Publications
Austen or Austin of East Grinstead, by F. V. Austin, published August 1946 in Sussex Notes & Queries (vol. XI no. 3, query, pp.67-68) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8229][Lib 2210] & The Keep [LIB/500213] & S.A.S. library
A Missing Will Preserved, by Michael J. Burchall, published June 1974 in Sussex Family Historian (vol. 1 no. 5, article, pp.139-141) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 7965] & The Keep [LIB/501253] & CD SFH40 from S.F.H.G.
Preview:The Vestry Minute book of Rotherfield deposited at E.S.R.O. contains copies of two wills. Richard Austin - 5 October 1522 and Robert Mason - 1 January 1526
Jane Austen's Worthing: The Real Sanditon, by Antony Edmonds, published 19 September 2013 (128 pp., Stroud: Amberley Publishing, ISBN-10: 1445619733 & ISBN-13: 9781445619736) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
Abstract:During her stay in Worthing in late 1805 Jane Austen became friends with Edward Ogle, who was the driving force behind the chaotic little town's transformation into a well-ordered seaside resort. Then, in 1817, the year of her death, Jane Austen used Worthing as the background for her final, unfinished novel, Sanditon, one of whose main characters was based on Ogle. This book gives a detailed account of the town Jane Austen knew in 1805, and explores in full the close links between Sanditon and early Worthing. But this is more than just the snapshot of a single year. It is also the portrait of an era. Taking the first twenty-five years of the nineteenth century as his time frame, the author explains how Worthing changed and developed during this period, and paints vivid pictures of some of the people associated with the town. We meet Worthing's most paranoid resident, the volatile reformed criminal John Mackoull, as well as notable visitors to the town such as the poets Byron and Shelley, the satirical writer Horace Smith, and Colonel Berkeley, the louche nobleman and part-time actor with a passion for young actresses. Jane Austen's Worthing includes seventy-five illustrations, over a third of them in colour.
Review by Esme Evans in Sussex Past & Present no. 132, April 2014:Antony Edmonds considers the evidence that Sanditon, Jane's last and unfinished novel of 1817, may have been based on the early development of Worthing as a seaside town. As he rightly says, Jane Austen was a novelist, not a travel writer, and describes her as muddying the coastal waters by placing the fictional Sanditon between Eastbourne and Hastings, specifically mentioning Worthing as one of the large towns on which Sanditon was an improvement. There are clear resemblances between Trafalgar House in the novel and Warwick House in Worthing; between Mr Parker in the novel and Edward Ogle, the owner of Warwick House when Jane was in Worthing, and an indefatigable promoter and developer of Worthing as a seaside resort; between Old Sanditon and Broadwater, and possibly Sanditon House and either Broadwater Manor or Offington House.
From this thesis he expands into an account of the development of Worthing as a seaside resort in the early 19th century (to about 1825), when the establishment of circulating libraries, hotels (including Assembly Rooms as part of the Steyne Hotel), and a theatre (most of which Ogle had an interest in or promoted) brought the town into line with other resorts. When Jane Austen visited, Worthing had only recently (1803) become a town with a Board of Commissioners, of which Edward Ogle was the first Chairman. Antony Edmonds quotes liberally from the guidebooks of the time, and has a chapter on "The Life and Grievances of John Mackoull", the author of "A Sketch of Worthing" (1817 and earlier editions), in which the (known criminal) author takes the opportunity of being very rude about many persons (including Ogle) and establishments in Worthing. There is also a concluding chapter on "Seven Notable Visitors".
The book contains a considerable number of prints and watercolours of early Worthing, many in colour. He does provide an Index of Locations and Buildings Around Worthing, but a fuller index would have been welcome.
Whether or not any further evidence comes to light regarding Jane Austen's intention to use Worthing as a template for Sanditon, this possible link gives an excellent reason for telling the story of Worthing in its early seaside development days, and an opportunity to publish or republish some of the excellent early illustrations of the town.
From this thesis he expands into an account of the development of Worthing as a seaside resort in the early 19th century (to about 1825), when the establishment of circulating libraries, hotels (including Assembly Rooms as part of the Steyne Hotel), and a theatre (most of which Ogle had an interest in or promoted) brought the town into line with other resorts. When Jane Austen visited, Worthing had only recently (1803) become a town with a Board of Commissioners, of which Edward Ogle was the first Chairman. Antony Edmonds quotes liberally from the guidebooks of the time, and has a chapter on "The Life and Grievances of John Mackoull", the author of "A Sketch of Worthing" (1817 and earlier editions), in which the (known criminal) author takes the opportunity of being very rude about many persons (including Ogle) and establishments in Worthing. There is also a concluding chapter on "Seven Notable Visitors".
The book contains a considerable number of prints and watercolours of early Worthing, many in colour. He does provide an Index of Locations and Buildings Around Worthing, but a fuller index would have been welcome.
Whether or not any further evidence comes to light regarding Jane Austen's intention to use Worthing as a template for Sanditon, this possible link gives an excellent reason for telling the story of Worthing in its early seaside development days, and an opportunity to publish or republish some of the excellent early illustrations of the town.
Jane Austen's Horsted Keynes Relations, by Ann Govas, published September 2016 (Danewood Press) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries