Philadelphia Austen Hancock
Philadelphia Austen Hancock (15 May 1730 – 26 February 1792) was an English socialite and the aunt of Jane Austen. Born into the gentry, she was the daughter of surgeon William Austen and Rebecca Hampson Walter. Her mother died in 1733 and her father in 1737, leaving her orphaned. She lived with relatives and was supported by a trust.
In 1745 she trained as a milliner in Covent Garden, but she hoped to marry a wealthy husband. Her uncle helped her connect with Tysoe Saul Hancock, a surgeon with the East India Company. She sailed to India in 1752 and married Hancock in 1753 in Cuddalore. They lived at Fort St. David and later Calcutta.
In India she befriended Warren Hastings, who would later become a powerful official. After Hastings's wife died, Hancock helped care for his children. Hastings gave her a rosewood writing desk as thanks. In 1761 Hancock had a daughter, Eliza, named after Hastings's stillborn daughter. There were rumors that Hastings was the father, though this was never proven. Hastings was the godfather of Eliza.
The Hancocks returned to England in 1765. Financial trouble followed. Tysoe Hancock returned to India and died in 1775. Eliza received an annual income from a £10,000 trust Hastings had set up for her.
Philadelphia traveled in Europe in 1777 to find a finishing school for Eliza. They visited Germany and Belgium, and settled in Paris in 1779. There they met members of Parisian high society. Eliza later married Jean Capot, Comte de Feuillide, in 1781. Philadelphia lived with her daughter in France for a time before returning to England during the French Revolution.
Philadelphia Hancock died of breast cancer in 1792 and is buried at St John-at-Hampstead in London.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:20 (CET).