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.
Life
Jane Kerr's (Davy's) father was Charles Kerr, a Scottish merchant who operated in
Antigua
Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...
.
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
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
, 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's 1807 novel. She had met Germaine de Staël but that influence is more reliably assigned to
Diodata Saluzzo Roero.
[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 and instead accepted the proposal of the celebrity scientist Sir
Humphry Davy.
The new couple travelled to Paris, Florence and then Rome accompanied by
Michael Faraday. 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 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 () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
.[ "Northampton Mercury 19 May 185]
/ref>
At the time of her death in 1855, her fortune had reached £180,000.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davy, Jane
1780 births
1855 deaths
British socialites