Jane Austen, Edward Knight, & Chawton: Commerce & Community

By Linda Slothouber

When Jane Austen's brother, Edward, became the heir of rich relatives, he acquired a new surname and property across five English counties. Jane Austen visited her brother at his home at Godmersham Park in Kent and spent her final years in a cottage he owned in the village of Chawton, observing Edward's approach to managing his estates and gaining a close view of the concerns and activities of wealthy landowners. Using original estate books, bank records, letters, and other archival documents, Linda Slothouber has created the most detailed biography to date of Edward Austen Knight. With Edward as an example, along with excerpts from Jane Austen's novels, this book shows how the landed gentry of fact and fiction made their money, interacted with workers and professionals, and tried to ensure the position and prosperity of their heirs. People at all levels of the estate economy are represented, with profiles of specific individuals that Jane Austen would have known during her years in Chawton. Learn what being "Lord of the Manor" and having "ten thousand a year" really meant; what stewards, bailiffs, overseers, and churchwardens did; who administered the civic affairs of the village; how attitudes toward natural resources and common property changed during Jane Austen's lifetime; and why the estate-owner, though at the top of the social order of the village, was judged according to the well-being of his humblest cottagers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0692319743
• ISBN13: 9780692319741
• Release Date: January 2015
• Publisher: Self Published
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.