Remembering Patrick Stokes, Admiral Charles Austen’s great great grandson

Patrick Stokes, a great great nephew of Jane Austen and a direct descendant of her naval brother, Charles, died early on Christmas morning, 2023, at his home in Bridport, Dorset, England, aged 80. Trained as a chemist, Patrick had a successful international career in business. Among lovers of Jane Austen’s novels, he will be remembered for his initiatives to promote her literary legacy.                    

Fig.1: “Halifax,” by Lt Herbert Grey Austen, 1848. [2]

Fig 2: Publication from the Halifax Conference 2005. [3]  

 Patrick had a talent for gathering people together for literary purposes. He spearheaded and organized four highly successful international conferences attended by members of the Jane Austen Society UK (JAS), the Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) and the Jane Austen Society of Australia (JASA). These conferences took place in Bermuda (2000 and 2010) and in Halifax, Nova Scotia (2005 and 2017). The locations were apt choices as Jane Austen’s brothers, Francis and Charles, had both served in North American waters during their naval careers.[1]

Fig. 3: Plenary Speakers at the 2014 JASNA AGM.

In addition, for eighteen years Patrick organized and directed the highly popular annual JAS conferences in the UK, maintaining the tradition of choosing places associated with Jane Austen, her writings, her family and the period in which she wrote.  

Patrick’s leadership in these matters was marked by professionalism, hard work, and humour. Those who had the good fortune to attend any of his conferences remarked favourably on the interesting speakers and the attractive settings with historic connections. They spoke warmly of the convivial spirit of the gathering, the fine food,  and the pleasure of talking about Jane Austen in good company. The success of these ventures was in large part due to Patrick’s personality. He was charming, gregarious and made people feel welcome.

Patrick was also a memorable speaker about the Georgian Royal Navy.

Fig. 4: Patrick presenting at the Halifax Conference 2017.

He was a keynote speaker at the JASNA AGM in Montreal, 2014, and subsequently talked to JASNA Regions in the United States and Canada as well as in the UK. Patrick had a fine feel for the dramatic on such occasions, arriving with panache in the costume of an Admiral’s dress uniform of the period. His witty presentations amused and delighted his audiences.

Fig. 5: Patrick as an ‘Admiral’, Halifax, June 2017.

Patrick also displayed his acting skill when he was recruited to take part in Syrie James’s short play, “Dangerous Intimacy: Behind the Scenes at Mansfield Park,” which was performed at the 2014 JASNA AGM. He delivered a vigorous portrayal of the Prince Regent. In addition,  participants in a JASNA summer tour to England will remember meeting Patrick on location at Lyme Regis. Who else could read so well the dramatic passages from Persuasion where Austen describes Lousia Musgrove’s disastrous fall on the Cobb at Lyme?

Fig. 6 : The novel Persuasion and Lyme.

Fig. 7: On location on the Cobb, Lyme.

Patrick rendered further service to JAS as Chair of the Society, beginning in 2004 for a five year term. Afterwards and ever willing to be helpful, Patrick took on the task of ensuring sufficient seating was available for JAS AGMs, which at the time took place in a tent on the grounds of Chawton House. With a twinkle in his eye and typical Patrick humour, he was happy to report that he was still a chairman, but now best described as a chair-man!

Fig. 8: Portrait of Captain Charles Austen in the 1840s.

Patrick was keen to promote Jane Austen to the world, to encourage new readers, to offer support to those researching her works, her life and family. It was in this context that I first met Patrick. While exploring the life and times of Fanny Palmer, Charles Austen’s young wife, Patrick’s knowledge, interest, and encouragement was a gift beyond expectation. I am very grateful for his permission to include in my book, Jane Austen’s Transatlantic Sister: The Life and Letters of Fanny Palmer Austen,[4] reproductions of several Austen family artefacts in his possession, including a fine oil portrait of his great great grandfather, Charles, in later life.

