36 free quilt blocks, one a week with a guide to Jane Austen's England and posts about the people in her life.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Block 10: Good Fortune for Edward Austen Knight

Block 10: Good Fortune by Becky Brown
 for Edward Austen Knight

Edward Austen (1768-1852) Jane's brother, 
who later took the name Knight to inherit his father's cousin's estate. 
Portrait by Ozias Humphrey.

Jane’s brother Edward led a charmed life with a central plot twist popular in 19th-century novels.

The story begins with his father’s patron Thomas Knight, who left his estate to his son Thomas II. This distant cousin brought his new wife Catherine to visit the Austens. The Knights took a liking to 12-year-old Edward and he continued on the honeymoon trip, later visiting their estate Godmersham. A few years later, the childless Knights adopted Edward as their heir and he moved permanently to their manor house.

Godmersham Park in Kent

Silhouette by William Wellings

The double-family portrait was commissioned by 
Thomas Knight II in 1783 to commemorate 
George Austen (left) handing Edward to 
Catherine Knight (center) and Thomas (right.)
 Jane was about eight when her brother left.

When Edward was in his mid-twenties his adoptive father died. Three years later in 1797; Catherine Knatchbull Knight generously turned over the three estates and much of the fortune to Edward. He was also generous with his good fortune, providing an income for his widowed mother’s household and eventually giving them a brick cottage on the Chawton estate.

 Edward's three estates were Godmersham Park, Steventon and Chawton House.


The most impressive house, Godmersham Park in Kent

Sketch from memory by Julia LeFroy
Edward had the house demolished after flooding in 1823.

Steventon in Hampshire, the village and the parsonage where
the Austen family lived,

And his lesser manor house, Chawton House in Hampshire,

Plus the lands and the rents from the tenant farmers and villagers.

Good Fortune by Bettina Havig

Edward married the Hon. Elizabeth Bridges, daughter of Sir Brook William Bridges, 3rd Baronet of Goodnestone. In 1808 Elizabeth died after the birth of her eleventh child. Edward enlisted his sisters and mother to help him raise his children and Jane and Cassandra spent much time with Edward’s family. Edward outlived both his sisters, dying at 85 in 1852.

Good Fortune by Becky Brown


BlockBase #1184

Good Fortune was given the name by Clara Stone who published a pattern catalog in Massachusetts about 1910.



Cutting a 12" Finished Block

A - Cut 4 squares 2-7/8" x 2-7/8" Cut each in half diagonally to make 2 triangles.

 You need 8 triangles.

 B - Cut 4 squares 4-7/8" x 4-7/8". Cut each in half diagonally to make 2 triangles.


 You need 8 of the larger triangles.

C - Cut 4  rectangles 3-3/8" x 6-1/8".

Sewing:


Good Fortune by Georgann Eglinski

Good Fortune by Dustin Cecil

3 comments:

  1. Re Edward ' s good fortune, truth is stranger than fiction. The fortuitous bestowal of great wealth could have been a recipe for dissolution and disaster. It seems in real life, it all worked out perfectly and Edward never forgot his humbler roots. Fascinating.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good fortune for sure! But: "eleventh child" !!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A number of factual, historical, grammatical AND quilting related mistakes, along with romantic assumptions, creates distrust to the entire content of the blog that otherwise could be a joy to immerse into.

    ''The Knights took a liking to 12-year-old Edward and he continued on the honeymoon trip...''

    Not proofread, written willy-nilly in an incongruous manner - all point to the lack of interest in the subject and competence

    ReplyDelete