‘A voice from the past’: harp played by Jane Austen’s cousin sings again

Musician restores 250-year-old instrument of writer’s cousin, who is said to have inspired Mansfield Park character Mary Crawford

When the musician and restorer Mike Parker finally tracked down the harp, it was broken and stained, a shadow of its old self when it was played by a beloved relative of Jane Austen.

But after careful restoration the instrument began to sing sweetly again and this weekend was played in the apt surroundings of Chawton, the Hampshire village where Austen lived and worked.