William Austen ca.1704-1742

William AUSTEN ca.1704-1742

William Austen's bookplate (British Museum Franks Collection 986)

Biographical Note

Son of Robert Austen, of Hernden, Kent, from whom he inherited the family estates in 1728. Little else is known of his life.

Books

Austen used an engraved armorial bookplate, Franks 986; the extent of his library is not known. His will has no specific mention of books; all his household goods, together with the rest of the Hernden estate, was bequeathed to his cousin Richard Righton.

Sources

• Will of William Austen, The National Archives PROB 11/730/15.
• Landed families of Britain and Ireland.
• Gambier Howe, E. R. J. Franks bequest: catalogue of British and American book plates bequeathed to the ... British Museum. London, 1903.