extract from chapter 27
1806: Hamstall Ridware
Edward Cooper’s eldest son, Edward Philip, was the model of his father and spoke in the same pompous way. Jane and Cassandra hid their smiles when he brought in some sermons he had written on his own and began to read them aloud.
Photo: Jane Austen's House, Hampshire
He was very keen to learn more about his family history, knowing that he was descended from respected ancestral blood, and was interested in what Mrs Austen had to say, being a generation older than his father. Mrs Austen wrote out the family tree for him and explained to Edward Philip who everybody was in relation to himself. The young boy was captivated and wrote comments next to the names that Mrs Austen knew personally and could recall what they looked like.
The boy was also tasked with taking the visitors on a tour of his father’s church. St. Michael and All Angels was a handsome building with a tall spire. It dated back centuries and was twice the size of the church in Steventon. Edward Philip showed them some old tombs decorated with coats of arms, which he had learned about from his tutor. He explained what each of the different shields represented and why the people in the tombs were important to the local area.
Photo: St. Michael & All Angels Church, Hamstall Ridware.
Photo: St Michael & All Angels Church, Hamstall Ridware.
This information was remembered by Cassandra and Jane when Edward Cooper gave his tedious sermons at Sunday Service. They were grateful to be able to recall what they had learned and look with fresh interest at the items that Edward Philip had pointed out to them. Recalling these stories and facts held their interest until it was time to rouse themselves for prayers.
Caroline was an excellent hostess, and her home ran smoothly. Her maids were efficient, and her governess kept the children in order. Each morning, very early, Caroline took the children out to bathe in the river where a dressing house had been set up on the bank, and Jane and Cassandra admired her sense of authority. Compared to the other wives they knew, Caroline seemed the most natural and relaxed of them all. She seemed genuinely fond of her husband, despite his annoying habits, and almost made the institution of marriage look appealing.
Author's own photo
The environment was not like Godmersham, where the children were allowed to scramble over their aunts’ laps and demand games all the time: here in Hamstall Ridware, the Cooper children were firmly disciplined and followed a structured routine.
Photo: St Michael & All Angels Church, Hamstall Ridware.
The Austens stayed for five weeks in Staffordshire, getting to know the village and its residents. When the time came to leave, they reflected that it had been a good stay. Cassandra and Jane were pleased to have reformed the bond with their cousin, which they had not expected would happen. In talking face to face, they had broken down the barriers that had sprung up from years of cold correspondence by letter. ‘You must come to stay with us in Southampton,’ they urged, and Edward Cooper promised he would.
The eight children were brought outside to wave an official goodbye, but none of them could manage it without coughing. An epidemic of whooping cough had hit the village of late, and they had all gone down one by one with the high-pitched rasp and runny nose.
Those who had got it the worst had been subjected to the indignity of having their hair cut off at the top so that an ointment of amber oil could be placed against their scalps on brown paper. Those poor little souls looked like sorry waifs compared to how energetic they had been when the Austens first arrived, but judging by the fact they were now allowed outside showed the cure must be working.
Photo: Historic Docks, Portsmouth
‘I would say we escaped just in time,’ said Mrs Austen when they were venturing south to Steventon to meet up with Frank and Mary. ‘That cough has a nasty habit of spreading through an entire household. Let us pray we’ve left it behind us.’
Copyright Diane Jane Ball 2025