Penelope Friday on George Austen
By Emmeline Burdett and Penelope Friday A few months ago I was reading an article in Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine, that told the story of the novelist Jane Austen’s disabled brother George. I’d heard about George before: he featured in the 2007 film Becoming Jane, starring Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen, and the film suggested both that the siblings had a relatively close relationship, and that George was the reason that his sister knew sign language. More darkly, other sources have shown that George was not included in his family tree, as though he had not existed at all. The article in Jane Austen’s Regency World magazine was written by Penelope Friday, a disabled writer whose website is https://penelopefriday.com . I interviewed Penelope Friday for Public Disability History. Figure 1 - George and Jane Austen from the 2007 movie "Becoming Jane". Credit: https://janeausten.co.uk/blogs/jane-austen-life/george-austen?currency=eur . 1. What year was George Austen bor