] the London bank of Austen, Maunde and Tilson in March 1816.

The name `Tilson's Bank' was ringing all sorts of bells, and with the aid of Google I've managed to track it down. Not Tilson's, but Tellson's. This was the bank in Dickens's `A Tale of Two Cities' which employed Mr Lorry. So, to speculate (do not be suspecting me of a pun). Could Charles Dickens have had Austen, Maunde and Tilson in mind? Or is it just coincidence?

To stop this thread getting onto a Dickens slant and going seriously off-topic, do we know of any people who dealt with Austen, Maunde and Tilson other than the Austens themselves?

I know one: Lord Moira, aka Francis Rawdon, subsequently first Marquis of Hastings. According to le Faye's wonderful biographical index to JA's Collected Letters, Henry lent Moira a total of six thousand pounds between 1803 and 1813, which was never repaid despite repeated promises; le Faye says that this in part contributed to the bankruptcy.