Kintbury
This village was home to the Fowle family.
When they were boys, the four brothers went to school in Steventon.
Cassandra Austen was engaged to be married to one of them, Tom Fowle, before his untimely death in 1797. She remained close friends with the rest of the family all her life, particularly with Fulwar's wife, Eliza, who was sister to James Austen's wife Mary, and Martha Lloyd.
The elder Reverend Thomas Fowle had been a friend of Mr Austen's at university. His eldest son, Fulwar, was a close friend of James Austen. He was a clergyman and took over the family living of St. Mary's in Kintbury from his father in 1798.
At the start of our novel the elderly widower, Reverend Thomas Fowle, had three sons still living:
- Fulwar Craven, rector of Kintbury Parish
- William, a medic and serving in Egypt with the British Army
- Charles, a lawyer, living in Newbury and London.
By the end of the novel, only Fulwar remains alive.
William died in August 1801 in army service in Egypt, aged 34.
Reverend Thomas Fowle died on February 7th 1806, aged 80.
Charles Fowle died on the 12th of February, 1806, the same day as his father's funeral, aged 35.
Fulwar's eldest boy, Fulwar William was brought up to follow his father into the church and become a clergyman. The next son, Thomas, became a sailor and began his naval career in 1808 as a midshipman on the Indian, captained by Charles Austen. In his correspondence home, Charles would mention the boy in his letters.
There are tributes to Fulwar, Eliza and three of their daughters inside the church.
To find more information about Kintbury and its history, the Kintbury and Beyond website is an excellent resource. Click here to take you to the page about Fulwar Fowle.
EXTRACT
If you would like to read an extract from The Austens of Bath where events take place in Kintbury, click here.
REFERENCES
Austen-Leigh, W., Austen-Leigh R.A. and Le Faye D. (1989) Jane Austen: A Family Record. London: The British Library. pp. 39, 85-6 & 146-7.
Hussain, A. (2023) 'The Boys at Steventon: Mr Austen's Students 1773-1796' in Persuasion On-Line 44.1 (Winter 2023). Available at:https://jasna.org/assets/Persuasions-On-Line/Vol44-No1/Hussain-2/Hussain_The-Boys-at-Steventon-Mr-Austens-Students.pdf
Le Faye, D. (2011) Jane Austen's Letters - Fourth Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.