A Wake for Jane Austen.

Members of JASACT met on Saturday 15^th July to commemorate the 200^th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death in the foyer of the National Library of Australia. Wine was drunk, a door prize was presented and a number of toasts to Jane Austen ensured the conviviality of the meeting.

Members had been asked to bring either an obituary, a eulogy or extracts from the novels, letters or juvenilia to read in celebration of our favourite author. The choices were varied, revealing the multi-faceted genius we all admire.

A member had recently returned from England and reported on an exhibition in Winchester, The Mysterious Miss Austen, which included five portraits together for the first time. One, in a private collection, has not been seen in public for more than 40 years. A number of pieces in Austen’s hand were on loan from the British Library; the alternative ending to Persuasion and Volume the Second of the Juvenilia.

Another member turned to D.W. Harding’s essay Regulated Hatred in her search for the real Austen. Harding argues that Austen “peppered her novels with encrypted messages” which he calls “unexpected astringencies”. They are embedded in dialogue, authorial comment and caricatures revealing a “ hatred” of aspects of the society in which she lived, expressing her feelings without offending. Harding argues that part of her aim was to find a means of spiritual survival in the era in which she lived.

Two letters were read, both written to Cassandra; the first dated Saturday 7^th January 1796 about dancing with Tom Lefroy, praised for the youthfulness of the voice and the effortless nature of the prose and the wit; the second dated Saturday 27^th October 1798, which reveals not only Austen’s acerbic wit but how much they travelled, as well as the problems her travelling mother presented.

A favourite passage from Persuasion was read:

Prettier musings of high-wrought love and eternal constancy, could never have passed along the streets of Bath, than Anne was sporting with from Camden-place to Westgate buildings. It was almost enough to spread purification and perfume all the way.

 And a playlet from the Juvenilia, ‘The Mystery’ was ‘performed’ as an example of what a ‘mad’ person Austen was.

Another member returned to her recreation of the Austen quilt to remember another facet of the author and the mathematical and creative difficulty of the task. She also expressed sadness for the potential lost as result of Austen’s early death, asking “what would she have written if she had lived on”.

A eulogy was read lamenting how little we really know about Austen because of the family’s successful efforts to conceal aspects of her character and her life. The eulogy focused on what we do know and ended with the reading of a poem written in 1806 Oh Mr Best you’re very bad, demonstrating Austen’s wicked sense of humour.

And last but not least, a member read a quote from Lord David Cecil stating that if he “were in doubt as to the wisdom of one of my actions” he wouldn’t consult Flaubert or Dostoyevsky, or trust the judgement of Tolstoy but he would “worry for weeks and weeks” if he “incurred the disapproval of Jane Austen”. She then read a “toast” to Jane Austen by Rudyard Kipling, followed by her own tribute to Austen, including “ I sit with Jane when I am feeling frail and walk with her when I’m not.” To her Austen is the “gold standard and at that, with thanks to Tina Turner, she burst into a rendition of “You’re simply the best, better than all the rest”.

The meeting ended with coffee and a quiz. All of the contributions were collected so that copies can be made to be distributed to all those present.

It was a memorable event.

Celebration Lunch (2011)

On 17th December, members met for lunch to celebrate both Jane Austen‘s birthday and ten years of JASA meetings in the ACT. One of the founding members, Jessie Terry was present, as were two other members who joined the group in 2001, Mary Collins and Sue Terry. Jessie brought the minutes of the meetings of the first year, which were read with considerable interest and much reminiscing.

The lunch was ‘progressive’ with the main course at 11 Elsey Street, Hawker, followed by dessert at 5 Dungowan Street, Hawker.

Member Anna plays Gwen Bevan's music

Members were entertained before lunch by a performance of a selection of piano pieces from ‘A Carriage Ride in Queen Square’ original compositions by Gwen Bevan, great-great-granddaughter of Jane Austen’s niece Fanny Knight. This was possibly the Australian premiere?

Jane Austen was toasted, as was Jessie Terry, and we lunched on oysters, fish, fowl, Martha Lloyd‘s chicken curry, herby suet pudding and potato and broccoli salads. A small journey down the road led to more toasts and desserts, cranberry jelly, trifle, lemon tarts and a splendid, beautifully decorated celebratory cake made by member Jenny.

It was a memorable event and not just because of the food. As Jane Austen said (through Anne Elliot),

My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.

Jenny's Splendid Celebratory Cake

How we started

Following the mention of both our names in the December 2000 Practicalities Jessie and Heather, both long-time members of JASA, met at Jessie’s home on Saturday,  21st January 2001 to share Jane-talk over a cup of tea. Jessie was deputed to contact another member, Jennifer, whose name had been mentioned in an earlier Practicalities to invite her to a second meeting held at Heather’s home on Thursday, 22nd February at 1.30 p.m.

Jennifer enthusiastically accepted and at that February meeting we had more tea and more Jane-talk – the novels and their social/historical milieu which has been the theme of most of JASACT’s meetings in the years since. Heather undertook to ask our parent group in Sydney to circularise other JASA members living in Canberra  to advise them of our next meeting held at Jessie’s home on Thursday, 29th March. At that meeting we met Mary, Tracy and Roslyn and we had  apologies  from two Jennifers and Judy.

Through family and work pressures and, in Judy’s case, a move from Canberra, not all these original members are still attending meetings but we have added new members to our ranks and we hope one day to see those of our originals who are still resident in Canberra back with us. Meanwhile we continue to discuss the novels and all things related to Our Jane – much to the puzzlement of our husbands, wives and friends. Oh, if they only knew what they are missing.