Women's Institute's first meeting of 2017
Old Buckenham WI were pleased to
welcome Rev Jacqui Horton (the local Methodist minister) to their first meeting
of 2017. Jacqui gave a fascinating insight into the life of Jane Austen, who
died at the early age of 42 in 1817 (this year is the bi-centenary of her
death). The title of the talk was “The Trail of Jane Austen” and the speaker
traced the life of this remarkable author from her birth at Steventon (a
village in Hampshire) in 1775 until her death in Winchester in 1817. Her father
was the vicar of this village and on his retirement she, with her parents and
sister, moved to Bath and lived there for four years. After her father’s death
in 1805 she and her mother and sister moved around the country until finally
settling in the village of Chawton in Hampshire (this house now houses the Jane
Austen museum). She had already written in script form the novels of Northanger
Abbey, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility whilst living at Steventon
and the latter two books were published in 1811 and 1813 respectively. Her
other books were published posthumously. For the last two years of her life she
and her sister lived in Winchester so that she could be near to her doctor and
she died there in July 1817. She is buried in Winchester Cathedral and there is
a stained glass window in the cathedral dedicated to her memory.
Members were pleased to hear that
Alison Frank has now raised over £1,000 through the “Waste Not Want Not” table she
organises each month. This money is donated to the Associated Country Women of
the World, of which the WI is a founder member, and supports the education and
training of women in third world countries.
The next meeting is in the Village Hall
on Thursday 23 March starting at 7.30pm. The speaker will be Chris Brown and
the subject of his talk is “The Case for the Defence – life as a criminal lawyer”.
Old Buckenham WI meets on the fourth Thursday of each month and they are always
pleased to welcome new members.
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