Jane Austen is buried in the north nave aisle of Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire, England, where she died in 1817; her simple grave is marked by a black memorial stone, with a later brass plaque acknowledging her literary achievements, and is a popular site for visitors.
Photo above: Visitors from around the world travel to pay their respects at Jane Austen's grave inside Winchester Cathedral. Photo taken by Joe Low. Her grave is a principal destination for many visitors, though it doesn't do justice to her moral vision or enduring literary legacy.
Why is Jane Austen buried in Winchester Cathedral?
Jane Austen (1775-1817) died at the age of 41. For the last few months of her life, she and her sister Cassandra lodged very nearby at 7 College Street, close to Winchester College. Jane loved Winchester Cathedral, and it was appropriate that she be buried here.
With the 6th and 7th great nieces of Jane Austen (my niece and great niece), living in the grounds of Chawton House, and my cousin Adam (the current heir to Chawton House) with a beautiful home on site, the legacy of the Austen descendants in Chawton continues today.
After Jane's death, Cassandra selectively censored some letters that she judged to be otherwise worthy of preservation. She is thought to have destroyed many others to safeguard her late sister's privacy.
The Final Resting Place of Jane Austen - Winchester Cathedral
Who inherited Jane Austen's money?
Like her other daughter before her, she thus specified: “I give and bequeath all my property of every kind to my sole surviving Daughter Cassandra Elizabeth and I make her my said daughter my sole Executrix of this my last Will and Testament”.
The real answer is, some of it. The majority of the characters are based on real life historical characters. Cassandra was Jane Austen's older sister and she really was engaged to a man named Tom Fowle, who is depicted in the series.
As for her Austen connection, Middleton and the Pride and Prejudice author are technically 11th cousins, six times removed, related through common ancestor Henry Percy, the 2nd Earl of Northumberland. Percy, (who lived from 1392 to 1455) is Kate's 16th great-grandfather, and Austen's 10th.
Of these, however, only 161 are known to survive, as after her death her sister Cassandra destroyed many of them – both to protect both her sister's reputation and, most probably, to protect the feelings of her friends and family.
Current medical opinion, biographers, and encyclopaedic reference all lean towards a diagnosis of Addison's disease, which involves destruction of the adrenal glands, but other medical opinion surmises that Jane may have been suffering from Hodgkin's disease, a form of cancer.
Austen's grave bears the words: “The benevolence of her heart, the sweetness of her temper, and the extraordinary endowments of her mind obtained the regard of all who knew her and the warmest love of her intimate connections.”
Who received Jane Austen's royalties after her death?
No one receives any royalties for Jane Austen's works. They are out of copyright and are considered to be in the public domain, which means that anyone can copy and distribute them without having to pay royalties. When Jane died, she left her manuscripts and most of her other property to her sister Cassandra.
Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, announced in March 2024 that she was diagnosed with cancer after undergoing abdominal surgery in January of that year; tests revealed the presence of cancer, leading her to begin preventative chemotherapy, which she completed in the summer of 2024, and she has since been focusing on recovery and gradually returning to public duties, though the specific type and stage of cancer remain private.
As well as royal cousins, Meghan has various other well-known relatives via her colonial New Hampshire ancestry from her father's side. She can claim ancestral links to eight US Presidents, including both George and George W Bush, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon; the actor James Dean; and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower.
In her book, “Through the Keyhole,” Law claims that the handsome Mr. Darcy was based on John Parker, 1st Earl of Morley, the Telegraph reports. Morley was a British aristocrat who served in the House of Lords, and who was “involved in a sordid sex scandal that led to divorce” in 1809.
On July 18, 1817, Jane Austen slipped away in the early morning. Her last recorded words, the day before, were “God grant me patience, Pray for me Oh Pray for me.” Before she died, her clergyman-brothers Henry and James had “administered the services suitable for a Christian's death-bed” (Memoir of Jane Austen).
Depending on which method is used to calculate inflation, Mr. Darcy's £10,000 in modern times varies dramatically: from approximately $990,000 to $16,000,000.
Mr. Rushworth, with an income from Sotherton of £12,000 a year – over $397,000 – is the wealthiest of Jane Austen's characters whose incomes we know but is otherwise virtually forgettable.
