In 1798, a little more than a week after her twenty-third birthday, Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra what might certainly be called a Christmas letter, as it was begun at Steventon on the Monday night of Christmas Eve. She opens with news of hopes for a promotion for her brother Frank, then a young Navy captain who was indeed promoted to commander a week later, commanding the sloop HMS Peterel, at Gibraltar. This was happy news for the Austen family, and having made the most of it, Jane Austen wrote, “There! – I may now finish my letter, & go & hang myself, for I am sure I can neither write nor do anything which will not appear insipid to you after this.”
Much more tamely she goes on to mention their mother’s health (“She does not like the cold Weather, but that we cannot help”), and then describes a ball at Manydown where she famously writes, “There were twenty Dances & I danced them all, & without any fatigue.” The next day, Christmas Day itself, she continues her letter to Cassandra, who was then at Godmersham Park and had sent her a long and exciting letter: “I am full of Joy at much of your information; that you should have been to a Ball, & have danced at it, & supped with the Prince, & that you should meditate the purchase of a new muslin Gown are delightful circumstances.” The Prince was HRH Major-General William-Frederick of Gloucester, a young man about Jane Austen’s own age, whose military duties brought him into Kent. Still in a merry spirit, Jane tells Cassandra, “I wish you a merry Christmas, but no compliments of the Season.”
After some discussion of an illness of their brother Edward at Godmersham, and of their mother’s “gouty swelling & sensation about the ancles,” Jane eagerly resumes good spirits with a gay “I cannot determine what to do about my new Gown; I wish such things were to be bought ready-made”. She mentions that she will see their friend Martha at the Christening next Tuesday of her first nephew, brother James’ son, the future James Edward Austen-Leigh, who was to be very dear to her, as well as becoming her first biographer. The christening was to be at James’ home, Deane, two miles from Steventon, but visits between the two houses were frequent, and she writes, “I was to have dined at Deane today, but the weather is so cold that I am not sorry to be kept at home by the appearance of Snow.” Later she adds that she did go to Deane after all for dinner on Christmas day, as “the Snow came to nothing yesterday.” She closes with another gay riposte, “You deserve a longer letter than this, but it is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve.”
So that is what a Christmas holiday was like in Jane Austen’s youth, and we may be reminded once again what pleasure it is to dip in and out of her Letters, to visit her at Steventon, and elsewhere.
And a happy Christmas to all!
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What a wonderful post about Christmas for
a young Jane Austen during the Regency!
And what a wonderful giveaway at Christmas.
Thank you and have a lovely holiday season
and new year.
What a terrific Christmas giveaway. Here’s hoping.
This would be a truly magical gift! Love it!
The 12 days of a Jane Austen Christmas sounds wonderful! What a great beginning to the holiday season.
That ball sounded like a wonderful time. I’ve participated in English country dancing evenings where there were not nearly as many dances, and it’s quite a workout. Kudos to Jane for her stamina.
I would love to win the day book.
Jane’s letter makes delightful reading!
Lovely post – thank you so much. It makes me almost feel as if I’ve received a letter from Jane myself!
Julie
I’m looking forward to all the 12 days of Christmas here at Austen Variations, and this article was a fine way to start it off! I’ve read the letters, but must go back and do so again. I found that between pages of mundane reports with initials of people I care little about (gossip) were some wonderful tidbits of prose and delightful anecdotes. Thanks for sharing these ones, Diana!
What a lovely way to start my morning reading about a Regency Christmas. Very interesting thank you. What a brilliant giveaway too. Good luck to whoever wins. Thanks Diana.
Why can’t we all be as clever as Jane when we need to? Terrific post.
Jane must have been a fun person to be around. It sounds like she borrowed a lot of herself when she created Elizabeth Bennet. Her letters are full of mischief and fun. Somewhere I have a book of her letters that I bought years ago, and never really got around to reading. I really must put that on my list and read it. Her wit is infectious and teasing. This was fun to read about her at Christmas. I was feeling grinchy, but this totally made me laugh, so thank you for posting; I needed that!
Great look at Jane’s correspondence! I just love her wit and personality that comes out, even in her letters, as well as the picture we get of her activities. Thanks for sharing!
Delightful, wonderful!
How lovely it would be to open the planner and have a little “Jane” fix to start the day! Every day with a little “Jane” is a good day! Thank you for the chance to have this little treasure.
Thank you for sharing excerpts from Jane’s letter. I would enjoy having the daybook.
