Her eldest brother James was ordained to the priesthood and served in the parish of Steventon towards the end of his life.
The second brother - George - was disabled and possibly deaf from birth and did not live with his family in Steventon.
Edward - the third brother - was adopted by Austen's cousins Thomas and Catherine Knight and inherited a substantial estate in the county of Kent. Jane Austen was friends with his eldest daughter - Fanny Knight.
The fourth brother - Henry - was Jane's favorite. He was very handsome and studied at Oxford like his eldest brother. In 1797 he married Eliza Feuillide, ten years older than himself, a cousin of the Austens.
The two youngest brothers - Frank and Charles - joined the navy and fought in the British fleet. Jane's sister Cassandra became engaged to Thomas Fowle, who went to the Caribbean as a chaplain, where he contracted fever, from which he died. Jane had a strong emotional connection to Cassandra and maintained constant contact with her. Their letters provide a rich source of information about the writer's life.
