Jane Elizabeth Harley, Countess of Oxford and Countess Mortimer (''née'' Scott; 1774–1824) was an English noblewoman, known as a patron of the

Reform movement A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary m ...

and a lover 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 peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

Life

She was a daughter of the Reverend James Scott, M.A., Vicar of

Itchen Stoke Itchen Stoke and Ovington () is an English civil parish consisting of two adjoining villages in Hampshire, England, west of Alresford town centre in the valley of the River Itchen, north-east of Winchester, and south-east of Itchen Abbas. Itc ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

and was brought up in favour of

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

ary thought and Reform. In 1794 she married

Edward Harley, 5th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer Edward Harley, 5th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (20 February 1773 – 28 December 1848) was an English nobleman. Harley was the son of John Harley (dean of Windsor) and Roach Vaughan. Edward succeeded to the titles and estates (including th ...

(with her father taking the service), being styled Countess of Oxford and Countess Mortimer. She was a friend of the

Princess of Wales Princess of Wales (Welsh: ''Tywysoges Cymru'') is a courtesy title used since the 14th century by the wife of the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. The current title-holder is Catherine (née Middleton). The title was fi ...

. She frequently took lovers from among the pro-Reform party during her marriage, firstly

Francis Burdett Sir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet (25 January 1770 – 23 January 1844) was a British politician and Member of Parliament who gained notoriety as a proponent (in advance of the Chartists) of universal male suffrage, equal electoral districts, vo ...

and most notably Lord Byron (the affair lasting from 1812, in the aftermath of Byron's affair 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 ...

, when he was fourteen years her junior, until 1813, when she and her husband went abroad but Byron did not follow as she had hoped). Her marriage was not a love match and her large number of children were known as the "

Harleian Miscellany ''The Harleian Miscellany'' is a collection of material from the library of the Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer collated and edited by Samuel Johnson and William Oldys between 1744 and 1753 on behalf of the publisher Thomas Osborne. Its subti ...

" due to uncertainties over whether her husband was their father, but the marriage did not break up. Even in the easy-going world of the

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

aristocracy, her affairs were considered to have put her beyond the pale, and few people were prepared to receive her or call on her. Ironically, given their shared interest in Byron, Caroline Lamb was one of her few friends, although Caroline could not resist caricaturing her in her novel

Glenarvon ''Glenarvon'' was Lady Caroline Lamb's first novel. It created a sensation when published on 9 May 1816. Set in the Irish rebellion of 1798, the book satirized the Whig Holland House circle, while casting a sceptical eye on left-wing politicking. ...

.Cecil, David. ''Melbourne'' Pan Books. 1969. p.90-91

Children

Among her children were: *Edward Harley, Lord Harley (20 January 1800 – 1 January 1828). * Alfred Harley, 6th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer. *Lady Jane Elizabeth Harley; married Henry Bickersteth, raised to the peerage as Baron Langdale. *Lady Charlotte Mary Harley (b. 1801 or 1809, d 1880); in 1823 married Anthony Bacon. *Lady Anne Harley; married Signor Giovanni Battista Rabitti Count St. George. *Lady Frances Harley; married Lt.-Col. Henry Vernon Harcourt, Esq., the son of the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers ...

References

Sources

''Byron's letters and journals'', page 286
*http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/Literary/Byron.htm 1774 births 1824 deaths 18th-century English people 18th-century English women 19th-century English women Oxford and Earl Mortimer Lord Byron

Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * Jane (1915 film), ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * Jane (2016 film), ''Jane'' (20 ...

People from the City of Winchester Women of the Regency era {{GB-earl-stub