THE preservation of Chawton House Library for future generations has been boosted by a six-figure pledge, the charity's first legacy promise in its 11-year history. The US dollar-pledge from Professor Joan Ray, a retired English professor from the University of Colorado and trustee of Chawton House Library, will help support the future of the study centre's collection of early English women's writing, as well as Chawton House itself, an Elizabethan manor that was once owned by Jane Austen's brother, Edward Knight. By making a legacy pledge, Professor Ray has become the first member of Chawton House Library's new 1817 Legacy Circle, which has been set up to recognise and thank supporters who have decided to remember the charity in their will. For full story, see this week's Alton Herald.