Cassandra

Cassandra fell in love with Thomas Fowle in 1794 when she was 21 years old and they became engaged. Thomas became a chaplain with the military and was sent to the Caribbean on a mission to earn an income to be able to marry Cassandra. Utterly devastating Cassandra, Thomas Fowle died in 1797 in San Domingo in the West Indies from yellow fever. She inherited a sum of £1000 (around £50 a year) from his death but she never married.

When her Sister Jane died Cassandra said:

She was the sun of my life….I had not a thought concealed from her, and it is as if I had lost a part of myself” (Letter, July 20th 1817).

Cassandra Austen in later life

After Jane’s death, Cassandra made it her duty to ensure that the last of her sister’s works made print; she organised the two remaining novels, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, to be published. Cassandra lived the rest of her days alone in Chawton Cottage until her death on 22nd March 1845. She was 72 years old. She is buried at St Nicolas church in Chawton with her mother (who died in 1827).

This medallion illustration in ink and watercolor on paper was executed by Cassandra Austen,   for Jane's The History of England.

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Cassandra Elizabeth Austen: protector or vandal of Jane Austen's legacy


read: http://www.jasa.net.au/japeople/sister.htm
 
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