Jane Austen... filled in one of them to show fictitious marriages for herself.
This page is from one of the parish registers for Steventon, a small village which lies a few miles south-west of Basingstoke in Hampshire. The register of marriages and banns covers the dates 1755 to 1812.
At the front of the volume there are specimen entries to show clergymen how to complete marriage records. Jane Austen, herself born in Steventon in December 1775, filled in one of them to show fictitious marriages for herself.
Jane Austen's father was rector of Steventon from 1765 until 1801, and so would have kept the registers with details of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parish.
Jane Austen never did marry, dying in Winchester on the 18th July 1817 aged only 41 years old.
Jane Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral. The nearby City Museum in Winchester contains a small collection of Jane Austen memorabilia, including a small handwritten poem entitled 'I've a pain in my head', written around 1811.
Catalogue record for 7M87/11/5 Jane Austen's 'marriage record'
You can find out more about Jane Austen’s local connections
Jane Austen's house at Chawton, Hampshire is where she spent the last eight years of her life. A 17th century house, it tells the story of Jane Austen and her family.
Follow the Jane Austen Trail around Winchester and Hampshire
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