There is a particular connection in Halifax to Jane Austen, as both of her brothers, Francis and Charles were in the Royal Navy and lived in Halifax.  Francis, as Vice-Admiral (1845 -1848) and Charles as Captain (1805-1810). They would have resided in Admiralty House and worked in The Royal Naval Dockyard, which was also referred to as “The King’s Yard” – which are both functioning as part of today’s Canadian Forces Base Halifax.  The Austens would have also attended receptions at Government House,  the residence of the Lieutenant-Governor, the British Monarch’s representative in Nova Scotia.  The Georgian-styled Government House,  is still home to the current British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in Nova Scotia 

 In Deirdre LeFay’s Collection of Jane Austen’s Letters (2003),  two of Jane Austen’s letters to her sister Cassandra, specifically mentioned “Halifax”.  On April 11, 1805, she noted: “To the former[Charles] I wrote in consequence of my Mother’s having seen in the papers that The Urania was waiting in Portmouth for a convoy to Halifax”… 

On April 25, 1811, she wrote, “This said Captain Sampson told us, on the authority of some other Captain just arrived from Halifax, that Charles was bringing The Cleopatra home, and that she was probably by this time in the Channel.”

Please enjoy your time with us and stop by for a “virtual cup of afternoon tea”, which is such a very British and a Maritime tradition!