I count myself very fortunate to have known Patrick. Along with wit and charm, he had a hugely generous heart and endearing spirit. His unique gift was to make everyone he met feel significant and important. Patrick will be greatly missed in the Jane Austen world and far beyond.

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[1] Charles served as a commander (1804-1810), flag captain to his Commander- in - Chief, Admiral Warren (1810)  and frigate captain (1810-1811); Admiral Sir Francis was Commander- in - Chief of the North American and West Indies Station, 1845-1848.

[2] Lt  Herbert was a son of Admiral Sir Francis Austen and served on the North American Station with him from 1845-48. Private Collection.

[3] The cover image of Halifax Harbour is also by Lt Herbert Grey Austen. The publication was edited by Sarah Emsley and includes essays by Sarah, Peter Graham, Sheila Johnson Kindred and Brian Southam.

[4] MQUP ( 2017, 2018) 

Photo credits: Figs. 2, 3, 6, 7 : Hugh Kindred;  Thanks to Sarah Emsley for permission to use Fig. 4 and Fig.5.

Lieutenant Commander Francis Austen RN (1924-2023) : Remembering Jane Austen’s Great Great Nephew

Fig.1: Lt. Cdr Francis Austen RN (Retd)

On 23 November 2023 the Jane Austen Society UK sadly lost one of its most senior members when Francis Henry Inskip Austen died, age 99 and 7 months.[1] A direct descendant of Jane Austen’s naval brother, Admiral Sir Francis William Austen (1774-1865), the contemporary Francis was an admirer and supporter of the writing of his famous great-great aunt, Jane Austen. Francis had a notable naval career, leaving school early in 1941[2] to enlist and train for active service. He was posted into the frigate HMS Kent where he was employed during 1943-44, first as a midshipman and then as a sub-lieutenant. During this period, the Kent provided cover for convoys carrying vital supplies on the Arctic route to and from northern Russia and was party to a successful attack on a German convoy in Norwegian waters.[3] Francis retired in 1954 at the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Francis’s life mirrored certain experiences and attitudes of his impressive forebear, Admiral Sir Francis (1774-1865). As boys, each grew up in a close and supportive clergy family. Admiral Francis was the fifth son of Rev. George Austen, and Francis, the third son of Rev. Frederick William Austen. Each was to enjoy a long life. Admiral Sir Francis died in his 93rd year, his great grandson in his 100th.

Fig. 2: Admiral Sir Francis Austen

As young men, both were patriots motivated to fight for England in times of great national threat. In readying themselves for naval service, each studied at the best naval school of the day: the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth for Admiral Francis (1786 to1788) and its successor, the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, for Francis (1942).[4] During their careers, each served in North American waters: Admiral Sir Francis was Commander in Chief of the North American and West Indies Station, 1845-1848, a command which brought him to Halifax, Nova Scotia every summer when the North American squadron made its headquarter there. Almost 100 years later the then young Lieutenant Francis sailed into Halifax at least once on naval operations. Given these deployments, both naval officers became familiar with the deep and spacious Halifax harbour.

Fig.3: Halifax Harbour by Lt. Herbert Grey Austen

Fig. 5: Publication from the Halifax Conference, 2005

Though they lived in widely differing times, both men were frank in their warm admiration of Jane’s literary genius. The Admiral shared his thoughtful responses to Mansfield Park and Emma with Jane in 1814 and 1815.[5] In later life he spoke with enthusiasm about her talents and publications. The contemporary Francis talked engagingly about Jane Austen and her family. Particularly memorable were his stories about the French Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars as they affected the careers of his ancestor, Admiral Francis, and the Admiral’s younger naval brother, Charles (1779 -1852), who had also served on the North American Station from 1805-1811.

Fig. 4: Exhibition Catalogue, JAS-JASNA Bermuda meeting, May 2000

Francis Austen will additionally be remembered for his vigorous support of initiatives to further the appreciation and study of Jane Austen’s writings and times. For decades he was an active member of the Jane Austen Society UK and in 1994 he became a founding member, along with his brother Alwyn, of the Kent Branch of the Society. Francis was also central to the planning of the highly successful Millenium Meeting of the Jane Austen Society UK and the Jane Austen Society of North America in Bermuda, 2-9 May 2000. A featured theme was the connections between Bermuda and the naval careers of Jane Austen’s brothers, Francis and Charles.

