I have been trying to visit Chawton House in Hampshire since June 2020. With the original date and a subsequent one cancelled, we finally met my friend Jane there this year. Persistence really does pay and perhaps, seeing that it's the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth this year, it was more apt this time around.
Jane never lived here, but she, her unmarried sisters and widowed mother, were settled in the old baliff's cottage nearby from 1809 which gave her a period of stability in her life which she hadn't experienced for many years. Hers was an itinerant existence following the death of her father as the ladies were shuttled between different houses and very much reliant upon the good will of family members to keep them. During these settled times she was very productive and produced many of the novels which would see her star rise and her place secured on the all time classics list.
The connection between this large and desirable property is that it was inherited by Edward Knight in 1794 along with several other houses in the county and Gomersham Park in Kent. He was born as Edward Austen in 1767 and was indeed Jane's brother. However, he was adopted by the childless Knight family who were distant relatives of his father's and they made him their heir. Part of the agreement was that he would alter his surname upon his adoptive father's death and to this very day the house remains within the ownership of the Knight family. Here we have the lucky chap and the back view of the house. I had the very best of intentions of taking a photo of the front too, but I was too busy gassing with my pal and the thought wandered out of my head....I had one job to do😀
Despite her never having lived here it's clear from Jane's correspondence that she spent a great deal of time here especially with her eldest niece Fanny.
One of its main draws both for her and for me was the library. It holds the largest collection of books written by women [about 4500] on wide ranging topics anywhere in the world. Amongst its tomes are ones that rare or even unique. In total the library has 16000 books with many of them written by men about women's lives and issues. The room steward pointed out one such volume written by a male about how old maids should conduct themselves. Apparently there are a series of increasingly acerbic handwritten notes written on the pages by Jane herself. I take it that she wasn't best pleased by the content. Due to the fragility of the shelf contents there are no photos allowed, but the house does permit two or three academic fellowships per year. Applicants put in a bid outlining which books they need access to for their research and then the lucky ones are chosen.
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