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 Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social system, social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more Radicalism (politics), radical social movements such as re ...

and a lover of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

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 New Alresford, Alresford town centre in the valley of the River Itchen, Hampshire, River Itchen, north-east of Wincheste ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and was brought up in favour of French Revolutionary 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 peer. Harley was the son of John Harley (dean of Windsor) and Roach Vaughan. Edward succeeded to the titles and estates (including the H ...

(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 (; ) is a title used since the 14th century by the wife of the Prince of Wales. The Princess is the apparent future queen consort, as "Prince of Wales" is a title reserved by custom for the heir apparent to the Monarchy of the ...

. 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 (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament who gained notoriety as a proponent (in advance of the Chartism, Chartists) of univ ...

and most notably Lord Byron (the affair lasting from 1812, in the aftermath of Byron's affair with Lady Caroline Lamb, 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" 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 In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

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''.

Children

Among her children were: *Lady Jane Elizabeth Harley (b. 2 March 1796, d. after 1843); married Henry Bickersteth, raised to the peerage as Baron Langdale. *Edward Harley, Lord Harley (20 January 1800 – 1 January 1828). * Lady Charlotte Mary Harley (b. 12 December 1801, d 1880); married Anthony Bacon in 1823. *Lady Anne Harley (b. 31 July 1803, d after 1843); married Giovanni Battista Rabitti, Cavaliere San Giorgio. *Lady Frances Harley (b. 26 January 1805, d. after 1843); married Henry-Vernon-Harcourt * Alfred Harley, 6th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (b. 10 January 1809, d 19 January 1853); married Elizabeth Nugent (daughter of the Marquess of Westmeath) in 1831. * Hon. Mortimer Harley (b. 17 December 1811, d. 3 April 1812) *Louisa Harley (died young)

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