Charles Austen

Rear Admiral Charles John Austen CB (23 June 1779 – 7 October 1852) was an officer in the Royal Navy and the youngest brother of novelist Jane Austen. He served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and beyond, eventually rising to the rank of rear-admiral. Family and early life Charles was born in 1779 as the sixth and youngest son of the Reverend George Austen and his wife, Cassandra Leigh. His elder brother, Sir Francis Austen, also joined the Navy, and eventually became Admiral of the Fleet. Charles joined the Royal Naval Academy in July 1791, and by September 1794, he had become midshipman aboard . He subsequently served aboard and . While serving aboard the Unicorn, Austen assisted in the capture of the 18-gun Dutch brig Comet, the 44-gun French frigate Tribune, and the French transport ship Ville de l'Orient. After transferring to Endymion he helped in the driving into Hellevoetsluis of the Dutch ship of the line Brutus. As a result of the latter action Austen was promoted to lieutenant on 13 December 1797, and appointed to HMS Scorpion. He was aboard Scorpion long enough to be present at the capture of the Dutch brig Courier, after which he transferred to HMS Tamar. Aboard Tamar, Austen was frequently involved in attacks and engagements with gunboats and privateers out of Algeciras. He returned to the Endymion in April 1800. On one occasion he set off in a small boat in a gale with only four other men, and succeeded in boarding and taking possession of the 18-gun Scipio, with 149 men aboard. He kept control of her until the following day when Endymion could complete the capture. After his continued good service under Captain Charles Paget, the Admiralty promoted Austen to commander and he took command of the sloop on 10 October 1804. Command Austen spent the next five years serving on the North American Station, based at St. George's Town, at the East End of the developing Imperial fortress of Bermuda (where the Royal Naval Dockyard had yet to be completed at the West End), in British North America. He was promoted to Commander and given command of HMS Indian, a sloop newly built in Bermuda (when ashore, he lived at Alnwick, near to Convict Bay and St. George's Garrison). He was promoted to captain on 10 May 1810 when he was given command of the 74-gun , which was then the flagship of Sir John Borlase Warren. Austen moved again the following September, joining .