Carlyle, Jane Welsh ___ 1801-1866 ___ British ___ n/a

BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY
Jane was born in Haddington, near Edinburgh, into a doctor's family. As a child, she was considered something of a tomboy. At 10, her father employed Edward Irving, a friend of Thomas Carlyle, to tutor her. She is said to have written her first novel when only 13. She also wrote verse, sang and played the piano. Two years after her father had died suddenly from typhoid, in 1821, Irving brought Carlye with him on a visit to Haddington. Thereafter, Carlyle corresponded with Jane, ostensibly to help with her studies, although Jane's mother disapproved of him. In 1826, Jane married Carlyle. Their first years - living on a remote farm - were difficult. They moved to Edinburgh, and then, in 1834, to London. Jane was an inveterate and skilled letter writer, but her life was lived somewhat in the shadow of her famous and temperamental husband. However, she appears to have been a hard-working and supportive wife, and encouraged them both to maintain a vigorous social life. When she died in 1866, Carlyle retired from public life, and wrote little. He passed on her papers, letters and a secret journal to a family friend who published them after his death.
A biography link
Wikipedia bio

DIARY DATES, CONTENT DESCRIPTORS
1855-1956 ___ domestic literary love/sex family people

WEB TEXT LINKS
etext
etext

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT LINKS
National Library of Scotland, Manuscript Collections - probably

SOME PUBLISHED TITLES
Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle
 

July 2005. September 2008
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IMPORTANT NOTES AND CAUTIONS: 1) The first line of basic information may be incomplete in several ways: some historical figures have different names (titles, pen-names); their birth and death dates may be unknown or uncertain (g - guess, c - circa); similarly, their occupations may be unknown, or they may have had other jobs; and, for early diarists, I've used 'British' a bit too freely. 2) The biographical summary may not be accurate. It was compiled quickly from various sources, mostly on the internet, and the facts were not checked anywhere near as rigorously as they would have been if they'd been intended for publication in a printed form. 3) The journal dates and descriptors (which are in no particular order) must be treated with caution: since I have not examined the diaries myself, the descriptors are only guesses based on bibliographies, anthologies and internet biographies. 4) For the biography and etext links, I have ignored any sites with charges, and I have avoided, wherever possible, those with pop-ups or too much advertising. I have limited myself to providing three etext links where there is some variety between them. 5) For the original manuscript links, I have limited myself to providing a maximum of two (although, for a few diarists, their original diaries are held in more than two places). 6) I have provided the titles - chosen randomly - for up to three printed editions of the diaries.