Throughout her life, rumours circulated in India and England that she was the mistress of Warren Hastings, who was the godfather and suspected father of her daughter, Eliza de Feuillide.

[1] Left orphaned, the Austen children were sent to live with relatives and were financially cared for by a trust their father had set up.

[1] She completed her apprenticeship but, as she had no substantial dowry, she decided to focus on marrying a wealthy husband.

[1] Her uncle served as a financial agent to Tysoe Saul Hancock, a respectable surgeon and member of the East India Company.

[1] She set sail for Madras in British India on 18 January 1752 aboard HMS Bombay Castle, with expectations of marriage.

[1] In 1765, the Hancocks returned to England aboard HMS Medway, accompanied by their Indian servants: Dido, Diana, Silima, and Clarinda.

[1][5] Philadelphia's daughter received an annual income of £700 a year from a £10,000 trust set up by Hastings, which provided for the family.

[1] Hancock's connections in Parisian high society led to the marriage of her daughter to Jean Capot, Comte de Feuillide in 1781.