Sunday 1 January 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
Letter #4
To Cassandra, from Rowling, Thursday 1 September 1796, "Henry leaves us to-morrow for Yarmouth, as he wishes very much to consult his physician there, on whom he has great reliance. He is better than he was when he first came, though still by no means well. According to his present plan, he will not return here till about the 23rd, and bring with him, if he can, leave of absence for three weeks, as he wants very much to have some shooting at Godmersham, whither Edward and Elizabeth are to remove very early in October. If this scheme holds, I shall hardly be at Steventon before the middle of that month; but if you cannot do without me, I could return, I suppose, with Frank if he ever goes back. He enjoys himself here very much, for he has just learnt to turn, and is so delighted with the employment, that he is at it all day long." - Jane Austen, Thursday 1 September 1796

I was not sure what she meant by "he has just learnt to turn". I have decided she must have meant wood turning; this is the only thing I can find that seems appropriate. This is a link to a BBC show on the subject if you are interested.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/cumbria/hi/front_page/newsid_8720000/8720992.stm

Henry's regiment of the Oxfordshire Militia was, at this time, guarding the East Anglian coast, so she would have been referring to Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Here is information about Great Yarmouth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Yarmouth

Chapter six of Constance Hill's Jane Austen, Her Homes and Her Friends, discusses the balls Jane Austen went to in Basingstoke. She talks about an inn called "Angel" and describes what it looked like when they were on the spot of the "ballroom", which had become, basically, a barn by 1902. On the Basingstoke web site it states that the "ballroom" would have been where the Lloyds TSB or the Barclays Bank is today, at 8 Market Place. This is a picture from the satellite showing the back of the bank, I think. Another case against progress, right?

This is the back view of the bank which is on the site of the Angel Inn in Basingstoke where Jane Austen attended balls in the late 1790's and 1800's.