I had thought that it was fairly definite that Jane Austen had died of Addisons disease but this article in today’s Guardian has come up with another theory.

Whatever the cause, I just think that we were really lucky that she didn’t get married as she would probably have died much younger than she did. The mortality rate for women in childbirth or its aftermath must have been enormous.

It’s quite a long time since I read Jane Austen’s letters, but I seem to remember that at one point three of her friends died in childbirth in the same week. Enough to put anyone off.