Godmersham
godmersham park
Godmersham Park was home to Edward Austen, his wife Elizabeth, and their large family.
At the opening of our novel in May 1801, Edward and Elizabeth were already parents to six children:
Fanny (1793), Edward (1794), George (1795), Henry (1797), William (1798) & Elizabeth (1800).
Their remaining children were all born here during the novel.
Marianne - 15th September 1801
Charles Bridges - 11 March 1803
Louisa - 13 November 1804
Cassandra - 16 November 1806
Brooke John - 28th September 1808.
Edward and Elizabeth were always generous in welcoming their extended family to their home and Edward Austen's parents and siblings visited regularly. There are many scenes in the novel linked to here.
Tragedy struck on 10th October, 1808, when Elizabeth died here quite suddenly, 12 days after Brooke John's birth.
In 1803, Edward Austen became Captain of the Godmersham and Molash section of the East Kent Volunteers - a group of local volunteer soldiers set up to defend Kent against the threat of attack from French troops. They practised their drills in the grounds of the park.
You can learn what their training would have involved by reading the history of a similar cavalry unit based in nearby Nonington. The details are on nonington.org.uk here
Godmersham Park is no longer a family home but has been converted into a training college for dispensing opticians.
It is possible to book a tour of the grounds via the Godmersham Park Heritage Centre. Further details are available on the website here.
The Library at Godmersham Park has been virtually recreated on the Reading With Austen website, a collaboration between McGill Burney Centre and Chawton House. Every book has been catalogued and placed on the shelves in the same place they would have been when Edward lived there, using family records to identify them. Find out more here.
st. lawrence the matyr church
This was the church that Edward and his family attended, along with all the guests that stayed with them.
All of Edward and Elizabeth's children born during the novel were baptised here:
Marianne on October 22nd, 1801.
Charles Bridges on April 16 1803.
Louisa on 23 May 1805.
Cassandra Jane on 19th May 1807.
Brooke John on November 11th 1808.
Elizabeth Austen was buried here on 17th October 1808, aged 35.
There are tributes to Edward and Elizabeth inside the church marking the family vault.
EXTRACT
If you would like to read an extract from The Austens of Bath where events take place at Godmersham, click here.
REFERENCES
Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1801: September 15, Tuesday & October 22, Thursday’ in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.262 & 263.
Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1803: March 11, Friday & April 16, Saturday’ in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.279 & 280.
Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1804: November 13, Tuesday & 1805: May 13, Thursday’ in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.303 & 310.
Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1806: November 16, Sunday & 1807: May 19th, Tuesday’ in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.333 & 339.
Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1808: September 28, Wednesday & November 11, Friday’ in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.357 & 360.
Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1808: October 17, Monday’ in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.359.
Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1804: January 8 Sunday’ in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.291.
Townsend, T. (2015) Jane Austen's Kent. Somerset: Halsgrove.