A revived Jane Austen family Christmas tradition
Austen fans support Jane's family to revive a lost Christmas tradition
Growing up at Chawton House on my family’s ancestral estate where my 5th great aunt Jane Austen lived and wrote, I loved our old family traditions, particularly at Christmas.
One tradition is to put holly in the hand of the marble effigy of Sir Richard Knight, that has reclined on a mantle at the back of Chawton church since 1679.
Jane Austen moved to Chawton in 1809 when her brother, Edward (my fourth great grandfather), inherited Chawton from the Knight family, on the condition he changed his name to Knight.
Jane would have known Sir Richard as well as I do, from family stories, our archives, portraits and his reclining statue in the church. Richard is the only ‘Sir’ in the Knight family, and his importance in our family history is palpable.
This is the story of why we put holly in Sir Richard’s hand every Christmas, why this tradition lost and how this wonderful family tradition has been revived by the worldwide Jane Austen community.
The church is a minute walk from Chawton House, halfway up the driveway on the right-hand side. As a child living at Chawton House, I often used to go into the church when it was empty. I liked the peace and quiet and loved to read the inscriptions and plaques dedicated to the Knights and the Austens in the church—records of the centuries of our ancestors in Chawton.
At the very back of the church, on the right wall of the chancel, Sir Richard Knight reclines in marble. He was installed three centuries ago on what looks like the mantelpiece of a grand fireplace.
The marble behind Sir Richard is carved in relief with suits of armour, swords and helmets, and he is in battle dress with a wig like the judge. The monument is finished at the top with the Knight coat of arms, crest and motto.
The date ‘1679’ marked his death and was, as a child, all I could make out from the Latin inscription below the mantel. The Knight arms are featured in the stained-glass window next to Sir Richard on the back wall of the chancel.
In 1644, when Sir Richard was five years old, Christmas was banned.
Oliver Cromwell enforced an Act of Parliament which banned Christmas celebrations in England, as it was considered a wasteful festival that threatened core Christian beliefs. The ban was not lifted until Sir Richard was twenty-one, although many people had continued to celebrate Christmas in secret.
It was a family tradition to place a sprig of holly in the hand of his statue in December every year—to ensure Sir Richard didn’t miss out on any more Christmases.
The death of my grandfather (Edward Knight III, great great grandson of Edward Austen) in 1987, spelled the end of Chawton House as the family home of Edward Austen’s descendants, the Knight family. We left at the end of 1988 and, during this very difficult time in my family’s history, our traditions were forgotten – including Sir Richard’s Christmas.
That was until 16th December 2015 when Rita L Watts (the woman behind the popular Facebook group Austen Without Prejudice) visited Chawton from the US, with author Cassandra Grafton, for Jane Austen’s birthday. I knew them both virtually and had messaged about this lost family tradition. I awoke the next morning (in Melbourne where I now live) to photographs of Sir Richard with holly in his hand! My heart sang and I jumped for joy – it meant so much to me that Sir Richard didn’t miss Christmas.
Every year since, a Jane Austen lover or a member of my family has put holly in Sir Richard’s hand for me and this tradition has been reinstated. Zoe Wheddon, Austen family historian and author of ‘Jane Austen’s Best Friend’ about Jane’s relationship with Martha Lloyd, and ‘Daddy’s Girl’ about the influence of George Austen, put holly in Sir Richard’s hand in 2016.
Last year, Julie Bunker from Australia visited early in December and met my father, Jeremy Knight. Dad helped Julie find some holly (knowing where it grows) and sent me this photo:
My niece Millie (Jane Austen’s 6th great niece), her husband Jai and her daughter Pea (Jane’s 7th great niece), have moved into a cottage in the grounds of Chawton House (VERY exciting to see Edward Austen’s descendants living in the grounds once more, even if not in the main house), and went to the church last week to check. Sir Richard already had holly in his hand and this year someone had added some festive red twigs in front of him.
It is music to my ears that Sir Richard already had his holly; word has spread, and I am hopeful the tradition will live on.
I wonder if Jane put holly in Sir Richard’s hand when she lived in Chawton, or if it was another member of the family? We will never know.
I hope you have enjoyed this Christmas tale.
Tomorrow, I will share our very special family Christmas Eve traditions, in the Great Hall at Chawton House.
© Caroline Jane Knight