Jane Austen and the Willoughby Family

The 16th December 2025 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of the novelist Jane Austen, who was born on that day in 1775. Jane Austen had a connection to the Willoughby family of Middleton Hall and her knowledge of this connection is recognised as being evident in her novels.

Memorial to Jane Austen in Poets Corner, Westminster Abbey, 2022. Photograph by Maggie Jones, PD, via Wikimedia Commons.

Emma Barnard was the wife of Francis Willughby FRS. Her sister Elizabeth married James Brydges, 8th Baron Chandos of Sudeley. Francis and Emma’s daughter, Cassandra, married James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, who was the son of James and Elizabeth. James and Elizabeth’s daughter Mary married Theophilus Leigh. Their son, Reverend Thomas Leigh, had a daughter called Cassandra Leigh and she was Jane Austen’s mother. This means that Cassandra Willoughby was the great-great-aunt of Jane Austen.

It is known that Cassandra Willoughby spent a lot of time with her Brydges’ cousins and both Jane Austen’s sister and mother were named Cassandra in honour of her. Cassandra Willoughby also wrote an extensive account of the Willoughby family history, which has been published, and it is believed that it is this account that influenced Jane.

The primary and most obvious evidence of this influence is in Jane’s first novel Sense and Sensibility, which was published in 1811. The names of her characters in this book include most notably Willoughby, but also Lord Middleton and other names from the family heritage including Ferrers and Brandon. Some have suggested that Cassandra’s influence on Jane’s writing goes even further and that Jane gained inspiration for her characters from the stories within the documents included in Cassandra’s account of the Willoughby family history.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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