Carolyn Freeman Travers, Research Manager at Plimoth Patuxet Museum, wrote in an article entitled, “Were They All Shorter Back Then?” that the “average height for an early 17th-century English man was approximately 5′ 6″. For 17th-century English women, it was about 5′ ½”. While average heights in England remained virtually unchanged in the 17th and 18th centuries, American colonists grew taller.”
Note: Update to links May 2022: PDF Document from Evergreen Log, 2006: Where They All Shorter Back Then?
This post from History Hoydens provides more detail about the Georgian era.
Phys.org traces the height of an average Englishman over 2000 years.
Image from “Does Height Matter in Politics?”
Jane Austen's World 
Jane Austen’s height: At the Chicago Jane Austen AGM Emporium was a replica of Jane Austen’s pelisse made by Hilary Davidson who has been researching the original pelisse (the property of Hampshire Museums Service.) As part of her research Hilary consulted with osteo-archaeologists at the Museum of London. They concluded that assuming that the pelisse did in fact belong to Jane Austen, she had tiny shoulders and thin arms, and was probably around 5 feet 7 inches tall (a US size 0 or 2.) As part of this project, a replica silk fabric is being made at Hampshire’s Whitchurch Silk Mill – http://www.whitchurchsilkmill.org.uk – and it is understood that the fabric will be available for sale along with patterns. Further information can be obtained from Hilary at janeaustenpelisse@hotmail.co.uk.
Thank you, Joan, for this illuminating piece of information. Jane would be above average in height even today. Vic
Hi,
Just to clarify, the average height for a woman in Jane’s time, based on the osteological record, was about 5′ 2″. Jane would have been considered tall for her time, and contemporary mentions of her refer to this.
Thanks for the great summary Joan!
Cheers, Hilary
They wasnt much shorter then us i gess, our avrrages are only an inch or so diffrent.
loved this artical and Carolyn Freeman’s
thankyou