl.com/emma/letters.php

Hughes-Hallett (2019) The Illustrated Letters of Jane Austen. London: Batsford.

Le Faye, D. (2011) Jane Austen’s Letters – Fourth Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Le Faye, D. (2001) Anna Lefroy and Her Austen Family Letters. Princeton University Library Chronicle, Vol 62, No. 3 (Spring 2001) pp.519-562. Princeton University Library.

ANCESTRAL RECORDS

Le Faye, D. (2013) A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

www.ancestry.co.uk - for birth, marriage and death certificates and family records.

www.findagrave.com – for burial records

Corder, J. (1953) Akin to Jane: Jane Austen’s Family Index of Names and Lists (Edited and expanded by R. Dunning, 2012) Available at: https://www.janeaustensfamily.co.uk/akin-to-jane/akin-to-jane.index.html

BIOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNTS OF THE AUSTEN FAMILY

Adams, O.F. (1897) The Story of Jane Austen’s Life. New Edition Illustrated. Boston: Lee and Shepard Publishers.

Ard, P.M. (2013). George Austen’s Absence from Family Life: The Shifting Biographical Response in Persuasions on-line, V.34, No.1 (Winter 2013), Jane Austen Society of North America. Available at: https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol34no1/ard.html

Ashton, H. (1987) Parson Austen’s Daughter. London: Collins.

Austen-Leigh, W., Austen-Leigh R.A. and Le Faye D. (1989) Jane Austen: A Family Record. London: The British Library.

Avery Jones, J. (2023) Henry Austen: The Eventful Earlier Years as Receiver-General of Taxes for Oxfordshire. In Persuasions on-line, V.44, No.1 (Winter 2023) Jane Austen Society of North America. Available at: https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/volume-44-no-1/avery-jones/

Barchas, J. (2023) Cassandra and the Art of Copying. Report for 2023. The Jane Austen Society. pp.42-54

Browne, C. (2023) Jane Austen and her Publishers. Report for 2023. The Jane Austen Society. pp.111-125.

Byrne, P.B. (2014) The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things. London: William Collins Books.

Caplan, C. (1998) Jane Austen’s Banker Brother: Henry Thomas Austen of Austen & Co., 1801-1816. Persuasions No. 20: Jane Austen Society of North America. Available at: https://www.terresdecrivains.com/IMG/pdf/JaneAustensbrothersbank.pdf

Caplan, C. (2010) The Missteps and Misdeeds of Henry Austen’s Bank in Jane Austen Society Annual Report 2010. Available at: https://archive.org/details/austencollreport_2010/page/n103/mode/2up

Chapman, R.W. (1948) Jane Austen Facts and Problems: The Clark Lectures. Oxford: The University Press.

Grisham, P. (2021) Two Adopted Austens in Persuasions on-line, V.41, No.2 (Summer 2021), Jane Austen Society of North America. Available at: https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/volume-41-no-2/grisham/

Herbert, C. (2025) Jane Austen’s Favourite Brother, Henry. Great Britain: Pen & Sword History.

Families and History of Deal and Walmer (2026) Francis William Austen, His Daughter, Mary Jane Brother and Niece of Jane Austen. Available at: https://familiesofdealandwalmer.co.uk/francis-william-austen/

Grisham, P. (2021) Two Adopted Austens. In Persuasions on-line, V.41, No.2 (Summer 2021) Jane Austen Society of North America. Available at: https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/volume-41-no-2/grisham/

Hurst, J. (2022) Edward Knight II -‘The Fine Old English Gentleman’. Report for 2022. The Jane Austen Society. pp.69-72

Hubback, J.H. & E.C. (1905) Jane Austen’s Sailor Brothers. London: Ballantyne & Co. Ltd.

Jane Austen Blog (2022) A Closer Look at Catherine Knight. Available at: https://janeausten.co.uk/blogs/extended-reading/a-closer-look-at-catherine-knight

Johnson Kindred, S. (2017) Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister: The Life and Letters of Fanny Palmer Austen. Canada: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Lane, M. (1984) Jane Austen’s Family: Through Five Generations. London: Robert Hale Ltd.

Marshall, P. (2025). Looking for George Austen at Monk Sherborne. Hampshire Archives Trust. Available at:https://hampshirearchivestrust.co.uk/stories/blog/looking-for-george-austen-at-monk-sherborne

McAdam, B. (2015). Excluded and Forgotten: Understanding the Life of George Austen through the History of Intellectual Disabilities in Persuasions on-line, V.36, No.1 (Winter 2015), Jane Austen Society of North America. Available at: https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/vol36no1/mcadam/

Nokes, D. (1997) Jane Austen A Life. California: University of California Press.

The Open University (2015) Austen and Romantic Writing (Chapters 4-7). Milton Keynes: The Open University.

Todd, J. (2013) The Treasures of Jane Austen: The Story of her Life and Work. London: SevenOaks.

Tomalin, C. (2000) Jane Austen A Life. London: Penguin Books Ltd.

Tucker, G.H. (1983) A Goodly Heritage. Manchester: Carcanet New Press

Tucker, G.H. (1994) Jane Austen: The Woman. New York: St Martin’s Griffin.

Veevers, M. (2017) Jane and Dorothy: A True Tale of Sense and Sensibility. Scotland: Sandstone Press.

Willan, D.A. (2025) Charles Austen’s Death and Burial at Trincomalee. In Persuasions on-line, V.46, No.1 (Winter 2025) Jane Austen Society of North America. Available at: https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/volume-46-no-1/willan/

Wilson, M. (1990) Almost Another Sister. The family life of Fanny Knight, Jane Austen’s favourite niece. Kent: Kent Arts and Libraries.

Worsley, L. (2017) Jane Austen at Home. London: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.

