Jane Austen At Home 4 (Pages 121 - 192)

 The first time that a book by Jane Austen is attempted for publication was when her father approached THomas Cadell with 'First Impressions', but it was refused. Thomas Cadell (1742–1802) was a successful 18th-century English bookseller who published works by some of the most famous writers of the 18th century.

Godmersham Park was Edward Austen's home and Jane was invited there often. Godmersham Park is a Grade I listed house in Godmersham in the English county of Kent.  Jane Austen was a regular visitor between 1798 and 1813. Mansfield Park is said to be based on Godmersham Park.  Following Thomas King's death in 1794, the house was inherited by Edward Austen, brother of Jane Austen. He was a distant cousin of the Knights and had been adopted by them in the early 1780s.

Jane's father decided to retire so he left the rectory to his son. That meant that his family had to move to Bath. In Bath there were some relatives, the Leigh Perrots. The family eventually rented a house at 4, Sydney Place. Sydney Place in the Bathwick area of Bath was built around 1800. The 3-storey buildings have mansard roofs. Jane Austen lived in Number 4 from 1801 to 1805.

In Bath Mrs Austen, who suffered from different ailments, visited the spa. They also went to the pump room for a glass of water. The Grand Pump Room is a historic building in the Abbey Churchyard, Bath. It is adjacent to the Roman Baths and is named because of water that is pumped into the room from the baths' hot springs. Visitors can drink the water or have other refreshments while there.

Jane also visited the Assembly Rooms to dance. The Bath Assembly Rooms,are a set of assembly rooms located in the heart of the World Heritage City of Bath. The New or Upper Rooms as they were known, provided a place for people to meet and enjoy daily entertainments including balls, concerts, teas and gambling.

The family also went to the sea regularly. Ramsgate is one of the places the Austen went to and there is a reference to a suitor for Jane there. 

Ramsgate is a seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet in east Kent.

Cassandra and Jane were invited to Manydown Park where their friends Catherine and Alethea Bigg lived. During their stay the brother, Harry Bigg-Wither, proposed to Jane, who agreed to marry him, but the next day she broke off the engagement. 

Manydown Park was an ancient manor in Wootton St Lawrence, Hampshire. The fortunes of the estate were associated with those of the Wither family for more than 400 years. Jane Austen  was a frequent visitor at the Manydown great house circa 1799–1806 and received her only known proposal of marriage there.

Born on 18th May 1781, Harris was five and a half years younger than Jane, and the second of nine children. In 1789, the last of the Withers of the Manydown estate passed away and Lovelace Bigg, Harris' father, inherited the estate.

Jane managed to sell her novel 'Susan', later known as Northanger Abbey to publisher Benjamin Crosby. Austen initially sold the novel, then titled Susan, for £10 to a London bookseller, Crosby & Co. in 1803. This publisher did not print the work but held on to the manuscript. After her death, Austen's brother Henry gave the novel its final name and arranged for publication of Northanger Abbey in late December 1817.

In August 1799, Mrs Leigh Perrot, Jane's aunt, was charged with theft and committed to Ilchester Gaol. On 8 August in the early afternoon Mrs. Leigh Perrot came in, bought some black lace, and went away.  Sometime later, when she was walking back down the other side of Bath Street with her husband, Elizabeth Gregory dashed across and accused her of having stolen a card of white lace.  A search produced the white lace, and Gregory took it back to the shop. Mrs Leigh Perrot was eventually acquitted. 

Jane and her family spent the summer of 1804 in Lyme Regis on which her novel Persuasion was based. Lyme Regis  is a town in west Dorset. Lyme grew in size as a result of seaside tourism in the 18th century bought about by new purported health benefits of the sea air/taking the waters. This led notable people including Jane Austen to visit, who set part of her final novel Persuasion in the town.

In Lyme Regis Cassandra did a sketch of her sister Jane.