Excuse my dust: jane Porter
Jane Porter (1776-1850)
Jane Porter and her sister Anna Maria (1778-1832) were prolific writers of historical fiction and contributors to periodicals. Born in Durham, they moved to Edinburgh in childhood. Sir Walter Scott was a childhood friend, and like him Porter learned Scottish history and culture from her nursemaid and other members of the lower classes. Jane Porter spent her adult life as a writer in England. Her first novel, Thaddeus of Warsaw, was translated across Europe. Her most well-known work, The Scottish Chiefs (1810) was a version of the William Wallace legend – and a Scottish historical novel which predates Waverley.
Works include:
Thaddeus of Warsaw (1803)
The Scottish Chiefs (1810)
Acknowledgement: 'This document /webpage/text was prepared by Helen Vincent of the National Library of Scotland for the Women's Forum workshop at NLS in 2010, and is re-used here by permission.