CHAPTER III - STEVENTON AND CHAWTON, WINCHESTER

Summary

Since it may very likely happen that these volumes may fall into the hands of persons who have not read Mr. Austen Leigh's ‘Memoir,’ it is but right that, with the assistance which it affords me, I should, without attempting a regular biography, give some brief account of an existence to which, in my humble judgment, the world is so much indebted. I have already described the relations by whom Jane was surrounded, and given such an account of her family as it seemed necessary to attach to her letters. I have not as yet, however, spoken of the home in which she was born or of the county in which the greater part of her life was passed.

Steventon–which is also written ‘Stephington’ in Warner's ‘History of Hampshire.’ and ‘Stivetune’ in Domesday Book–had the honour of being her birthplace; for in the rectory of that quiet village she came into the world on December 16, 1775. Steventon, as Mr. Austen Leigh tells us, is situated ‘upon the chalk hills of North Hants, in a winding valley about seven miles from Basingstoke.’ The house, standing in the valley, was somewhat better than the ordinary parsonagehouses of the day; the old-fashioned hedgerows were beautiful, and the country around sufficiently picturesque for those who have the good taste to admire country scenery.