Born 9 January 1773 – Died 22 March 1845
Cassandra Austen is well known as the most treasured sister of Jane Austen. They were born almost three years apart and were inseparable from birth.
Their mother Mrs Austen said that,
If Cassandra was to have her head cut off, Jane would insist on sharing her same fate.
From being very young, Jane looked up to her sister and often spoke of her virtues. Jane dedicated History, part of her Juvenilia she wrote around aged 12 to Cassandra, and said she was,
..a Pheonix. Your taste is refine, your sentiments are noble, & your Virtues innumerable.
Even before then, Jane was only 7 years old when she followed Cassandra to boarding school. First to Oxford, then to Reading and Southampton. And when Cassandra returned home, Jane did too. They shared a room all their lives, and told each other everything. They gossiped, as sisters do, and had insider jokes, and wrote to each other almost every day whilst apart.
Whilst Jane’s life is well known, and her talents as a writer have been acknowledged. It was made possible by her sister Cassandra.
A silhouette of Cassandra Austen
Cassandra was described as ‘handsome’ by some, although in this silhouette she looks very pretty. Eliza described her cousins as, ‘two beauties’, and some said Cassandra was prettier than Jane. This silhouette was done whilst Cassandra was alive, in contrast to the one we have of Jane created after her death.
Cassandra was a talented artist and painted the only portrait of Jane we have, including a back view
Cassandra was a wonderful water-colourist, and where Jane was known as a writer, Cassandra was known as a painter.
When Jane put together her Juvenilia, Cassandra painted the characters inside the notebooks. It is thought that the royal characters look more like the Austen family than the royal family, and that Jane posed for this picture of Mary Queen of Scotts.
I have seen Jane’s Juvenilia, and as I looked at the portraits on each page, I was amazed at how detailed they were, and it really does show how talented an artist Cassandra was.
(c.1772-1845) Private Collection English (Public Domain/Out of Copyright)
We can also thank Cassandra for the portrait of Jane looking out to the sea whilst on holiday in Lyme Regis in 1804. Jane has her ribbons untied, so quite racy at the time.
This frontal portrait of Jane was painted around 1810, although Jane’s relatives had mixed reviews as to whether it looked like her. It is the one you can find in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Cassandra was engaged only once in her life to Thomas Fowle
Cassandra knew Tom well as he lived at the Rectory as a pupil of her father George Austen. They became engaged in 1795 when Cassandra was 22 years old. Needing money to marry, Tom went to the Caribbean to be a Military Chaplain. He would never return. He caught yellow fever and died in 1797, and was buried at sea on 13 February, although Cassandra did not receive this terrible news until the April of that year.
Cassandra took the news of Tom’s death with great ‘self-command’, and it must have seemed so unfair that her future happiness was cut short.
Cassandra often stayed with Tom’s family in Kintbury in Berkshire, which is 25 miles from Steventon, and upon her marriage would live in Wiltshire, 60 miles away. Letters from this period when Cassandra was staying at Godmersham have not survived. Jane may have been a little jealous of her sister, though probably more upset that they would be parted. This could account for her flirting so outrageously with Tom Lefroy.
Jane wrote to Cassandra on her birthday and dates her letter ‘Saturday 9 – Sunday 10 January 1796’.
In the first place I hope you will live twenty three years longer...
Jane then continues with a long gossipy letter that includes a visit to Madam Lefroy and her infatuation for her nephew, Tom Lefroy.
Cassandra would have been related to Martha Lloyd through marriage
Jane’s brother James married his second wife Mary Lloyd (Martha’s sister) in 1797. Their youngest sister Eliza Lloyd married Fulwar Craven Fowle a year later. His brother Tom Fowle (Martha’s brother-in-law) was engaged to Cassandra, and had they married, been related through marriage.
Cassandra was a wonderful childminder and often called on to help
Being single, Cassandra could drop everything and go where she was needed. Cassandra and Edward were close, and she spent many months at Godmersham Park over the years, as Edward and his wife Elizabeth’s family grew to eleven children.
Cassandra would often help his wife Elizabeth, especially when she was due to give birth. Sadly, Elizabeth became ill after the birth of their eleventh child, and died a few days later. The family were devastated, and as the children were still young, Cassandra spent many months helping Edward and his family.
Cassandra inherited Mrs Austen’s good housekeeping skills
Whilst living at Chawton Cottage, Cassandra would buy supplies, allocate duties to the servants, arranging the cooking, cleaning, and generally keep the house running efficiently. This meant that Jane was free to write and practice her piano playing which she did every morning.
Mrs Austen herself was a good housekeeper and had taught Cassandra well. Whilst at Steventon Rectory she had milked cows, planted vegetables, cooked, mended, sewed, and kept the house running smoothly. With four boys at home, plus the pupils her husband tutored and her own two girls, she was very busy indeed.
After Jane had died, visitors to the cottage felt it somehow cold and sad, and Cassandra’s life without her beloved sister must have been lonely at times. Anna Lefroy, their niece, said that their relationship, ‘passed the common love of sisters; and it had been so from childhood.‘
Cassandra had a dog named Scout
Ten years after Jane’s death in 1827, Cassandra was 54 years old when Mrs Austen died. She was now living alone in Chawton Cottage, got a dog and named him Scout. To the amusement of the villagers, he would carry the milk from Chawton House in a pail with the handle between his teeth!
None of Cassandra’s Letters have survived
In 1843, two years before her own death, Cassandra burned most of Jane’s letters and only 160 or so have survived. She felt the contents were too personal to them both, and she was probably right. Jane was such a private person, and as her fame increased, Cassandra probably wanted to protect her memory.
Cassandra also burned her own letters to Jane, so although we can read some of Jane’s correspondence to Cassandra, we are missing the other half.
Cassandra spent her dying days with her two brothers, Frank and Henry
Whilst visiting Frank at Portsdown Lodge, high above Portsmouth, Cassandra had a stroke. In his twilight years at 71 years old, Frank had to leave Cassandra to join his ship for a North America posting.
It was brother Henry that came to look after Cassandra in the last days of her life. After his bank failed he took Holy Orders, and I would like to think that Cassandra died in his arms, just as Jane had died in hers.
Cassandra has her own memorial tablet inside St Nicholas Church
Cassandra is buried on the Chawton Estate her brother Edward inherited. You can find it inside on the left side of the church, and Mrs Austen’s is on the right side. It is sad to see that there is no mention of Mrs Austen’s daughter Jane on her memorial stone, as she predeceased her.
The tablet is faded now, and reads:
IN MEMORY OF CASSANDRA ELIZABETH AUSTEN DAUGHTER OF THE LATE REVEREND GEORGE AUSTEN RECTOR OF SEVENTON IN THIS COUNTY DIED 22 OF MARCH 1845 BEING JUSTIFIED BY FAITH WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST Rom V.I.
Cassandra is buried with a previous resident of Chawton Cottage
In the churchyard at Chawton, Cassandra rests between her mother and Bridger Seward. He was Edward Austen’s bailiff who moved out of Chawton Cottage so the Austen ladies could move in. His faded gravestone shows he died in 1808 at 90 years old.
