---
title: "How did Austenasia begin?"
url: https://austenasia.org/history/how-did-austenasia-begin/
date: 2026-08-08
modified: 2026-10-01
lang: en
author: "austenasiantimes"
description: "The Era of Foundation is dated to begin on 20 September 2008 - the day when, at 11:30am (BST/UTC+1), the town of Wrythe declared independence from the United Kingdom as the..."
image: https://i0.wp.com/austenasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/untitled.png?fit=491%2C433&ssl=1
word_count: 187
---

# How did Austenasia begin?

The Era of Foundation is dated to begin on **20 September 2008** - the day when, at 11:30am (BST/UTC+1), **the town of Wrythe declared independence from the United Kingdom as the Empire of Austenasia**. Emperor Terry I was unanimously proclaimed the nation's first Monarch, and his son Crown Prince Jonathan was unanimously proclaimed the first Prime Minister. Crown Prince Jonathan then wrote a Constitution, which after being accepted by every Austenasian resident was sent with a Declaration of Independence via e-mail to the MP for Carshalton and Wallington, Tom Brake. On Monday 13 October 2008, Austenasia's Declaration of Independence was sent to Gordon Brown, then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and on 30 December 2008, the Declaration of Independence was again sent, to the UK Home Office, as no reply had been received from any of the previous declarations.

The surrounding British town of Carshalton began to become aware of its new sovereign neighbour, when on 22 January [an article was published](https://austenasia.org/press-and-media-coverage/) in the *Sutton Guardian*, a local newspaper, on the founding of the Empire.

[You may read more on our history on our dedicated History page.](https://austenasia.org/history/)