Diary that could have been written by Jane Austen revealed

By Dean Murray via SWNS

A diary that could have been written by Jane Austen has been revealed.

The writings, recording the experiences of a York woman in the early 1800s, have now been published nearly 30 years after they were accidentally discovered.

Jane Ewbank, born in 1778, was the daughter of George Ewbank, a well-known druggist and banker in York, England, who lived and had his shop on Castlegate in the City Centre. She died at just 46 in 1824.

The diary, published in digital form, consists of around 34,000 words recorded between 1803 and 1805, including details of Jane's life in York and her travels in the Lake District and North Yorkshire. It details a keen interest in science, theatre, concerts, and the natural world of the time.

Similarly, Jane Austen's works were set against the background of daily life during the Georgian era, albeit focusing on the gentry.

The diary was discovered accidentally in the National Library of Scotland by Dr. Jane Rendall, a former member of the Department of History at the University of York, now associated with the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies.

The diary, which will now be the focus of an academic conference, demonstrates that Jane had an active social life, frequently attending plays at York Theatre Royal, concerts in the Assembly Rooms and many lectures on science.

It stands as a unique illustration of what life was like in York for a woman during the Napoleonic Wars.

Whimsical entries, published as they written, include: "Before breakfast, I sauntered out with Mr Wilson, we went thro' the village & turn'd up by some little bye paths, every step we took seem'd to present us with new and charming prospects."

While, elsewhere, Jane is not impressed by a visit to an opera: "Went to the Play. It was the Wife of two Husbands. This is a species of Play somewhat new, at least to me; being a serious English Opera. The plot is really interesting, & on that account one is but the more shocked at the monstrous absurdity of the singing…"

Rendall said: “I found the diary of Jane Ewbank in the 1990s totally by chance when I was working on women writers in eighteenth-century Scotland. When I read it, I was totally fascinated, because I realized how much light it threw on the life of a York woman from this time in history.

“Over the years, I have passed it to several students writing theses on York women's history. I had always hoped to publish the diary, so I am thrilled that it is now widely available for others to read and enjoy and for the diary to be the focus of a conference.”

A conference will bring together scholars in women’s history, the history of science, literature, theatrical performance, music and historical archaeology from across the UK and the US, to contextualize and analyze the diary.

Co-organised by Rendall, on behalf of the Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies, which is based at King’s Manor in the centre of York, speakers include a historical archaeologist of York, historians of science, literary specialists, and historians of eighteenth-century theatre and music.

The conference, "Science, Gender and Sociability in a Northern City c. 1775-1820," supported by the University of York, will take place from 8-10th June, and is also supported by the Modern Humanities Research Association, the British Society for the History of Science, the Yorkshire Philosophical Society and the York Georgian Society.

Jane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century.