Was Jane Austen Murdered?

ABC News ^ | Nov 14 2011 | Luchina Fisher

[BlackVeil]

Nearly 200 years after Jane Austen‘s untimely death, crime novelist Lindsay Ashford has come up with a new explanation: arsenic poisoning. Austen, the English author of such classic novels as “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility,” died in 1817 at age 41. Her death has been attributed to everything from cancer to Addison’s disease. But Ashford, who moved to Austen’s village of Chawton three years ago and started writing her new crime novel in the former home of Austen’s brother, stumbled across another possibility — that Austen died of arsenic poisoning. ... Ashford recognized that Austen’s symptoms could be attributed to arsenic poisoning, which can turn patches of skin brown or black while other areas go white. Ashford then met with the former president of the Jane Austen Society of North America, who told her that the lock of Austen’s hair bought at auction in 1948 had tested positive for arsenic. The crime novelist told The Guardian newspaper that it’s highly likely Austen was given medicines containing arsenic, as was common then. ...“I don’t think murder is out of the question,” she said. “Having delved into her family background, there was a lot going on that has never been revealed and there could have been a motive for murder.” ...

[LadyDoc]

arsenic back then was a common medicine, so if the body showed arsenic it would prove nothing.

and chronic arsenic poisoning would cause some of the symptoms, but if you wanted to murder someone with arsenic, you give them a lot of it all at once.

The skin discoloration is felt to be due to Addison’s disease, which was more common in the past from adrenal tuberculosis.

The guy is just trying to sell books.

[Shimmer1]

Sumpin like dat. LOL

[BlackVeil]

Yes, I too thought of how arsenic was in many substances at that time. One would need more than a simple test for its presence, to draw any conclusions.

[martin_fierro]

(I know, not an Austen work, but you get the idea)

Season 2 in a nutshell:

"I'm dying!"

"No, I'm dying!"

"I will marry you."

"No, I will marry that other one!"

"No, I'm dying!"

there. you're welcome.

[Charles Henrickson]

Arsenic and Old Case.

[mikrofon]

the English author of such classic novels as “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility,”

"Authors and Arsenic"

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 2/09/2012. Thanks BlackVeil. Same idea has been put forth for Napoleon's death.

[mewzilla]

Interesting link from 2004 or 2005...

Jane Austen’s lifelong health problems and final illness: New evidence points to a fatal Hodgkin’s disease and excludes the widely accepted Addison’s

[SunkenCiv]

thanks mewzilla, I’d say “good update” but I think this topic is younger than your information in the first place. :’o

I Was a Regency Zombie (Jane Austen + Zombies = ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’)
New York Times | February 22, 2009 | JENNIFER SCHUESSLER
Posted on 02/23/2009 12:39:22 PM PST by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2192191/posts