WRITTEN WORKS OF THE AUSTEN FAMILY

Douglas Editions. (2009) The Complete Works of Jane Austen: with extras (including Commentary, Plot Summary Guides and Biography). Kindle Edition.

Moore, R. (2018) Jane Austen: The Complete Juvenilia – Text and Critical Introduction. Independently Published.

Oxford University Classics (2021) Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Selwyn, D. (1996) Jane Austen: Collected Poems and Verse of the Austen Family. Manchester: Carcanet Press Limited.

Selwyn, D. (2003) The Complete Poems of James Austen: Jane Austen’s eldest brother. Chawton: The Jane Austen Society.

WIDER ACQUAINTANCES AND FRIENDS

Rambler Press (2025) A Royal Receipt Unveils a Literary Secret. Available at: https://www.regencypress.co.uk/2025/05/a-royal-receipt-unveils-literary-secret.html

Viveash, C. (1995) Jane Austen in Distinguished Company. In Persuasions No.17: Jane Austen Society of North America. Available at: https://jasna.org/persuasions/printed/number17/viveash.pdf

Wheddon, Z. (2021) Jane Austen’s Best Friend: The Life and Influence of Martha Lloyd. South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Books Ltd.

Wikimedia Commons (2026) File:JamesStanierClarke-JaneAusten.jpg. Available at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JamesStanierClarke-JaneAusten.jpg

LOCATIONS

Allen, L. (2013) Walking Jane Austen’s London: A Tour Guide for the Modern Traveller. Oxford: Shire Publications.

Chapman, R.W. & Cox. B.S. (2022) A Map of Bath in the Time of Jane Austen. Bath Municipal Libraries’ Collection: Oxford University Press.

Chawton House (2024) Chawton House. Available at: https://chawtonhouse.org

Hill, C. (1901) Jane Austen: Her Homes and Her Friends. dodopress.co.uk: Dodo Press.

Jane Austen Centre (2024) Jane Austen Centre, Bath Available at: https://janeausten.co.uk

Jane Austen’s House (2024) Jane Austen’s House website. Available at: https://janeaustens.house

Kintbury and Beyond (2024) Local History, Jane Austen and more. Available at: https://kintburyandbeyond.co.uk/

Townsend, T. (2014) Jane Austen’s Hampshire. Somerset: Halsgrove.

Townsend, T. (2015) Jane Austen and Bath. Somerset: Halsgrove.

Townsend, T. (2015) Jane Austen’s Kent. Somerset: Halsgrove.

Winchester College (2025) Jane Austen and Winchester, an Introduction. In-house publication, Winchester College.

LIFE IN GEORGIAN ENGLAND

Adkins R. and L. (2013) Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England. London: Little, Brown Book Group.

Herring, J. (2024) Jane Austen’s Regency World Magazine. Somerset: Sild Media Ltd.

Kane, Katherine (2011) Regency Circulating Libraries – Why, How and Who? Available at: The Regency Redincote, https://regencyredingote.wordpress.com/2011/10/21/regency-circulating-libraries-why-how-and-who/

Knowles,R. (2024) Regency History. Available at: https://www.regencyhistory.net

Mortimer, I. (2020) The Time Traveller’s Guide to Regency Britain. UK: Penguin Random House.

Pool, D. (1993) What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew. New York: Touchstone.

Shanahan, E. (2007) A seaman’s letter of 1812: John Manning on the H.M.S. Namur to his brother Mr. W. C. Manning, 3 Cups Inn, Colchester, Essex. The Victorian Web. Available at: https://victorianweb.org/previctorian/letters/namur.html

Sullivan, M.C. (2007) The Jane Austen Handbook: Proper Life Skills from Regency England. Philadelphia: Quirk Books.

THE CLERGY & RELIGION

Cox, B.S. (2022) Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. Georgia, USA: Topaz Cross Books.

The Clergy Database (2022) Database - Search. Available at: https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/search/index.jsp

FASHION & DRESS

Cassin-Scott, J. (1971) Costume and Fashion in Colour: 1760 – 1920. Dorset: Blandford Press.

Davidson, H. (2019) Dress in the Age of Jane Austen. Connecticut: Yale University Press.

Davidson, H. (2023) Jane Austen’s Wardrobe. Connecticut: Yale University Press.

Yarwood, D. (1961) English Costume. London: Redwood Burn Ltd.

FOOD AND DRINK

Gehrer, J. (2021) Martha Lloyd’s Household Book. Oxford: Bodleian Library.

Hartley, D. (1954) Food in England. London: Futura Publications.

Paston-Williams, S. (1993) ‘An Elegant Repast: Georgian Food’ in The Art of Dining – A History of Cooking and Eating. London: National Trust Enterprises Ltd.

Vogler, P. (2020) Dinner with Mr Darcy. London: Ryland Peters & Small Ltd.

ONLINE SOCIETIES & GROUPS

Jane Austen & Co. (2024) An educational site offering an extensive range of video presentations and events on many different topics. Available at: https://www.janeaustenandco.org

Jane Austen Daily (2024) Jane Austen Daily Facebook Group. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/296923455713211/members

Jane Austen Fan Club (2024) Jane Austen Fan Club Facebook Group. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2210708105/

Jane Austen Society of North America (2024) An extremely informative site relating to all things Austen. Available at: https://jasna.org

The Jane Austen Society (2024) Newsletter and Reports Archive (Members Area). Available at: https://janeaustensociety.org.uk

Jane Austen’s World (2024) A blog bringing Jane Austen’s world and the Regency Period alive in indexed posts on hundreds of topics. Available at: https://janeaustensworld.com

The Republic of Pemberley (2024) A treasure trove of information related to Jane Austen and her works. Available at: https://pemberley.com

 

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to these resources.