Coinciding with this meeting was an exhibition highlighting the artistry of British naval officers, men who had sketched the harbours and surrounding countryside, while they were stationed in North American waters. Curated by Bermuda Archivist, Karla Hayward, and mounted at the Bermuda Maritime Museum, this unique collection included some impressive watercolours painted by Francis’s grandfather, Lieutenant Herbert Grey Austen RN. (This was the baby Herbert, born 8 November 1815, 6th son of Admiral Sir Francis, to whom Aunt Jane sent her love on 24 November).[6]

Fig.6: Francis Austen at a JAS Kent Branch Meeting, Godmersham Park. 2018.

Five years later Francis was once more a consultant and attendee at another meeting of JAS UK and JASNA with a naval connection. This conference,[7] which explored the theme of “Jane Austen and the North Atlantic,” took place, appropriately, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, since both her naval brothers, as well as Francis himself had been deployed there.

By virtue of his long life, Francis Austen had access to personal family perspectives about Jane Austen, her siblings, and the Austen family over generations. In addition, he preserved and generously shared access to Austen artefacts, such as the loan of Herbert Grey Austen’s watercolour sketches to the exhibition in Bermuda in 2000. Well into his nineties, Francis was a regular presence at Jane Austen Society AGMs each July as well as Kent Branch meetings throughout the year. He was genial, empathetic and had the gift of making people feel welcome. I consider myself fortunate to have known him.

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[1] See the British newspaper, The Telegraph, 2 December 2023.

[2] Marlborough College Register 1903-1996, 11th ed., 1997. Francis had entered Marlborough in January 1938.

[3] According to Joan Corder, Akin to Jane, 1952, Francis served on HMS Kent during 1943 and 1944. If aboard for the whole time, he was party to a variety of dangerous missions. In addition to convoying supplies to and from Northern Russia, the Kent escorted British aircraft carriers while their planes attacked airfields in Norway as well as German shipping. Later, she intercepted a German convoy and sank two freighter and five escorts. The Kent was paid off in January 1945.         

[4] Francis most likely had a lucky escape from danger and possibly death when, on 18 September 1942, German Focke-Wulf aircraft bombed the Royal Naval College. It has been suggested that this attack was planned to coincide with the day after the officer cadets would have arrived back for the start of autumn term. However, every 6 years an extra week was added to the summer term, so the autumn term started a week later than usual.  Fortunately, 1942 was one of  those years.

[5] See The Works of Jane Austen: Minor Works, ed R.W Chapman, OUP, 1954, 431, 436. The postscript to Jane’s letter no. 86, 3-6 July 1814, reveals that she discussed a naval aspect of Mansfield Park with Francis. See Jane Austen’s Letters, ed. Deirdre Le Faye, 1995, 217.

[6] She wrote to Cassandra: “I send my love to little Herbert.” See Jane Austen’s Letters, ed. Deirdre Le Faye, 1995, Letter no. 127,  299.

[7] It was organized by Patrick Stokes, a direct descendant of Vice Admiral Charles Austen.

Photo credits: Figs. 1,4,5: Sheila Johnson Kindred, Figs 2&3, Private Collection, Fig. 6: Hugh Kindred  

Jane Austen and The Festive Season at Chawton Cottage

I like to imagine how the Christmas season was celebrated at Chawton cottage in December 1809, the year which found Jane, Cassandra, their mother and their friend Martha Lloyd settled in their new Hampshire home. Jane’s letters give no hint of the scope of festivities.[1] However, we can be confident that certain activities were enjoyed and perhaps new forms of conviviality adopted.

