BORN 1 March 1749 – 16 December 1804
Madam Lefroy was born Anne Brydges on 1 March 1749 in Wootton Court, near Canterbury. As inscribed on the border of the gold frame of her miniature, Anne Lefroy died from a fall from her horse on the 16 December 1804, Jane Austen’s 29th birthday.
Jane wrote a poem four years after Anne’s death that describes her beautifully.
I see her here with all her smiles benign
Her voice of eager love, her accents sweet;
That voice and countenance almost devine;
Expression, harmony, alike complete.
Listen: ‘tis not sound alone- ‘tis sense,
’Tis genius, taste and tenderness of soul:
‘Tis genuine warmth of heart without pretence,
And purity of mind that crowns the whole.
A Reverend’s Wife
Anne Brydges was born on 1 March 1779 in Wootton Court, near Canterbury. She married Reverend (Peter Issac) George Lefroy on 28 December 1778, and moved to Ashe, a short carriage ride from the Austens at Steventon Rectory. George was the handsome son of a rich Italian merchant, who must have stood out with his olive skin and foreign accent.
Jane’s father Mr Austen held two livings, one at Steventon and one at Deane. It was Mr Austen’s uncle Francis who gifted the living of Deane to Mr Austen, and sold the living of Ashe to Benjamin Langlois. Ten years later, Benjamin gifted the living of Ashe to his nephew George Lefroy, Anne Lefroy’s husband.
The couple lived at Ashe Rectory and had four children, Jemima Lucy, John Henry George (who succeeded his father at Ashe), Christopher Edward and Benjamin Langlois (who later married Jane’s niece Anna).
A Love of Literature
Jane first met Anne when she was 11 years old and invited to the Rectory as a companion for Anne’s 7 year old daughter Lucy. Anne was 36 years old at that time, and despite the large age gap, they became friends, sharing a love of writing, literature and poetry.
It was through Jane’s formative years as a teenager that she grew to admire Anne, who she no doubt saw as a perfect role model for a clergyman’s wife, though independent in her own right.
Anne would let Jane access her extensive library, and they would often discuss the latest novels and publications. As a published poet, Anne many have given feedback on Jane’s early writing.
Anne’s brother Egerton Brydes was well known as a poet, and it was probably through his connections that Anne had two of her poems published in The Poetical Register and Repository of Fugitive Poetry. It was before her marriage and the poems are listed to be ‘By a Miss Brydges’.
A Woman to Admire
Known as Madam Lefroy in the parish, Anne was described as intelligent, attractive and kind. She taught poor children to read, set up a straw factory to enable the women of the parish to work, and often handed out charitable gifts to the poor. She was one of the first women to personally vaccinate her parish against smallpox, which saved countless lives.
She also showed kindness in simple ways, lending out her carriage to the local families like the Austens who did not have their own, much as we see in Emma.
A Lost Love in Tom Lefroy
It is easy to see how Jane could fall in love with Anne’s nephew Tom Lefroy. Both Jane and Tom were 20 years old when they met at Ashe over Christmas of December 1795. Tom had come to England to visit his family after graduating from Trinity College in Ireland.
On the evening 15 January 1796 before Tom returned to London, Ashe Rectory held a ball where he and Jane flirted outrageously. Jane writes to Cassandra, ‘I am almost afraid to tell you how my Irish friend and I behaved. Imagine to yourself everything most profligate and shocking in the way of dancing and sitting down together.’
Jane writes a week later, ‘At length the day has come on which I am to flirt my last with Tom Lefroy, and when you receive this it will all be over. My tears flow as I write at the melancholy idea.’
It was the same year in October 1796 that Jane started writing First Impressions, later titled Pride and Prejudice, and some speculate that Tom inspired Elizabeth’s feelings for Mr Darcy.
Tom was packed away after the holidays as the relationship was seen as an unsuitable match. It is thought Jane’s lack of wealth played a part, as Tom had no fortune at the time and was also the son of a clergyman.
It is unclear as to the role Anne played in his removal, although some have pointed out the similarity to Lady Russell in Persuasion for this reason. They kept in touch after the Austen family moved to Bath, and Anne wrote of visits from ‘the Miss Austens’ in her diary, so it seems their relationship did not suffer.
An Untimely Death
Anne died in a riding accident on 16 December 1804, Jane’s 29th birthday. She was only 55 years old. Jane was living in Bath at the time, and it must have been a difficult time for Jane as her father died a month later. She was in the middle of writing the Watsons, a novel she decided not to finish.
Jane often prayed at Holy Trinity & St Andrew Church with the Lefroys, and this is where her brother James conducted the funeral service for Anne’s burial on 21 December. Anne is laid to rest in the churchyard, and her gravestone is the long one on the left with the narrow cross on the top.
A Fitting Tribute
Anne’s brother Samuel wrote a lengthy obituary which appeared in several publications including the December 1804 edition of the Gentleman’s Magazine.
To do justice to the character of Mrs Lefroy would require a command of glowing and pathetic expression far beyond the powers of the writer of this article. She was alike the delight of the old and the young, of the lively and of the severe, the rich and the poor. She received from Nature an intellectual capacity of the highest order; her perceptions were rapid; her memory was tenacious; her comprehension was extensive; her fancy was splendid; her sentiments were full of tenderness; and her language was easy, copious, and energetic.
Four years later, Jane wrote her own tribute to her friend Anne Lefroy. She must have felt her loss more than usual that year, as she writes the opening lines:
The day returns again, my natal day;
– To the Memory of Mrs Lefroy who Died Dec:r 16 – My Birthday (Jane Austen)
What mix’d emotions with the Thought arise!
Beloved friend, four years have pass’d away
Since thou were snatch’d forever from our eyes.
Further Reading, Links and Events
Read the whole poem To the Memory of Mrs Lefroy that Jane wrote for her friend Anne.
Discover more about Jane Austen’s First Love Tom Lefroy
EVENT – Sign up for Friendship is certainly the finest balm on 7 March, International Women’s Day. Chawton House discuss Jane and Anne’s friendship along with Jane Austen’s House, Elizabeth Gaskell’s House and the Brontë Parsonage who also talk about female friendships.
FURTHER READING – I enjoyed reading The letters of Mrs Lefroy : Jane Austen’s beloved friend edited by Helen Lefroy and Gavin Turner. Click here to read a review of the book.
I can also recommend Jane Austen’s Inspiration: Beloved Friend Anne Lefroy by Judith Stove.
