Katherine Austen

For the fictional character of the same name, see Kate Austen (Lost).

Katherine Austen (1629 – ca. 1683) was a British diarist and poet best known for Book M, her manuscript collection of meditations, journal entries, and verse.

Early life

Austen was born in London, one of seven children, to Katherine Wilson (d. 1648) and her husband Robert (d. 1639), a draper. She married Thomas Austen (1622–1658), a barrister, in 1645. After his death at the age of 36, she entered into an involved legal battle with his family in order to retain his manor in Middlesex for her three children, Thomas, Robert, and Anne.

Writings

Her manuscript of 114 folios, Book M (BL, Add. MS 4454), was written over six or seven years during her period of mourning — her "Most saddest Yeares" (60r) — and includes material on her lawsuit, interpretations of dreams (her own and others), historical commentary, prayers, letters, financial materials, and 34 verse meditations in rhyming couplets.

Later life

She declined to remarry, citing her regard for her late husband and her fears for the financial interests of her children. The date of her death is unknown but her will was proved in 1683.

Resources

• Anselment, Raymond A. "Katherine Austen and the widow's might." Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies (03/22/2005) 22 Jan. 2007.
• Ross, Sarah. “Austen , Katherine (b. 1629, d. in or before 1683).” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. 22 Jan. 2007.