Jane Austen: Her Life and Work Jane Austen had many influences in her life that led to the material written in her books. All of Austen's books "focus on young women in their path to marriage." (Southam, pg. 2) Jane Austen wrote on life as she knew and events that could have or did influence her. Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in Sevington, Hampshire, located in England. Her father was a Reverend for the church, while her mother was born in to an "aristocratic family." (Tucker, pg. 6) Jane was the seventh of eight children. Her five older brothers, James (1765), George (1766), Edward (1768), Hen