Angelic Women: The Friendship of Jane Austen and Anne Lefroy
23 May to 19 October 2025
“My black cap was openly admired by Mrs. Lefroy, and secretly I imagine by everybody else in the room…
Jane greatly admired Anne Lefroy. She was the wife of the Rector of Ashe, a small village two miles from Steventon. They met when Jane was invited to play with Anne’s daughter. Jane was much more interested in Anne’s poetry and selection of books, and despite their age difference of 27 years became good friends. Anne was tragically killed in a riding accident in 1804 on Jane’s birthday.
Four years later on her 29th birthday, Jane would pen the poem, ‘To the Memory of Mrs Lefroy’ in memory of her friend, and this poem is the focus of this new exhibition, Jane Austen’s Poetry.
The manuscript was left to Winchester Cathedral by one of Jane’s descendants, and this is the first time they have put it on display.
Opening Night
On Thursday 22 May, the Lefroy family and a selection of guests were invited to the opening of the exhibition. Lady Caroline Hervey-Bathurst cut the ribbon, who is the artist that created a selection of paintings used on prints and postcards sold to finance the project.
Another special feature of this event was the music. Sarah Jane-Butler, a 17 year old student from Symonds performed Jane’s poem to music. It was composed by Peter Symonds and another student Zach Jones.
There are no photographs allowed, so I am sharing those from the Winchester Cathedral website.
On display
To the Memory of Mrs Lefroy who Died Dec:r 16 – My Birthday What mix’d emotions with the Thought arise! Since thou wert snatch’d forever from our eyes. Brings back the hour which was thy last on Earth. Oh! bitter pang of torturing Memory! In Language meet, thy Talents, Temper, mind.
Jane’s poem about her friend Madam Lefroy is written in Jane’s beautiful handwriting, although it is obvious that Jane copied it out as it doesn’t contain her usual crossings out and dashes, and is very neat. She has used paste to fix the poem inside her notebook, and even that is matched up perfectly. You can read the whole poem here.
Alongside is the obituary of Anne’s death that Jane copied out of the newspaper in her neat handwriting. She has titled it, ‘Extract from the Sun dated Dec, 21st 1804’ and this is the first page of two. Anne was greatly admired, gave her parish smallpox vaccinations, taught children in the church, donated clothing and money to the poor, was kind and generous, and a talented writer of poetry.
Ellen Hill wrote a biography about Jane Austen in the early 1900s called Jane Austen Her Homes and Her Friends. She sketched the houses Jane knew and this entry is of Ashe Rectory.
Bridges Family
On the opposite side in the glass case are family books and poems belonging to and by the Lefroy family, including the Genealogy of the Bridges Family (1759). A book of poems written by Anne’s brother Samuel Egerton Bridges, titled Sonnets and Other Poems is dated 1795, and Jane met Samuel whilst out in Kent and would have known this book.
Oh William Cowper!
Jane loved William Cowper, and quoted him often. This copy is dedicated to Jane’s niece Caroline from the ‘Miss Lefroys’, who were the children of Ben and Anne Lefroy, her cousins.
I really like this exhibition and spent quite a bit of time there. It’s simple, and yet I enjoyed seeing Jane’s neat handwriting in these few items that added to the pleasure of a visit to her grave.
Information Boards
I wanted to mention the information boards that are presented in this room which have been well thought out. They talk about Jane’s novels, her life and loves, and the curator is congratulated in making these panels interesting and relevant.
The Exhibition
The exhibition is running from 23 May 23 to 19 October 2025 and is found in the Cathedral’s Kings and Scribes exhibition space.
A statue located in the Cathedral Inner Close will be unveiled in October, with the date to be confirmed. Sign up for the Jane Austen 250 email to get the news first.
Lovely Links
Read about Anne Lefroy’s nephew and (who is said to be) the love of Jane’s life, Tom Lefroy
Read more about Anne Lefroy on the Madam Lefroy post.
You can watch a video of the display on the the official Winchester Cathedral website page for this exhibition. Click here to see the video on Instagram.
Entry into the exhibition is included with the Winchester Cathedral annual pass. You can buy your annual pass online (saving £1pp), or on arrival to the cathedral.
Here is the official Jane Austen 250 webpage which has Winchester Cathedral’s events listed for this year.. so far(!)
You can find the updated long list of events on the Jane Austen 2025 events page as well as Jane Austen 250.
Further Reading
I enjoyed reading The letters of Mrs Lefroy : Jane Austen’s beloved friend edited by Helen Lefroy and Gavin Turner. Here is a review of the book.
I can also recommend Jane Austen’s Inspiration: Beloved Friend Anne Lefroy by Judith Stove.
*As a side note, Bridges was sometimes spelt with a y, so you may see it as Brydges just as the Austens were sometimes known as the Austins.
