Editing Jane Austen (section)

===Family===

Jane Austen was born in [[Steventon, Hampshire]], on 16 December 1775.  Her father George wrote of her arrival in a letter that her mother Cassandra "certainly expected to have been brought to bed a month ago". He added that the newborn infant was "a present plaything for Cassy and a future companion".<ref name="Le Faye 2004, 27">Le Faye (2004), 27</ref> The winter of 1775-1776 was particularly harsh and it was not until 5 April that she was baptised at the local church and christened Jane.<ref name="Le Faye 2004, 27"/>

[[File:Chawton Church, Steventon, Hampshire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.20|Church of St Nicholas in [[Steventon, Hampshire|Steventon]], as depicted in ''[[A Memoir of Jane Austen]]''<ref name="Le Faye 2004 20">Le Faye (2004), 20</ref>]]

Her father, [[George Austen (clergyman)|George Austen]] (1731–1805), served as the [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of the Anglican parishes of Steventon and [[Deane, Hampshire|Deane]].<ref>Todd (2015), 2</ref>{{efn|Irene Collins estimates that when George Austen took up his duties as rector in 1764, Steventon comprised no more than about thirty families.<ref>Collins (1994), 86</ref>}} The Reverend Austen came from an old and wealthy family of wool merchants. As each generation of [[primogeniture|eldest sons]] received inheritances, George's branch of the family fell into poverty. He and his two sisters were orphaned as children and had to be taken in by relatives. In 1745, at the age of fifteen, George Austen's sister [[Philadelphia Austen Hancock|Philadelphia]] was apprenticed to a [[Hatmaking|milliner]] in [[Covent Garden]].<ref name="geri">{{Cite web |date=2019-10-21 |title=Philadelphia Austen Hancock: Eliza de Feuillide's Mother |url=https://www.geriwalton.com/philadelphia-austen-hancock-eliza-de-feuillides-mother/ |access-date=2022-05-22 |website=Geri Walton |language=en-US}}</ref> At the age of sixteen, George entered [[St John's College, Oxford]],<ref>{{alox2|title=Austen, George (1)}}</ref> where he most likely met Cassandra Leigh (1739–1827).<ref>Le Faye (2004), 3–5, 11</ref> She came from the prominent [[Baron Leigh|Leigh family]]. Her father was rector at [[All Souls College, Oxford]], where she grew up among the gentry. Her eldest brother James inherited a fortune and large estate from his great-aunt Perrot, with the only condition that he [[Name change#Historical usage|change his name]] to Leigh-Perrot.<ref>Le Faye (2004), 8; Nokes (1998), 51</ref>

George Austen and Cassandra Leigh were engaged, probably around 1763, when they exchanged [[Miniature portrait|miniatures]].<ref>Le Faye (2004), 11</ref> He received the [[Benefice|living]] of the Steventon parish from Thomas Knight, the wealthy husband of his second cousin.<ref>Le Faye (2004), 6</ref> They married on 26 April 1764 at [[Church of St Swithin, Bath|St Swithin's Church]] in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], by [[Marriage license#England and Wales|license]], in a simple ceremony, two months after Cassandra's father died.<ref>Le Faye (2004), 11; Nokes (1998), 24, 26</ref> Their income was modest, with George's small ''per annum'' living; Cassandra brought to the marriage the expectation of a small inheritance at the time of her mother's death.<ref>Le Faye (2004), 12; Nokes (1998), 24</ref>

After the living at the nearby Deane rectory had been purchased for George by his wealthy uncle Francis Austen,<ref>Austen-Leigh, James Edward (1871). Memoir of Jane Austen (Second ed.). London: Richard Bentley and Son. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.</ref> the Austens took up temporary residence there, until Steventon rectory, a 16th-century house in disrepair, underwent necessary renovations. Cassandra gave birth to three children while living at Deane: [[James Austen|James]] in 1765, George in 1766, and [[Edward Austen Knight|Edward]] in 1767.<ref>Le Faye (2004), 11, 18, 19; Nokes (1998), 36</ref> Her custom was to keep an infant at home for several months and then place it with Elizabeth Littlewood, a woman living nearby to [[Wet nurse|nurse]] and raise for twelve to eighteen months.<ref>Le Faye (2004), 19</ref>