What an interesting letter! Her wit and the dry humor that shows through in her letter just like her books. Great start to the morning! Thanks
History is one of my favorite things. I love to know what the time period was really like. It certainly helps when we read books from certain time periods.
If only all Christmas letters had Jane’s snarkiness!
Letter writing is such a lost art.
What fun! The illustrations on the cover are just beautiful!
Love Jane’s wit!
Thanks for the lovely giveaway!
I recently watched a YouTube video about JA’s life and that of her siblings. I loved this little reference to her brother. The book sounds beautiful. I’ll have to look it up. Thanks, jen
I have the book “The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen” and it always brightens my day to just pick it up and read a bit when I’m having a bad one. I always love to hear about Christmases, especially Jane’s. So much fun. I guess it’s just as well that we don’t have nearly the dances that they did then, as I’m a terrible dancer. LOL
I was so happy to read your comment. I had no idea there was such a book, and I just ordered it from Amazon along with the Wicked Wit Of Winston Churchill, who is another long time favorite. I suspect those two will have me laughing constantly. Thank you so much for mentioning the book. I bought the Kindle version and can begin shortly. There is nothing more delightful than witty snark.
So glad!! It’s just so fun. I may have to go find Mr. Churchill now…I hadn’t seen that one!
What a delightful post. While it seems as though Jane had a quiet Christmas, when I think on it she must have been rather busy. Preparing for a dance and then dancing all night would be exhausting I would imagine. And then finishing a dress I’m sure would have taken a great deal of time. As to travel, while her family may have been close the travel would not have been comfortable I suspect. My how times have changed though!
Thank you so much for this glimpse of Jane’s life at Christmas!
As always I enjoy the posts. The Christmas holiday is upon us and it is nice to reflect on past customs. Have a great holiday and thank you for sharing.
What a fascinating letter that Jane wrote! I could wring Cassandra’s neck for destroying so much of Jane’s correspondence but little did she know how desperately we would love to have had them to read.
But guess the ones that are left should be enough.
That sounds so lovely. And how generous of you to give that gift at this time of the year. Happy Christmas to all.
And thank you for the chance to win this.
Wouldn’t Jane just love the ready made dresses now…I wonder if she would approve the shorter length!
Thank you for the wonderful excerpts from Jane’s letters and for the chance to win this lovely day book!
What a lovely book! I really enjoyed reading Jane’s letter.
What a delightful post! The fine art of letter writing seems to have gone sadly by the wayside. I love writing letters and often do so with an oak stylus hand-turned by my talented husband and a fine-tipped brass nib and sepia ink, all on parchment-style paper. I’ve finally learned to write in straight lines and can do a creditable job of crossing…not that it’s needed now, but it is still a nice skill to have. 🙂
I think that one of my New Year’s resolutions is to write at least one fine, handwritten letter per month. I’d like to commit to weekly letters, but I doubt I could keep that commitment with my current teaching load.
Thanks for these lovely insights into Jane’s letters and how the Austen family kept Christmas. And how amazing is it for you to personally know Jane’s descendants! So impressive. 🙂
With Advent blessings,
Susanne 🙂
Author
Susanne, you are the winner of my giveaway, the Jane Austen Day Book. Your comment was so interesting and I think you are someone who’d really enjoy having the book. Will you please email me with the address where I may send it? My email address is birchalls@aol.com
Thanks, and I hope you enjoy the book!
Diana
Thank you so much foe sharing Jane’s letter to her sister with us. Christmas was quiet back then and no commercialization. I seems to have been a time to be with family.
I certainly havd to read Jane’s letters one day! 🙁
You captured the feeling of this season so very well with your post on Jane’s letter. I always look forward to your very fine writing.
Sounds amazing!!!
Wonderful evocation of a Regency christmas. 🙂
Thank you for sharing this post to set us all in the Christmas spirit. Thank you also to all the authors who give so freely on this site.
What a fascinating time! Thank you so much for sharing the letter and so much more. I really enjoyed it, and it makes me want to read more of Jane’s life and letters, too. Thanks
Very cool!
Lovely post and a lovely giveaway.
December is a favourite of mine. My dear husband’s birthday, our dear Jane’s birthday, the Christmas season. Thanks for a chance to win this beautiful journal.
I imagined Jane wrote every chance she could and everything she wrote had meaning and she so loved her family and those she held close to her heart. You can read her closeness in all her novels as in this letter. What a lovely article and clever idea for a day book.