Fig.1: Chawton Cottage[2]

The women had moved to Chawton during July, and although the timing was not ideal for planting and harvesting the range of fruits and vegetables they would cultivate in future years,    they surely took the prospect of festive eating seriously and made sure to acquire the materials they needed. Consulting Julienne Gehrer’s books about Regency meals and their preparation reveals a range of tempting recipes. Their first festive season in Chawton may have included feasting on roast turkey,[3] and delicacies such as ragout of veal, fricassee of turnips, white soup and orange flavoured sponge cake.[4]

Fig. 2: Dining with Jane Austen by Julienne Gehrer

This was also the season for special hymns and carol singing. Jane, Cassandra and Martha had grown up as a rector’s daughters and Mrs Austen had supportively participated in her late husband’s parishes of Steventon and Deane. Now resident in Chawton all four women would have worshiped at the nearby church of St Nicholas. It is likely that traditional hymns, such as “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night,” “Joy to the World,” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” were incorporated into Advent and Christmas services and were well known to the Austens and Martha Lloyd.

Fig.3: Martha Lloyd’s Household Book, introduction by Julienne Gehrer

Continuing the singing of favourite hymns at home was another pleasure of the season. Jane was an accomplished pianist and a willing accompanist. Moreover, she had access to a variety of musical material. Her sister-in-law, Elizabeth, wife of her brother, Edward, had transcribed the music for “Adeste Fideles,” also including verses in the original Latin.[5] Such manuscripts were regularly shared amongst the family, so Jane may have had her own copy of Elizabeth’s work. Jane developed a large repertoire of piano pieces making it likely that she could play a variety of religious Christmas and Advent music. Presumably those in the Cottage also appreciated a spirited tune such as the one in Jane Austen’s music albums[6] titled “Nos Galan,” which is Welsh for New Year’s Eve.

In the years following 1809 other family members gathered at Chawton Cottage during the twelve days of Christmas. In a letter written 3 November 1813, Jane reports that they are “likely to have a peep of Charles and Fanny at Christmas.” This could mean even more voices united in song!

May your holiday be a musical one, if that is your wish. In 2022, as in many Decembers past, my family has joined neighbours and friends to sing carols together in the chill Nova Scotian air while gathered round an illuminated fir tree under the tower of our small village church. It is magical!

Fig.4: The Scene of Carol Singing

Season’s Greetings,

Sheila

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[1] There is a gap in her correspondence extending from 26 July 1809 until 18 April 1811.

[2] In a letter from 29 November 1812, Jane refers to “eating Turkies” as a “very pleasant [Christmas Duty].”

[3] These foods are mentioned in either Martha Lloyd’s Household Book or the Knight Family Cookbook.

[4] “Adeste Fideles” translates into English as “ O Come All Ye Faithful.” See “Austen’s Festive Music” in Jane Austen’s Regency World, Nov/Dec 2019, Issue 102, 50.

[5] The Austen Family Music Books, including Jane’s seventeen music albums have been digitalized by the University of Southampton. The tune of Nos Galan is now used for the carol “Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly.”

Jane Austen’s Naval Brother, Charles, and La Tribune: Milestones in a Naval Career

Particular ships may come to have a special significance in a naval career. For Charles Austen, a ship that repeatedly touched his life in the Royal Navy was the vessel first known to him as the French frigate, La Tribune. Charles was a sixteen-year-old midshipman aboard HMS Unicorn (38 guns) when, on 8 June 1796, she encountered La Tribune (44 guns).[1] Charles had recently completed three years of rigorous study at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth. He was now learning to apply the theory of seamanship in practice at sea under the tutelage and supervision of his mentor and family friend, Captain Thomas Williams. He was about to take part in an epic chase in which Williams and his men would distinguish themselves.

While cruising west of the Scilly Islands, the Unicorn sighted and gave chase to La Tribune in a running fight which lasted ten hours. The Unicorn eventually pulled alongside the enemy and a “sharp contest ensued and continued with great impetuosity for thirty-five minutes.” When the smoke from their guns cleared, Unicorn saw that Tribune was preparing to cross her stern to gain the wind. This manoeuvre was defeated by “Captain Williams instantly throwing his sails back,…[and passing] the enemy’s bow. The action now renewed with fresh vigour but lasted only minutes, the [Tribune] having her mizen mast alone standing, surrendered.”[2] Thirty-seven of the Tribune’s crew were killed and fifteen, including her captain, were wounded; the Unicorn with  240 aboard suffered no casualties.

