Jane Papillon born Jane Broadnax (March 16, 1627 – July 12, 1698) was an
English
English usually refers to:
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* English people
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Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
letter writer.
Life
Papillon was born in
Godmersham
Godmersham is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village straddles the Great Stour river where it cuts through the North Downs and its land is approximately one third woodland, all in the far east and west o ...
in 1627.
[
She married her cousin, ]Thomas Papillon
Thomas Papillon (6 September 1623 – 5 May 1702) was an English merchant and politician, an influential figure in the City of London for half a century. He served as a Commissioner for the Victualling of the Navy from 1689 to 1699.
Early life ...
, on 30 October 1651 despite the objections of her parents, Thomas and Jane Broadnax.[
Thomas was a merchant and a member of the influential ]Mercers Company
The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...
. He would have a fortune in the region of £18,000 in time but he had already had to spend time exiled in France and in Newgate Prison after supporting a rebellion against parliament.Fenchurch Street
Fenchurch Street is a street in London linking Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street in the west. It is a well-known thoroughfare in the City of London financial district and is the site of many corporate office ...
. Her husband went to Breda in the Netherlands on behalf of the East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...
. Jane wrote to him including detailed records of her management of their households, but also including news of their tenants and local news and events. Her letters of 1667 and 1668 are extant. One of the bits of news is a report of 1,200 Dutch people who had taken Mersea Island
Mersea Island is an island in Essex, England, in the Blackwater and Colne estuaries to the south-east of Colchester. Its name comes from the Old English word ''meresig'', meaning "island of the pool" and thus is tautological. The island is s ...
in their county of Kent and were advancing on the town of Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
.[ More recent accounts note that there was talk on an invasion and soldiers were sent to defend the area but the invasion never happened.
]
Private life
Papillon and her husband had three sons and five daughters.[ Four of these children survived to be adults.]
Death and legacy
Papillon died in London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1698 having already written a letter to her husband to tell him of the birth of their grandchild to their son and his wife. Her funeral sermon was published by her nephew, John Snow, titled "''Of Long Life and Old Age''".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papillon, Jane
1627 births
1698 deaths
People from Godmersham
Reporters and correspondents
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