“Kent is the only place for happiness, Everybody is rich there;—” 
(Jane Austen, 18–19 December 1798)

On March 24, 2007, through the efforts of the Kent Branch of the Jane Austen Society, a memorial tablet was unveiled at Sevenoaks School in Kent.

Jane Austen’s great grandmother
ELIZABETH AUSTEN 
became matron at Sevenoaks School
and housekeeper to Elijah Fenton
poet and headmaster
in 1708
Her sons were educated at the School.
The Jane Austen Society 20071

At the ceremony, it was noted that the tablet would have given particular pleasure to Alwyn Austen (1921–2003), a late member of the Society and Elizabeth’s great-(x4) grandson (Stokes 2).  The Reverend George Austen’s paternal grandmother might seem like a rather arcane subject, even for the devoted enthusiast of Jane Austen, but Elizabeth Austen née Weller is well known to many and a firm fixture in the secondary literature on Austen, even inspiring a work of fiction, Carole Penfield’s Austens of Broadford (2021).

Plaque at Sevenoaks School commemorating Elizabeth Weller. Reproduced with the kind permission of Sally Robbins.

In this article, I would like to do three things.  I will review what we know of Elizabeth’s life, as presented in the secondary sources.  I will provide a complete transcript of her own account of her widowhood (referred to hereafter as the Memorandum) as well as her account book for the period, neither of which has ever been published in full, and will also provide transcripts for newly found source material relating to Elizabeth, which, to my knowledge, has been hitherto unknown to Austen scholars.  I will also offer further background and context on the source material and assess the currently accepted story of Elizabeth’s life in light of this new information.

Title Page of Elizabeth Weller's Memorandum. (Click here to see a larger version.)	Page from Elizabeth Weller's Accounts Book. (Click here to see a larger version.)

This essay is available in PDF form, with each major section published in a separate file. Use the links below to download the files.

Part 1
Transcript of Elizabeth Weller's Memorandum 
Transcript of Elizabeth Weller's Letters and Account Book
Evaluation
Appendix 1: Simplified Austen Family Tree
Appendix 2: Simplified Holman Family Tree
Appendix 3: Simplified Stringer Family Tree
Appendix 4: Simplified Weller Family Tree
Appendix 5: Simplified Children Family Tree
Appendix 6: Transcript of the Will of John Austen III (1629–1705)
Appendix 7: Transcript of the Will of John Austen IV (d. 1704)
Acknowledgments & Works Cited

NOTE

1The plaque is positioned on the front wall of the original school house building built in 1732 so not the one Elizabeth would have known.  Unfortunately, there is no mention of Elizabeth or her sons in the school’s archive.  I am very grateful to Sally Robbins, Archivist at Sevenoaks School, for kindly supplying this information.