Kintbury
st. mary the virgin church
The village of Kintbury was home to the Fowle family.
Reverend Thomas Fowle was rector of St Mary's Church from 1762 until 1798, having taken over from his father who was the previous incumbent.
His eldest son, Fulwar Craven Fowle then took up the living in 1798 when his mother died, bringing his wife and young family to live with his father in his childhood home.
All of the four Fowle boys who studied at Steventon School under Mr Austen were born and raised in Kintbury.
Photo: St. Mary the Virgin Church, Kintbury, Berkshire.
Photos: St. Mary the Virgin Church, Kintbury, Berkshire
Inside the church is a family vault for the Raymond family.
The set of two figures here depict Elizabeth Raymond and her husband, Jemmet. Elizabeth Raymond was the mother of Mrs Martha Lloyd and Mrs Jane Fowle, and Mr Jemmet Raymond was their step-father.
Photo: St. Mary the Virgin Church, Kintbury, Berkshire
Fulwar-Craven Fowle was the first of the boys to go to school in Steventon in 1778.
The next eldest, Tom Fowle, followed a year later in 1779.
William was next in 1782, finally followed by Charles in 1783.
James Austen visited Kintbury in 1781 where he was inspired to wrote his poem, 'An Elegy, written at Kintbury Berks addressed to F.C.F.'
This poem, along with all of James Austen's other works, is available in the book, 'The Complete Poems of James Austen: Jane Austen's Eldest Brother' published by the Jane Austen Society, Chawton, 2003. A link to the website for more details can be found here.
Photos: St. Mary's Church, Kintbury, Berkshire.
Cassandra came to stay with the Fowle family in Kintbury for the winter season 1795-96. She was engaged to Tom Fowle, and was spending time with him before he sailed off to the West Indies as Private Chaplain to Lord Craven on January 10th, 1796.
Tragically, Tom Fowle died of yellow fever whilst he was out there, on 13th February 1797 in Martinique. Mrs Jane Fowle died a year later, at her home in Kintbury, in June 1798.
Cassandra Austen remained close to the Fowle family throughout her life and often stayed with Fulwar and Eliza Fowle. After leaving Steventon, Mr Austen also came for a stay in Kintbury to catch up with his old university friend and chaperone Cassandra to her new home in Bath.
William Fowle studied medicine after completing his education in Steventon and, after marrying and serving as a doctor in Wiltshire, he joined the army and went to Egypt as a medic.
Charles Fowle studied law and was called to the Bar in London in November 1800.
Photos: Memorials to Fulwar and Eliza Fowle and their daughters, in St. Mary's Church, Kintbury.
You can find many interesting articles about Kintbury's links to the Austen, Fowle and Lloyd families on the Kintbury and Beyond website here.
If you would like to learn more about the history of Kintbury there is a wealth of information on the British History Online website. You can access this information here.
St. Mary's Church,hamstead marshall
Photos: St. Mary's Church, Hamstead Marshall, Berkshire
St. Mary's is a handsome, rural church and was the second living of Reverend Thomas Fowle, which he held from 1771 to 1806, although in reality, Fulwar Fowle took over the curacy there in December 1786.
It would have been a prestigious living to hold as this was the parish of Lord Craven and his many aristocratic guests would have worshipped there when they visited him.
Photos: St. Mary's Church, Hamstead Marshall, Berkshire.
If you would like to find out more about the village of Hamstead Marshall, you can access the very informative website of hamsteadmarshall.net. Click here to visit the site.
kintbury extract
If you would like to read an extract from The Austens of Steventon, where events take place in Kintbury, click here.
REFERENCES
1. Austen-Leigh W., Austen-Leigh R.A. and Le Faye D. (1989) Jane Austen: A Family Record. London: The British Library, pp.39-40.
2. Elizabeth Staples, “the cruel Mrs Craven”, (2019) in elizabethberkleycravenblogspot.com Available at: https://elizabethberkeleycraven.blogspot.com/2019/06/elizabeth-staples-cruel-mrs-craven.html
3. Fowle, M. (2021) 'The Death of Tom Fowle' in 'The Jane Austen Society Report for 2021'. The Jane Austen Society. pp.49-51.
4. Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1777-78 : 1778 , in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 71.
5. Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1778-79 : ‘1779’ , in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 73
6. Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1795-6: December 28, Monday', in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.179.
7. Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1796: January 10, Sunday', in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.180.
8. Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1798: June' & '1798', in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.209 & 203.
9. Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1800: 1800:Devizes', in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.233.
10. Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1800: November 18, Tuesday', in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.246.
11. Le Faye, D. (2013) ‘1801: May 22, Friday' & 'May 30, Saturday', in A Chronology of Jane Austen and her Family 1600-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 258 & 259.
12. Robinson Walker, L. (2005) ‘Servants, sons and students’ in ‘Why was Jane Austen Sent away to School at Seven?’ in PERSUASIONS ON-LINE, V.26, No.1 (Winter 2005) – A Publication of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Available at: https://jasna.org/persuasions/on-line/vol26no1/walker.htm
13. The Craven Family of Hamstead Marshall, Enborne, Berkshire (2017) in elizabethberkleycravenblogspot.com Available at: https://elizabethberkeleycraven.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-craven-family-of-hampstead-marshall.html.
14. The Clergy Database (2023) ‘Fowle, Fulwar Craven (1786-1798)’ Available at: https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/persons/DisplayPerson.jsp?PersonID=92400
15. The Clergy Database (2023) ‘Fowle, Thomas (1761-1806)’ Available at: https://theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/persons/DisplayPerson.jsp?PersonID=92700