Location
MAST Mayflower Studios

The British Association for Local History are delighted to present this conference as part of the Jane Austen 250 programme and Local and Community History Month. The programme for the day is:
9:45am – Arrival, tea and coffee
10:15am – Welcome by Paul Dryburgh, Chair, British Association for Local History
Literary Landscape
10:20am – Jane Austen & Southampton: inspiration for Northanger Abbey & Sanditon? by Dr Cheryl Butler
10:30am – Locating Pemberley: The Importance of Place in Jane Austen’s Fiction by Dr Gillian Dow
11:10am – Muddy Petticoats and Parasols: Uncovering Jane Austen’s experience of walking by Nicola Pritchard-Pink
12:15pm – Lunch
Jane Austen Dramatized
1:15pm – The Nighttime Economy – The French Street Theatre & The Fitzhughs by Dr Cheryl Butler
1:25pm – Dramatizing Jane: Sarah Siddons, Austen’s Favourite Actress by Jo Willet
2:05pm – Jane Austen & Character: An Actor’s View by Angela Barlow
2:55pm – Break
Letters, Journals, Household Books and Diaries
3:05pm – The MAD letter, the Austen Household Book, and the Royal Engagements Pocket Diary by Dr Cheryl Butler
3:15pm – Keeping Ladies Pocket Diaries in the age of Austen by Holly Day
3:55pm – Southampton and the wider world: The travels of William Ridding by Dr John McAleer
4.45 Closing remarks by Paul Dryburgh
Following the conference there will be an optional private viewing of the ‘A Very Respectable Company’ exhibition at the SeaCity Museum between 5pm-6pm. The exhibition includes items loaned from descendants’ family archives, providing new and largely unseen material linked to Austen and her networks, including the Austen Family Household Book.
For more information and to register, please visit: https://www.balh.org.uk/event-balh-placing-jane-national-figures-local-context-2025-05-03