Thank you for the chance to enter
Merry Christmas and A Blessed New Year to All!
I love the fact that Jane was such a faithful correspondent. We learn so much about the world she lived in through her personal narration in her letters. I long for a Christmas that was so much more laidback and reflective rather than the commercial chaos we now have. Jane’s Christmas sounds lovely. Dances with handsome men and dinner with friends. What more can you ask for?!!!
It would make a lovely gift. Thanks for offering it.
This beautiful post and giveaway resonates with me greatly since I was correspondent when I was younger. Staying in touch with family and friends was what I loved and this method was the only one at that time. Thanks for this lovely giveaway and special feature.
December is very meaningful for me since it is my birthday as well as my sons and one born on my birthday. This fascinating and delightful gift is ideal and unique. Many thanks for this interesting post.
What a captivating and inspiring post. I enjoyed it so much. Jane’s letter is a treasure. Thank you for this wonderful day.
What a sweet idea, I’m sure the book is a treasure.
Author
Thanks, everyone, for such wonderful comments, and Merry Christmas too! I am sorry I can’t reply individually, but you don’t want to hear about my computer dilemma – well, OK, briefly, Word Press thinks my whole internet server is a robot and I have to go over to my son’s house to even SEE the Austen Variations site! That’s dedication, folks! But it’s worth it, of course.
Susanne Barrett is the winner of the giveaway of the Jane Austen Daybook, and if she’ll send me her mailing address, to birchalls@aol.com, I will get it to her. Congratulations Susanne!
And happy holidays to all.
Diana Birchall
What a charming glimpse of the holiday season!
Oh, I would love a daybook, never had one before.
Happy Holidays!!
Wonderful post!
Such a fun snip bit into her life back then. Thanks for sharing and for the giveaway.
Oh how I miss the thrill of getting letters during my childhood. This post was delightful.
Thank you for the post. What a beautiful book! I love such little trinkets.
Using the beautiful day book would bring back the art of writing rather than using an iPhone. I feel so much more connected to one’s agenda when one writes it down. Thank you for the giveaway.
Why is it I always come across wonderfully entertaining blogs with exciting giveaways when it’s too late…haha! I have been so busy immersing myself in Jane Austen and finding as many Christmas references as I can, I missed a real treasure right under my nose. I did get quite a few Jane Austen gifts for Christmas but wasn’t aware of this edition. Luckily, I have a birthday coming up in a few weeks so it will go onto my wish it. How interesting that it was compiled by Joan Austen Leigh’s daughter. Last year I read her brilliant and very clever books, Mrs Goddard, Mistress of a School and Later Days At Highbury, fictional spin offs of Emma and they were so enjoyable. I’m also lucky enough to have a copy of the later signed by the author. What a treasure to discover James Edward Austen Leigh’s scrap book. Imagine having Jane Austen’s desk in the family.
On the surface, there seems to be precious little mention of Christmas in Jane’s novels so we treasure every reference but there is a sprinkling of references to Christmas like a light fall of snow, in several of her novels. My wish is that she had talked about it in more detail but, of course, Christmas wasn’t celebrated so much in Jane’s era so, we use our imaginations to pad out what the chattering girls were doing whilst cutting up silk and gold paper in Persuasion and our senses to evoke the wonderful pies and other gastronomic delights that were causing the tables to buckle. Caroline Bingley refers to the extra gaieties the Christmas season brings in Pride and Prejudice when she rather spitefully wishes Jane many beaux and Emma positively oozes with events happening around Christmas ( well positively oozing in comparison to the other novels…haha) a favourite quotation here being: At Christmas everybody invites their friends about them and people think little of even the worse weather. Mary Crawford eagerly tries to find out from Fanny if it is the Christmas gaieties that keep Edmund away in Mansfield Park and we are told in Sense and Sensibility that the Miss Steeles were prevailed on to stay nearly two months at the Park to help in the celebrations ‘of that festival which requires a more than an ordinary share of private balls and large dinner parties to proclaim it’s importance’. Is this a clue as to what Christmas meant to Jane Austen, I wonder?
Yes, there are incidents in all the novels where the word Christmas appears but sadly, except in Emma, little actual Christmas activities ever take place.
Author
There, now, Angela Sweby, you’ve written a very nice Christmas post yourself – though in January! I like your phrase “there is a sprinking of references to Christmas like a light fall of snow, in several of her novels.” Yes, exactly! Best wishes, Diana