Q 01/05

In which English county was Jane Austen born in December 1775?

A) Somerset

B) Hampshire

C) Sussex

D) Dorset

Answer · why

B) Hampshire

She was born at the rectory in Steventon, a village of a few hundred people in north Hampshire, and lived there until she was 25.

Q 02/05

What was the occupation of Jane Austen's father, George Austen?

A) Country solicitor

B) Naval officer

C) Wool merchant

D) Anglican rector

Answer · why

D) Anglican rector

He supplemented a modest clerical income by farming and by taking in three or four boys at a time as boarding pupils.

Q 03/05

Jane Austen was one of how many children in her family?

A) 8

B) 7

C) 5

D) 6

Answer · why

A) 8

Six of the eight were boys; Jane and her elder sister were the only daughters, which is part of why the two were so close.

Q 04/05

Which sibling was Jane Austen's only sister and lifelong closest companion?

A) Eliza

B) Anna

C) Cassandra

D) Philadelphia

Answer · why

C) Cassandra

Their mother said that if Cassandra's head were going to be cut off, Jane would have hers cut off too. Cassandra is also believed to have burned most ...

Q 05/05

Which disease nearly killed the young Jane Austen in 1783 at school in Southampton?

A) Typhus

B) Scarlet fever

C) Cholera

D) Smallpox

Answer · why

A) Typhus

Both girls were sent home ill, and Jane was afterwards educated at home apart from a short spell at a boarding school in Reading.