SummerSimo Travel Troubles Notes and The Purring Page

A plea for help comes from the Jane Austen Museum in Chawton, England, established in the last home of the British writer: volunteers are being sought to help transcribe the unpublished autobiographical writings of Admiral Francis Austen (1774-1865), the older brother of Jane Austen (1775-1817). The 250th anniversary of the birth of Francis Austen, better known to his family as Frank, is being celebrated by the museum with an exhibition titled “Travels with Frank Austen,” running through July 7. The exhibition features a number of recent acquisitions, including an album of watercolors and drawings by Francis and his daughter Cassandra, and unpublished memoirs by Francis, who lived with his writer sister in Southampton for several years and wrote regularly to the women of the Austen household. Jane Austen used the name of her brother’s ship, Hms Elephant, in the novel “Mansfield Park” and probably inspired Captain Harville in “Persuasion.” The unpublished manuscripts describe Francis’ life and family relationships, as well as observations on historical events and impressions of the countries he visited during his years at sea. But now the museum is now seeking volunteers from around the world to help them make the first complete transcription of Frank’s unpublished memoirs and discover more about the world in which Jane Austen lived and wrote. The problem, in fact, is that his handwriting is not the best at legibility, so it must be deciphered.

Handwritten 78-page memoir text
The memoir consists of 78 pages of handwritten text, in the third person and believed to be in Francis Austen’s own hand. The complete text is unpublished, although some brief excerpts have appeared in Austen biographies. It is essentially an account of Frank Austen’s life, from his childhood in Chawton to life in the Navy (including carrying dispatches to Lord Nelson in Palermo), to his stay with his family in Bath in 1802, to his travels in the West Indies, to his marriage and settling in Southampton with his mother and sisters, and to his retirement in Chawton. The album contains 73 watercolors and drawings chronicling the career and travels of Francis Austen, who enlisted in the Royal Navy in April 1786 to further his studies. He served in various positions and aboard various ships, notably facing French troops during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. An accomplished sailor, he attained the rank of admiral of the fleet, the most prestigious in the Royal Navy. Despite this life of conflict and extensive travel, he died at the age of 91, the last survivor of Jane Austen’s six siblings. The graphic notebook, written by Francis Austen and his daughter Cassandra Eliza Austen, shows some of the landscapes of these travels, from the West Indies
Western to Canada.