19 Facts About Charles Austen

Rear Admiral Charles John Austen CB was an officer in the Royal Navy and the youngest brother of novelist Jane Austen.

Charles Austen served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and beyond, eventually rising to the rank of rear-admiral.

Charles Austen was aboard Scorpion long enough to be present at the capture of the Dutch brig Courier, after which he transferred to HMS Tamar.

Aboard Tamar, Charles Austen was frequently involved in attacks and engagements with gunboats and privateers out of Algeciras.

Charles Austen kept control of her until the following day when Endymion could complete the capture.

Charles Austen spent the next five years serving on the North American Station, based at St George's Town, at the East End of the developing Imperial fortress of Bermuda, in British North America.

Charles Austen was promoted to Commander and given command of HMS Indian, a sloop newly built in Bermuda.

Charles Austen successfully captured two pirate vessels in the port of Pavos, but disaster struck when the Phoenix was wrecked off Smyrna on 20 February 1816, through the ignorance of her pilots.

Charles Austen was active in combating the slave trade and had considerable success, intercepting a number of slave ships bound for the United States and the Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Charles Austen commanded the Aurora for two and a half years, until she was paid off in December 1828.

Charles Austen remained here until being forced to be invalided home after a severe accident in December 1830.

Charles Austen recovered and returned to service, being appointed to HMS Bellerophon on 14 April 1838.

Charles Austen was awarded a pension on 28 August 1840.

Charles Austen sailed with the Bellerophon to the Mediterranean, and was active at the bombardment of Acre on 3 November 1840.

Charles Austen was advanced to rear-admiral on 9 November 1846, and was appointed commander-in-chief in the East Indies and China Station on 14 January 1850, hoisting his flag the following day.

Charles Austen commanded the British expedition during the Second Anglo-Burmese War but died of cholera at Prome on 7 October 1852, at the age of 73.

On 30 April 1852 Charles Austen had been thanked for his services in Burma by the Governor-General of India, The Marquess of Dalhousie, who subsequently formally recorded his regret for Charles Austen's death.

Charles Austen married Frances Palmer, the youngest daughter of the late Attorney General of Bermuda, in 1807.

Charles Austen was close to his elder sister Jane, and is said to have offered naval vocabulary to help her revise the second edition of Mansfield Park.