Katherine Austen
| Katherine Austen | |
|---|---|
| Born |
1629 St Mary Colechurch, London, England, UK |
| Died |
1683 Hoxton, London |
| Spouse(s) | Thomas Austen |
Katherine Austen (1629 – ca. 1683) was a British diarist and poet best known for Book M,[1] her manuscript collection of meditations, journal entries, and verse.
Early life
Austen was born in London, one of seven children, to Katherine Wilson (d. 1648) and her husband Robert (d. 1639), a draper. She married Thomas Austen (1622–1658), a barrister, in 1645. After his death at the age of 36, she entered into an involved legal battle with his family in order to retain his manor in Middlesex for her three children, Thomas, Robert, and Anne.
Writings
Her manuscript of 114 folios, Book M (BL, Add. MS 4454), was written over six or seven years during her period of mourning — her "Most saddest Yeares" (60r) — and includes material on her lawsuit, interpretations of dreams (her own and others), historical commentary, prayers, letters, financial materials, and 34 verse meditations in rhyming couplets.
One of her best known poems from the book is the estate poem "On the Situation of Highbury".[2] This poem demonstrates her familiarity with the genre, although her poem is unusual in leaving the estate's "dweller" anonymous.[3]
The book also contains an essay on Saint Hildegard of Bingen.[3]
Later life
She declined to remarry, citing her regard for her late husband and her fears for the financial interests of her children. Under the doctrine of coverture she retained her widow's status as an independent legal entity if she did not remarry. Although she did not marry she had a suitor, the Scottish doctor Alexander Callendar.[4]
She lived in Hoxton until she died.[5] The date of her death is unknown but her will was proved in 1683.
Resources
- Anselment, Raymond A. "Katherine Austen and the widow's might." Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies (03/22/2005) 22 Jan. 2007.
- Ross, Sarah. “Austen , Katherine (b. 1629, d. in or before 1683).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 22 Jan. 2007.
- ↑ Austen, Katherine (2013). Pamela S Hammons, ed. Book M: A London Widow's Life's Writings. Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies and ITER; 1ST edition (2013). p. 216. ISBN 978-0772721501.
- ↑ Wiseman, Susan (2002). The Contemplative Woman's Recreation? Katherine Austen and the Estate Poem. From Early modern women and the poem. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 220–243. ISBN 978-07190-9072-1.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hammons, Pamela. "Katherine Austen's Country-House Innovations.". Retrieved 18 April 2014.
- ↑ Hammons, Pamela S. "The Other Voice" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2014.
- ↑ "Perdita Woman: Katherine Austen". University of Warwick. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
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