Jane Fane, Countess of Westmorland (1783 – ), formerly Jane Saunders (or Huck-Saunders), was the second wife of

John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland, (1 June 175915 December 1841), styled Lord Burghersh between 1771 and 1774, was a British Tory (political faction), Tory politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, who served in most of the cabine ...

Life

Jane was one of the two daughters of Dr

Richard Huck-Saunders Richard Huck-Saunders (1720–1785) was an English physician, for most of his life known as Richard Huck. Early life He was born in Westmoreland in 1720 to parents were named Huck, and educated at the grammar school of Croughland in Cumberland. ...

(born Richard Huck) and his wife, the former Jane Kinsey. Her great-uncle was Admiral Sir Charles Saunders. Her sister Anne became Viscountess Melville. Through the admiral, his wife's maternal uncle, Dr Huck-Saunders came into possession of a sizeable inheritance, which was left to their daughters. It was said of the countess that she was "... perhaps not mad, but nobody ever approached so near it with so much reason." She was a patron of the poet

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

and his friend, the artist

Joseph Severn Joseph Severn (7 December 1793 – 3 August 1879) was an English portrait and subject painter and a personal friend of the famous English poet John Keats. He exhibited portraits, Italian genre, literary and biblical subjects, and a selec ...

, and later a supporter of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

, despite her friendship with

Lady Caroline Lamb Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby; 13 November 1785 – 25 January 1828) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist, best known for ''Glenarvon'', a Gothic novel. In 1812 she had an affair with Lord Byron, whom she described as "mad, bad, and ...

(who first met Byron at the countess's house).

John Hoppner John Hoppner (4 April 175823 January 1810) was an English portrait painter, much influenced by Reynolds, who achieved fame as a brilliant colourist. Early life Hoppner was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of German parents – his mothe ...

painted her portrait in the guise of Hebe. After her husband's death, the dowager countess bought

Cotterstock Hall Cotterstock is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 153. Geography Cotterstock is on the banks of the River Nene, which flows through the city of Peterborough ...

near

Oundle Oundle () is a market town on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 5,735 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. It is north of London and south-west of Peterborough ...

. It was at

Brympton d'Evercy Brympton d'Evercy (alternatively Brympton House), a grade I listed manor house near Yeovil in the county of Somerset, England, has been called the most beautiful in England. In 1927 the British magazine '' Country Life'' devoted three articles ...

that she died, predeceasing her two surviving sons, Henry and Montagu, by only a few weeks; the latter suffered from heart disease. The countess was buried in

St Andrew's Church, Brympton The Church of St Andrew in Brympton, Somerset, England, dates from the 13th century and has been designated as a Grade I listed building. It is closely associated with the manor house of Brympton d'Evercy. The d'Evercy family were responsible ...

Family

Jane and Lord Fane were married in 1800, when Jane was seventeen and her husband 41. The earl's first wife,

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...

, had died in 1793, after producing five children. Jane had three sons and two daughters, of whom only the eldest child, Lady

Georgiana Fane Lady Georgiana Fane (1801-1874) was an English heiress, daughter of John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland and his second wife the former Jane Huck-Saunders. Her mother bore four other children before separating from her father, after ten years o ...

, outlived both parents by more than a year; Georgiana became notorious for her pursuit of the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

. *Lady (Cecily Jane) Georgiana Fane (1801-1875), who died unmarried *Hon. Charles Saunders John Fane (1802–1810), who died unmarried *Hon. Col.

Henry Sutton Fane Hon. Henry Sutton Fane (13 January 1804 – May 1857) was an English politician in the 19th century. He was a Tory Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. So ...

(1804–1857), MP, who died unmarried *Hon. Montagu Augustus Villiers Fane (1805–1857), who died unmarried *Lady Evelina Fane (1807–1808) In 1810, the couple separated and the countess lived at Brympton d'Evercy near

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...

with Georgiana. She was living outside the country at the time of her husband's death in 1841.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westmorland, Jane Fane, Countess of 1783 births 1857 deaths English countesses