Elizabeth Hancock

A few years ago, I took a graduate seminar on Jane Austen's novels. As I was reading several biographies of her life, one family member, in particular, stood out: Elizabeth Hancock.

Elizabeth Hancock was a key figure in Jane Austen's life. Born in 1761, she was one of Austen's favorite (and certainly most glamorous) cousins. Over the past ten years, Elizabeth has gained more recognition as Deirdre le Faye published a biography of her in 2002. In 2010, Jill Pitkeathley published a fictional account of Elizabeth's life, entitled Dearest Cousin Jane. Claire Tomalin also devotes a number of pages to Elizabeth and her mother, Philadelphia, in Jane Austen: A Life (I highly recommend this book, which will appeal both to scholars and casual readers).

From the beginning of her life, Eliza, as she was known by her family, was associated with controversy. Some debate rages over whether Eliza was the product of an adulterous relationship between her mother and Warren Hastings, her godfather. In 1779, Eliza married the French count Jean-Francois Capot de Feuillide. Eliza was able to escape France before the worst atrocities of the French Revolution emerged, but her husband was not so lucky and was guillotined in 1794.

Eliza and her mother settled in England during the mid 1790s, and Eliza ultimately married Jane's brother, Henry.