Miss Jane Austen... In Real Life: Letter #11, Post #8

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Letter #11, Post #8

20 June 2012
To Cassandra, from Steventon, "I am likewise to tell you that one of his Leicestershire sheep, sold to the butcher last week, weighed 27 lb. and 1/4 per quarter." - Jane Austen, Saturday 17-Sunday 18 1798

This message Jane is conveying to Cassandra is from her father. The Reverend George Austen worked very hard. He was a preacher, a teacher and a farmer. Plus, I think, he had very forward thinking for a man of his time. He must have. It is clear he encouraged Jane to write and her ideas, at least for women for that time were not common. He felt that First Impressions should have been published. He must have enjoyed the character of Elizabeth Bennett as being delightfully her own person (I suspect much the same as Jane Austen). What else would have attracted someone such as Mr. Darcy?

The Reverend George Austen in 1764.

The Reverend George Austen in 1800.

This is from Wikipedia about the sheep:

“English Leicester sheep date back to the 1700’s, and were found in the Midland counties of

England

. It was developed by Robert Bakewell who was the foremost exponent of modern animal-breeding techniques in the selection of livestock. The English Leicester in the 1700’s was slow-growing and coarsely boned.

It is now one of Britain's rarest breeds, categorized as "endangered" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, since fewer than 500 registered breeding females remain in the United Kingdom.”