16 December 1775: Jane Austen is born

Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire, on 16 December 1775, the seventh of eight children born to George and Cassandra Austen, and the second of just two girls. Her father was the Rector of Steventon, and her mother a member of the Leigh family, which had aristocratic connections. That winter was particularly harsh, and it was not until April the following year that she was baptised at the local church and given the single name Jane.

Growing up, the Austen children lived in an environment of learning, creativity and dialogue. When she was 8, Jane and her sister Cassandra were sent to boarding school for their formal educations, but soon returned home when they caught typhus.

The rest of Jane’s education took place in the family home and came from reading guided by her father, who also encouraged her interest in writing by providing books, paper and writing tools. By the time she was a teenager, she was penning the many pieces now collected as her Juvenilia and writing the early drafts of three of her novels.

Jane Austen’s personal life was unexciting and confined, but her cool judgment, ironic detachment, and her genius gave her books depth and charm and made them some of the most popular novels ever! She, quite literally, changed my life. Let me tell you all about that here.

Jane Austen wrote the six most polished, controlled, and elegant social comedies to be found in English Literature, and she died at the age of 41 on 18 July 1817.