Homes of Jane Austen Tea Talk: Another delightful day at the office for BTS with the best of company!

The Jane Austen House in Chawton, one of the Austen homes in Hampshire, England.

We were back in the "office" last week, presenting Homes of Jane Austen, to a wonderful women's group at a local restaurant. Though the venue is well known for its signature wines, Friday afternoon, tea was the beverage of choice for the amazing ladies who filled its cozy, private dining space.

While we've presented many an Austentacious tea talk throughout the years, for this organization's local chapter -  many who trace their ancestors to England  - a request was made for our Austen presentation, but with a focus on the areas Jane lived. 

Getting ready for another day at the office with the best of company!

In our half a dozen trips to England in the past twenty years, we've made a point to always include a Jane Austen-themed side trip, be it where she shopped for tea in London, country estates that inspired her novels or homes she lived in. With the latter, we took it a step further, actually staying at one of the townhouses Jane lived in with her family when they first moved to Bath. 

Our Homes of Jane Austen starts in Hampshire from Southampton to Winchester, moving west to Bath and north to Chesire. A few Austen-adjacent and Austen-adjacent-adjacent estates were added to round out the regional representation of England. We've personally visited all the shops and homes shown in our slides, although we've only slept over at No. 4 Sydney Place.

Chris tracing his family roots to an Austen-adjacent-adjacent village.

We also share a bit of our own ancestral search in Yorkshire where my husband, Chris, could trace family roots from the 17th century. Though a bit out of Austen-land, it's the site of a grand residence once the home of Princess Mary and a filming site of Downton Abbey. (That's one of the multiple "adjacent's").

We loved our day in the workspace, outfitted with fancy teacups and chintz teapots filled with beautiful floral bouquets. We also much appreciated our take-home bonus: one aforementioned bouquet and a generous slice of chocolate cake. 

Bonus: aside from best company, lunch, flowers & cake.

A truly incredible afternoon in "good the best company". 

Persuasion's Anne Elliot defines "good company" as a "fellowship of clever, well-informed people who have a great deal of conversation and a liberality of ideas".  However, she is quickly corrected by her cousin, who proclaims "that is not good company, that is the best".

More tea talks scheduled for 2026 including A Jane Austen Christmas this December. We're happy to customize any of our BTS programs for your group. Check out our BTS website, barbsteaservice.com, for a list of current programs.