Silhouette of Cassandra Austen

Cassandra Elizabeth Austen (9 January, 1773 - 22 March, 1845 ^[1]) was an amateur English watercolorist and the older sister of Jane Austen. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1773 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... March 22 is the 81st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (82nd in leap years). ... 1845 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Look up amateur in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Watercolor is a painting technique making use of water-soluble pigments that are either transparent or opaque and are formulated with gum to bond the pigment to the paper. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...

Childhood

Austen was born 9 January, 1773 at a rectory in Steventon, Hampshire to the Rev. George Austen (1731–1805), a rector, and his wife Cassandra, née Leigh (1739–1827). She and her younger sister, Jane, being the only girls in a family with six brothers, maintained an especially close relationship throughout their lives. Over one hundred letters addressed to Cassandra from Jane have survived. These letters have helped historians to construct details about the life of Jane Austen. The rectory is the title usually given to the building inhabited, or formerly inhabited, by the rector of a parish. ... Steventon is a small village in north Hampshire, United Kingdom. ... Hampshire, sometimes historically Southamptonshire or Hamptonshire, (abbr. ... The Reverend is an honorary prefix added to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. ... The word rector (ruler, from the Latin regere) has a number of different meanings. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... An historian is someone who writes history, a written accounting of the past. ...

The sisters went to Mrs. Cawley, their uncle's sister, to be educated in 1783. Cawley lived initially in Oxford, and later in Southampton, and, when an epidemic broke out in Southampton, the Austen sisters returned to Steventon. Between 1785 and 1786 the sisters attended the Reading Ladies boarding school in the Abbey gatehouse in Reading, Berkshire. Jane was originally not to go, as she was considered to be too young for schooling, but ended up going along with Cassandra. In their mother's words, "if Cassandra's head had been going to be cut off, Jane would have hers cut off too". ^[2] Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... Southampton is a city, unitary authority and major port situated on the south coast of England. ... In epidemiology, an epidemic (from Greek epi- upon + demos people) is a disease that appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is expected, based on recent experience (the number of new cases in the population during a... A boarding school is an educational institution where some or all pupils not only study, but also live, amongst their peers. ... Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in Reading, Berkshire, founded by Henry I in 1121 for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors and successors. // History... A gatehouse is a feature of European castles and mansions. ... Reading is a town, unitary authority (the Borough of Reading) and urban area in the English county of Berkshire. ...

Cassandra Austen's drawing of Mary I of Scotland from her sister Jane's manuscript The History of England.

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Mary I (Mary Stuart, popularly known as Mary, Queen of Scots); (December 8, 1542 – February 8, 1587) was Queen of Scots (the monarch of the Kingdom of Scotland) from December 14, 1542 to July 24, 1567. ...

Artwork

Austen and her sister were also tutored in drawing and playing piano at home. In 1791, she produced a series of circular illustrations of British monarchs for Jane's manuscript The History of England, which are noted to have resembled members of the Austen family more than royalty. ^[1] Cassandra Austen is also credited with having created two paintings of her sister. One, painted in 1804, is a back view of Jane seated by a tree. The other, an incomplete frontal portrait dated circa 1810, was described by a family member as being "hideously unlike" Jane Austen's real appearance. This sketch is now housed in the National Portrait Gallery, London. ^[3] Drawing involves the choice of one or more tools from a wide variety and the choice of a support appropriate to that tool in order to make marks. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... // This is a list of the monarchs of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, that is, the monarchs on the thrones of some of the various kingdoms that have existed in the British Isles, namely: The Kingdom of Scotland, from 843 up to 1707; The Kingdom of... The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in central London which was opened in 1856. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

Later life

Austen became engaged to Thomas Fowle, a former student of her father, in 1794. The engagement continued while Fowle awaited access to a living in Shropshire. He later joined the British Armed Forces as a chaplain, and was dispatched to the Carribean, where he died of yellow fever in 1797. Austen inherited £1000 from him. She, like her sister, never married. Shropshire (alternatively Salop or abbreviated Shrops) is an English county in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom. ... The armed forces of the United Kingdom are known as the British Armed Forces or Her Majestys Armed Forces, sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown[2]. Their Commander-in-Chief is the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II and they are managed by the Defence Council of the... A chaplain is typically a member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organized as a mission or church; lay chaplains are also found in some settings such as universities. ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... ISO 4217 Code GBP User(s) United Kingdom Inflation 2. ... It wont be my fault if I die an Old Maid. ...

After the death of her father in 1805, Austen, her sister, and their mother moved to Southampton, where they lived with their brother Frank and his family for five years. They moved again in 1809 to a cottage on their brother Edward's estate in Chawton. Southampton is a city, unitary authority and major port situated on the south coast of England. ... 19th century Cottages in the small hamlet of Crafton, Buckinghamshire In modern usage, a cottage is a dwelling, typically in a rural, or semi-rural location (although there are cottage-style dwellings in cities). ... Estate: The term applies to land under ownership and as such is a generic term for a parcel of land held by an individual or family, common in early British Gentry. ... Chawton is a small village in Hampshire, England, near Alton. ...

When Jane died in 1817, Austen is reported to have destroyed many of her letters, most of them dated after 1795. ^[1] Austen herself lived alone until her death on 22 March, 1845, at age 72. She was buried at St Nicolas church in Chawton, Hampshire. ^[4]

References

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Cassandra Austen

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Cassandra Austen." (n.d.) Jane Austen Centre Magazine. Retrieved December 31, 2006.
2. ^ "Jane Austen's Life and Family." (n.d.) The Jane Austen Information Page. Retrieved December 31, 2006.
3. ^ "A New Portrait of Jane Austen." (2003). Jane Austen's Regency World. Retrieved December 31, 2006.
4. ^ "St Nicholas, Chawton, Hampshire." (2004). Ukgraves.info. Retrieved December 31, 2006.