...] I have been thinking of her brother Edward and the Knight's adoption of him. I can't help but wondering how it came about.
] It's said somewhere that the Knights came to visit Steventon after their marriage in 1779, when Mr Thomas Knight II travelled around to introduce his new wife Catherine. And that it was then they met twelve year old Edward the first time.
] They liked him and brought him with them.
] It sounds a bit unusual to bring a long the boy like that on a wedding trip.
...
I have no idea if this was a common thing? I recall that the Swedish painter Anders Zorn and his wife Emma, who were childless, used to borrow a son of his artist friend Carl Larsson. The boy's bed is still in the Zorn House. I don't know if he was ever considered for an heir. Karin and Carl Larsson had many children just like Cassandra and George Austen. Was it considered a christian thing to share the children? Or a practical thing to provide for a child by leaving him to wealthy parents?