Fig 1: “The Capture of “La Tribune by HMS Unicorn”[3]  

This was an important coup for those on the Unicorn. Captain Williams was knighted by King George III for his exemplary leadership. La Tribune was a valuable prize capture so, not surprisingly, the  next year she was refitted and taken into British service as a 34 gun frigate. Her value was shared as prize money among all aboard in proportion to their rank. Midshipman Charles Austen would have received only a small sum but the event was significant to him. As the youngest in a clergy family of seven children, Charles had no expectations of private sources of income. He would have to make his own way. From his perspective, this exploit demonstrated the fame and fortune that a naval career might offer. If he could develop the expert  naval skills and have luck like that of his captain, Thomas Williams, a bright future might be his.

Charles’s role in the capture of the Tribune and the subsequent benefits for all involved would be well known to Jane Austen and the family. Jane took a keen interest in both her naval brothers’ successes at sea. She could appreciate that this chase, fight and seizure of an enemy warship would give Charles a sense of accomplishment. Moreover, she may have been an indirect beneficiary of  the Unicorn’s success. Charles purchased the topaze crosses that he famously  gave to his sisters in 1801 with prize money he had recently received. As the Unicorn had made other prize captures in 1796 and beyond, we cannot know for sure that the £30 of prize money Charles spent on jewelry for his sisters came from the Unicorn’s victory over the Tribune. However, as payouts of prize money were often much delayed, due to the slow processes of  the Vice  Admiralty Courts, there is a possible connection.[4]

Jane Austen would also have rejoiced in the Unicorn’s triumph for Sir Thomas Williams’s sake. He was considered one of the family since, four years earlier, he had married the beautiful Jane Cooper, who was the first cousin and former school mate of Jane and Cassandra Austen. Jane was a witness at the wedding and she had earlier dedicated “A Collection of Letters” in Volume the Second of her Juvenilia to the bride, alluding to the “Charming Character which in every Country, & in every Clime in Christendom is Cried Concerning you.” With Thomas Williams’s elevation to a knighthood, his wife became “Lady Williams.” Such a distinction would surely have pleased the romantically minded seventeen-year-old Jane.

Once at work in the British Navy, HMS Tribune was considered one of the finest frigates in his majesty’s service. However, instead of winning glory for the British, a year later she was shipwrecked on the Atlantic coastline of North America in Nova Scotian waters.

The sinking of HMS Tribune resulted from a constellation of human errors. On the morning of 16 November 1797, the ship was about to enter the port of Halifax after completing convoy duty from Newfoundland. Her sailing master, who was in charge of the ship’s navigation, was overconfident and refused the services of a local pilot. This was a fatal decision as the Tribune ran aground on the treacherous Thrum Cap Shoal on the eastern side of the entrance to the harbour. Her captain, Scory Barker, refused the offer of rescue boats from the Halifax Naval Yard and nearby military forts, judging that if he jettisoned guns and other heavy articles, the ship would safely refloat at high tide. Although she came off the shoal with the rising tide, a violent gale from the southeast also arose and carried the rudderless Tribune towards the western coast and onto the rocks near Herring Cove.[5] Of the over 240 on board, about 100 took to the rigging in the harsh temperature of that November night, hoping for rescue from onshore.

Fig.2: Chart showing the relation between the Thrum Cap Shoal and Herring Cove[6]

Local inhabitants of Herring Cove did what they dared. They lit a huge bonfire on shore, but as to reaching the survivors, heavy surf on the rocky shore made any approaches to the Tribune very dangerous. An acknowledged hero of the catastrophe was thirteen-year-old Joe Cracker, who saved two men in his small rowing boat. Eight others were subsequently saved by boats from the Cove. Overall, only twelve survived the wreck.[7] This disaster is marked with a monument honouring Joe Cracker set at the closest site on land, named Tribune Head.

