Re-presenting the Author: Biographical Re-Inventions of Jane Austen, 1871 - 2008

Tracing the life of Jane Austen between June 1801 and September 1804 is like searching for a missing person. (David Nokes, "Jane Austen: A Life")

With this statement, Nokes expresses his frustration in having to fill in the gaps in Jane Austen’s correspondence. James’ account of the years that elapsed between leaving Steventon and settling at Chawton is very brief. He could provide only three letters for that period and recalls that the Austens first resided at No. 4 Sydney Terrace in Bath, and afterwards in Green Park Buildings. He states that the unfinished manuscript entitled The Watsons must have been written between 1801 and 1804, but does not give any evidence or information about these three years. He has some more hints from 1804 onwards and writes:
[I]n the autumn of 1804 she spent some weeks at Lyme and became quite acquainted with the Cobb, which she afterwards made memorable for the fall of Louisa Musgrove. In February 1805, her father died at Bath […] The widow and daughters went into lodgings for a few months, and then removed to Southampton. (J.E. Austen-Leigh, "Memoir", p. 59.)

From the letters written in these three years, James implies that his aunt
[…] went a good deal into society, in a quiet way, chiefly with ladies; and that her eyes were always open to minute traits of character in those with whom she associated. (J.E. Austen-Leigh, "Memoir", p. 59.)

James does not speculate excessively on what might have happened in between. He inserts the letters into the narrative to let them speak for themselves; however, there is not much to learn from them, as they are mostly about gossip and the neighbourhood. James goes on to relate briefly her father’s death and afterwards notes that the Austen women moved to Southampton.

James misremembered the time his aunt spent there: all actual reminiscences are indeed few since he was just a little boy when his aunt moved there. One of the characteristics of James’ biographical account is that of noting that his aunt’s ability to be an attentive observer was translated into her novels. For this reason he thinks that moving into a wider social scene afforded her the chance to observe carefully the traits of those who surrounded her and, later, to draw inspiration for her literary creations.