Jane Davy or Jane Kerr or Jane Apreece (5 February 1780 – 8 May 1855) was a British heiress and socialite who, after having lost a rich husband, married Sir

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...

Life

Jane Kerr's (Davy's) father was Charles Kerr, a Scottish merchant who operated in Antigua. Her mother was Jane Kerr (formerly Tweedie). Her father had made his fortune through the sale of various Prizes of War, including the sale of their cargoes and the sale/lease of slaves, as well as various other business activities on the island. Kerr's father died in 1796, dividing his fortune between his daughter Jane and his wife (who later remarried). It was reported at the time that Jane enjoyed an annual income of £4,000 and had £60,000 in capital. Kerr came to notice when she married Shuckburgh Ashby Apreece who was the heir to the Apreece baronetcy but he died before his father in 1807. Kerr (then Apreece) was a rich widow who had travelled in Europe and she moved to Edinburgh where she established herself at the centre of Scottish literary society. It was said that she had inspired the character of ''Corinne'' who was the protagonist in

Anne Louise Germaine de Staël Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

's 1807 novel. She had met Germaine de Staël but that influence is more reliably assigned to

Diodata Saluzzo Roero Diodata Saluzzo Roero (1774–1840) was an Italian poet, playwright and author of prose fiction. Her work drew praise from such figures as Tommaso Valperga di Caluso, Giuseppe Parini, Ludovico di Breme, Alessandro Manzoni, Vittorio Alfieri ...

.Letizia Panizza & Sharon Wood
''A History of Women's Writing in Italy''
pp. 144–5. She turned down a proposal to become the wife of the elder Professor

John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...

and instead accepted the proposal of the celebrity scientist Sir

. The new couple travelled to Paris, Florence and then Rome accompanied by

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

. During the trip Davy received a medal from

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and Davy and Faraday proved that diamonds were flammable. They returned to England when Napoleon escaped from Elba. They continued to travel in Europe, but increasingly they travelled separately as they had a difficult relationship. Nevertheless, Lady Davy travelled to Rome when she heard that her husband had been taken ill there, and she accompanied him to Geneva where he died in 1829. Davy died in Park Street 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 1855.Sophie Forgan, ‘Davy , Jane, Lady Davy (1780–1855)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200
accessed 17 Dec 2014
/ref> and was buried in the family vault at St. Sepulchre's Church, Northampton. "Northampton Mercury 19 May 185

/ref> At the time of her death in 1855, her fortune had reached £180,000. She left her fortune to her first cousin, with which he purchased a large house and estate by the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davy, Jane 1780 births 1855 deaths British socialites