Fig. 3: Tribune Head as seen from the land[8]

Fig. 4: Plaque honouring Joe Cracker, who intrepidly rescued two men from the rigging of the Tribune

Fig. 5: Herring Cove today

Fast forward now to 1805-1810 when the newly commissioned Lieutenant Charles Austen was commanding HMS Indian (18 guns) on the Royal Navy’s North American Station.  His assignments often took him in and out of Halifax Harbour, the northern base of the Station. From the westward approach his little sloop must pass close to Herring Cove and traverse the waters where HMS Tribune had wrecked and sunk. How might he have reflected in making this passage?

Perhaps he recollected, with sorrow, on the huge loss of life and profound suffering which had occurred, a situation made the more poignant by the probability that women and children belonging to naval officers’ families had perished with the Tribune. The tragic end of the Tribune was, additionally, a reminder of the importance of sound navigation and the necessity of competent seamanship among officers and men. The ill-fated Tribune had been badly served in both these dimensions. Charles probably also recollected the excitement of the chase of the Tribune in her earlier incarnation as a French frigate and his hopes for a future career of action and profit which was now just beginning with his first command.

Fig.6: The Naval  General Service Medal, 1847

The Tribune was to surface one more time in the narrative of Charles Austen’s long naval career. In 1847, Queen Victoria authorized the award of a silver medal, named the Naval General Service Medal, to recognize successful actions served in between 1793 and 1840. Charles received the new award with the “Unicorn 1796” clasp affixed in 1849.[9] By then a Rear Admiral of the Blue, it was fitting that the valour of the Unicorn in capturing the Tribune should become part of the honours which marked Charles Austen’s successful naval career.

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[1] She was originally the French frigate Charente Inferieure, launched in 1793 during the French Revolutionary war. and renamed La Tribune the next year.

[2] See John Marshall, Royal Naval  Biography, entry on Sir Thomas Williams (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Royal_Biography/Williams,_Thomas).

[3]After a painting by Thomas Whitcombe, courtesy of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

[4] See Victor Lucas, in Jane Austen, Pipkin Guides Series, 3.

[5] See HMS Tribune -1797- Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, Maritime Heritage Database (https://novascotia.ca/museum/wrecks/shipwrecks.asp?ID=4539).

[6] Chart showing the lights and buoys in the approaches to Halifax harbour in The Sea Road to Halifax by Admiral Hugh Pullen, 1980, 72.

[7] Lieutenants Campbell and North managed to escape in a jolly boat before the Tribune struck the rocks near Herring Cove. There are conflicting accounts about how many were aboard, ranging from 250-289; some sources say 14 survived. See endnote 5.

[8] Figs. 3-5, photos by Sheila Kindred

[9] Charles was one of the 4 survivors of this action who received the clasp in1849. His medal had a second clasp for  “Acre 1840.” It referred to Charles’s  participation in the bombardment of the Egyptian stronghold, the fortress of St Jean d’Acre, which was said to be impregnable.

Narratives of Naval Wives during the Napoleonic Wars: Fanny in Fact and Jane in Fiction.

Fanny Palmer Austen was married to Captain Charles Austen, Jane's brother. Her friendship with Jane allowed Fanny to share stories about her experience of the naval world. Later, Jane created naval wives in her novel, Persuasion. How might Fanny's life story have impacted Jane's writing?

I will be giving a talk on this topic on Zoom to the Eastern Washington Northern Idaho (EWANID) Region of the Jane Austen Society of North America on Saturday, November 6, 2021, at 11:00 am Pacific Time (3:00 pm AST). All are welcome.

This is a free event but registration is necessary. To sign up, you may go to the EWANID webpage: jasnaewanid.org/events/

Tags: Fanny Palmer Austen, Jane Austen, Naval Wives, Napoleonic Wars, Persuasion