Unboxing the Deirdre Le Faye Archive: A Legacy for Jane Austen’s 250th
Deirdre Le Faye was *the* authority on Jane Austen’s life, her family and the people and places she knew and knew of. In 2020, in the middle of the first lockdown, on Deirdre’s instruction, Chawton House completed the transfer of her collection and archive from her home in Portishead. It was a mammoth 150+ boxes in total, with the last two consignments packed by room as Deirdre lived within her collection (the garage was where you would find material on Hampshire, novels were in the hallway and the bookshelves in the living room lined with other Austen scholars’ work).
It contained what we expected – notes, essays and her annotated books – but as we opened boxes, there were unexpected treats like envelopes of fashion plates, maps, a pair of banknotes from Henry Austen’s bank, and pieces of copper kitchenware that are now on display in our Old Kitchen Tea Room. But there are knotty issues too: Deirdre annotated her books in red pen in her inimitable style – “rubbish” written next to a paragraph followed by her handwritten corrections – and her archive is boxes and boxes of sheets of paper, lever-arch files and notebooks all sorted by the room they were packed in rather than a subject.
It is a treasure trove unlike any other, and a powerful legacy for the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth.
Now, we need your help to unbox it.
What made Deirdre so special was that she was not precious about her knowledge: she wanted to share what she knew and discovered with others: researchers, creative writers, or Austen enthusiasts. Her editions of Jane Austen’s Collected Letters and her extraordinary Chronology of Jane Austen and Her Family (published by Cambridge University Press) have been the cornerstones of countless scholarly works, PhDs, best-selling noves and exhibitions. Her extraordinary archive tells not only Jane Austen’s story, but also the lives of her family and wider circle. It is Deirdre’s final gift to Austen enthusiasts, scholars, and writers, and it’s waiting to be shared with our audiences onsite, offsite and online.
Why we’re fundraising
We want to create a legacy of Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary by documenting this archive and collection, readying it for scholarship and display, and using our finds as inspiration for future events.
To make this archive truly usable, we need to raise the funds to cover:
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A Curator to lead the project
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Cataloguing and digitisation of materials
- Conservation of some of the more fragile items
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Resources to create public exhibitions, events, and touring displays
This project will offer opportunities for interns, so the next generation of archivists, scholars and curators can gain valuable collections experience, as well as creating new displays, collections close-ups and events using the material Deirdre left us.
Deirdre wanted her collection to be used. Help us honour her wish.
“You can promise them some amusement.”
– Deirdre Le Faye, in a final message to Chawton House
To Donate
If you are UK-based, you can make a one-off donation using your debit or credit card by filling out the form below.
If you are based in the USA, please visit the North American Friends of Chawton House website.