Jane Octavia Brookfield (25 March 1821 – 27 November 1896) was a literary hostess and writer, best known for her platonic friendship with

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...

. She also wrote four novels; some critics have drawn parallels between the events in these novels and her relationship with Thackeray.

Biography

Brookfield was born on 25 March 1821, the youngest daughter of Sir

Charles Abraham Elton Sir Charles Abraham Elton, 6th Baronet (31 October 1778 – 1 June 1853) was an English officer in the British Army and an author. Life Charles was eldest of three sons of the Rev Sir Abraham Elton, 5th of the Elton baronets, by Elizabeth, daugh ...

, a former soldier. She lived with her seven sisters and five brothers, along with her father and mother Sarah in

Clevedon Court Clevedon Court is a manor house on Court Hill in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, dating from the early 14th century. It is owned by the National Trust and is designated as a Grade I listed building. The house was built and added to over ma ...

, near Bristol. Sir Charles was a published author, writing an elegy about two of his sons who had drowned in the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River S ...

, and was friends with both

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book ''Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764– ...

and

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lak ...

. In 1837, the family moved to Southampton, and due to Jane's height her father nicknamed her " Glumdalclitch". In 1838 she was courted by and became engaged to

William Henry Brookfield William Henry Brookfield (31 August 1809 – 12 July 1874) was an Anglican priest, Inspector of Schools, and chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria.. His son was the playwright Charles Brookfield. Biography William Henry Brookfield was t ...

, the priest at the local church, twelve years her senior. After he found a better job, as curate of

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. Th ...

, the couple married on 18 November 1841. Jane maintained an influential literary salon, which included among others Thackeray and her husband's old college friend

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of hi ...

. It was her close friendship with Thackeray for which she is best remembered and in the mid-1840s they were on intimate terms. D. J. Taylor in her biography in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states "the relationship between him and Jane was almost certainly not sexual (there may have been a chaste embrace or two ...)". Thackeray incorporated some of her characteristics into two of his characters: Amelia Sedley in '' Vanity Fair'' (1848), and Laura Bell in ''

Pendennis ''The History of Pendennis: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy'' (1848–50) is a novel by the English author William Makepeace Thackeray. It is set in 19th-century England, particularly in London. The main ...

'' (1850). In 1851, William Brookfield barred Thackeray from further visits to or correspondence with Jane. The friendship was never renewed; Thackeray's health worsened steadily through the 1850s and he died in 1863. Jane Brookfield wrote four novels that were published several years after Thackeray's death, all between 1868 and 1873. Some critics have seen echoes of the friendship with Thackeray in these novels. She ceased writing after her husband died in 1874. Jane herself died in 1896 at the age of 75.

Family

The couple were survived by their two sons

Arthur Montagu Brookfield Arthur Montagu Brookfield, KGStJ (18 March 1853 – 3 March 1940) was a British Army officer, diplomat, author and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1903. Biography Brookfield was the son of Rev. William Henry ...

(1853–1940) who became a British Army officer, diplomat author and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1903; and Charles Hallam Elton Brookfield (1857–1913) an actor.

Novels

* ''Only George'' (1868) * ''Not Too Late'' (1868) * ''Influence'' (1871) * ''Not a Heroine'' (1873)

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brookfield, Jane Octavia 1821 births 1896 deaths Women of the Victorian era Daughters of baronets British salon-holders