Jane Porter (3 December 1775 – 24 May 1850) was an English
historical novel
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
ist, dramatist and literary figure. Her bestselling novels, ''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' (1803) and ''The Scottish Chiefs'' (1810) are seen as among the earliest historical novels in a modern style and among the first to become bestsellers. They were abridged and remained popular among children well into the twentieth century.
Life
Jane Porter was born in
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
, England, the third of five children of the Irishman William Porter and Jane (''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Blenkinsop) of Durham. Tall and beautiful as she grew up, young Jane Porter's grave air earned her the nickname ''
Il Penseroso
''Il Penseroso'' ("the thinker") is a poem by John Milton, first found in the 1645/1646 quarto of verses ''The Poems of Mr. John Milton, both English and Latin'', published by Humphrey Moseley. It was presented as a companion piece to ''L'Al ...
'', after
John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...
's poem. After her father's death, Jane's family moved to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, where she studied at a charity school under the schoolmaster George Fulton. Her family was acquainted with
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
. After stints in Durham and Ireland, the Porter family moved to
London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in the 1790s, where the sisters entered a circle of famous and future-famous actors, artists, and literary women, including
Elizabeth Inchbald
Elizabeth Inchbald (née Simpson, 15 October 1753 – 1 August 1821) was an English novelist, actress, dramatist, and translator. Her two novels, '' A Simple Story'' and '' Nature and Art'', have received particular critical attention.
Life
Bo ...
,
Anna Laetitia Barbauld
Anna Laetitia Barbauld (, by herself possibly , as in French, Aikin; 20 June 1743 – 9 March 1825) was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and author of children's literature. A " woman of letters" who published in mu ...
,
Hannah More
Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a ...
,
Elizabeth Hamilton,
Selina Davenport
Selina Davenport (27 June 1779 – 14 July 1859) was an English novelist, briefly married to the miscellanist and biographer Richard Alfred Davenport. Her eleven published novels have been recently described as "effective if stereotyped".''The ...
,
Elizabeth Benger
Elizabeth Ogilvy Benger (baptised on 15 June 1775 at West Camel, Somerset, died on 9 January 1827 in London) was an English biographer, novelist and poet. Some of her poetry had a strong social message.
Early life and education
Elizabeth was th ...
and Mrs Champion de Crespigny.
Porter's siblings also achieved some fame. Her sister
Anna Maria Porter
Anna Maria Porter (1778–1832) was a British poet and novelist.
Life
The sister of Jane Porter and Robert Ker Porter, she was probably born on 17 December 1778 and was baptized in Salisbury on 25 December 1778. She spent her infancy in Dur ...
was likewise a novelist. Her brother Sir
Robert Ker Porter
Sir Robert Ker Porter, KCH (1777–1842) was a Scottish artist, author, diplomat and traveller. Known today for his accounts of his travels in Russia, Spain, and Persia, he was one of the earliest panorama painters in Britain, was appointed hi ...
became a noted painter.
She died in Bristol at the age of 74.
Works
Porter is seen to have "crafted and pioneered many of the narrative tools most commonly associated with both the national tale and the historical novel," though her claims in her lifetime to have done so were often ridiculed and dismissed.
Her 1810 work ''The Scottish Chiefs'', about
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence.
Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...
, one of the earliest examples of the
historical novel
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
, was very successful.
The French version was banned by Napoleon. It was said to have influenced Scott and other writers
and has remained popular with Scottish children. ''The Pastor's Fireside'' (1817) was a story set in the 18th century about the later members of the
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...
.
[ Though one of the most popular writers of her time, the profligacy and financial indecisions of her brothers kept her very poor, as she and Anna Maria were constantly obliged to use their incomes to pay off their brothers' debts.]
Porter wrote '' Thaddeus of Warsaw'' in 1803, set in the late 18th century Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
. Despite its success, Porter did not benefit financially, as its copyright was held by its various publishers. To gain income from it, she resorted to ostensibly new editions published with prefaces and minor changes. She applied unsuccessfully for a literary pension, and being personally "totally destitute or nearly so", had to move between homes of her friends.
Porter contributed to periodicals and wrote the play ''Switzerland'' (1819), which seems to have been deliberately sabotaged by its lead, Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean (4 November 178715 May 1833) was a celebrated British Shakespearean stage actor born in England, who performed, among other places, in London, Belfast, New York, Quebec, and Paris. He was known for his short stature, tumultuo ...
, and closed after its first performance.[ She is sometimes associated with the 1822 production ''Owen, Prince of Powys'', which closed after only three performances,] but this was actually by Samson Penley.
Porter also wrote ''Tales Round a Winter Hearth'' (1821), ''Coming Out'' (1828) and ''The Field of Forty Footsteps'' (1828) with her sister, Anna Maria.. A romance, ''Sir Edward Seaward's Diary'' (1831), purporting to record actual circumstances and edited by Jane, was written by her brother, Dr William Ogilvie Porter, as letters in the University of Durham Porter archives show.
In her later years, Porter continued to write pieces for journals. Many appeared anonymously or were simply signed "J. P." Her wide-ranging topics included Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
, Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
, and the African explorer Dixon Denham
Dixon Denham (1 January 17869 June 1828) was an English soldier, explorer of West Central Africa, and ultimately Governor of Sierra Leone.
Early life
Dixon Denham was born at Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, London on New Year's Day, 1786, the ...
.
Influences
Porter, like many contemporaries, was fascinated by 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 ...
. The villain in ''The Pastor's Fireside'', Duke Wharton, has been said to cast "an unmistakably Byronic shadow". Additional influences on her writing included her schoolmaster George Fulton, Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...
's ''The Faerie Queene
''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...
'' and Sir Philip Sidney
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philip ...
's ''Arcadia''. She in turn influenced writers in her time.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Porter Family Collection
at th
Kenneth Spencer Research Library
at the University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
Episode on Jane and Anna Maria Porter
with biographe
Devoney Looser
at What'sHerName Podcast
Jane Porter biographies
Sister Novelists: The Trailblazing Porter Sisters, Who Paved the Way for Austen and the Brontës (Jane and Maria Porter) by Devoney Looser (2022)
british-fiction.cf.ac.uk
What'sHerName Podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Jane
1776 births
1850 deaths
Scottish women novelists
19th-century Scottish writers
19th-century British women writers
Scottish historical novelists
Women historical novelists
Women of the Regency era
Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages
Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period