Janet Schaw
Janet Schaw was born between 1730 and 1740 in Edinburgh and died in 1800 in Plymouth.
The daughter of Gideon Schaw and Ann Rutherford, who married
On her journeys she was accompanied by her brother Alexander Schaw, three children, Fanny Rutherford (18) John Rutherford (11) and William (Billie) Rutherford (9)
Janet wrote her will on 14 March 1792[1] and was then still a spinster. She left all her assets in Scotland and England to her 'dear Brother Alexander Schaw Esquire now of His Majesty's Ordinance at Plymouth Dock.' She may have been worried about her health when she wrote her will as the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette records a Mr and Miss Schaw arriving in Bath in its 29 March 1792 issue.
Janet was buried on 21 December 21 1800 in Eggbuckland, in Plymouth, Devon.[2]
Journal of a Lady of Quality
The Journal records Janet's travels during 1774 - 1776 and records her views and thoughts.
Discovery of the Manuscript
The journal was discovered in 1904 during a search for other material in the British Library where it was
Reviews and Academic Comment on Journal of a Lady of Quality
'The journal is eminently readable, at times gripping, with a distinctive narrative voice' and 'is an especially instructive example of the way aesthetics lent itself to knitting together categories of social denomination.'[3]
The journal is clearly 'a private document'[4] and takes the form of a letter. But who it was written for is a point of conjecture. Janet's statement that "At whatever time we meet, I am certain we will meet with unabated regards'[5] has led to conjecture that it sounds as if it was written to someone who was "much more like a lover behind than a friend.'[4]
- ^ The National Archives PROB 11/1355/144
- ^ Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, Devon Burials 1169/1 accessed at www.findmypast
- ^ Bohls, Elizabeth A. (1995). Women Travel Writers and The Language of Aesthetics 1716-1818. Cambridge University Press. pp. 46–65. ISBN 0 521 47458 2.
- ^ a b A History of Scottish Women's Writing edited by Douglas Gifford and Dorothy McMillan. Edinburgh University Press. 1997. pp. 119–124. ISBN 0 7486 0742 0.
- ^ Journal of a Lady of Quality - p130