Jane Austen News - Issue 159

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Writing for History Extra magazine, Derek Wilson choose to explore some of the worst years in English history this week, and Austen fans may be surprised to read that one of the five worst years which Wilson chose was 1812 - the same year which saw Jane Austen putting the finishing touches to her manuscript of Pride and Prejudice. Considering how many Austen fans wish that they could have been around during her era, and how much fun many of us get from recreating Regency balls and attending Regency events, it might seem baffling that 1812 was chosen as a "worst year". Especially given that 1812 was among the likes of the year 1349, when the Black Death was rampant throughout the land, or 1937, which saw fear and extremism reigning ahead of the second World War. The reasons which Wilson put forward for 1812 being such a bad year were that;

• The Midlands and much of the North were in revolt thanks to new machines seemingly taking jobs. “Sheer insurrectionary fury has rarely been more widespread in English history,” wrote EP Thompson The Making of the English Working Class.
• In the previous year George III had finally succumbed to illness and his indolent and unpopular son was vested permanently with full regency powers in February 1812.
• The country was at war against Napoleon and his forces.
• On 11 May the prime minister, Spencer Perceval, was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons.
• On 19 June, the United States of America declared war on Britain.

Overall the country in 1812 was "a divided nation. Economic disruption was severe. The cutlers of Sheffield were working at half capacity. In Birmingham, 9,000 factory workers were laid off. There was anarchy at home and debilitating war abroad. The Government was bereft of leadership and the country was at an all-time low." That's certainly a new way of looking at the world in which Pride and Prejudice lived!