Jane Cholmeley

Jane Austen’s miserly aunt, who was put on trial for shoplifting lace from a shop in Bath, Jane (Jenny) Cholmeley was born in Barbados, the daughter of Robert Cholmeley a Lincolnshire-born lawyer in Bridgetown and his wife Ann. Her mother came from the Willoughby family, some of the island’s earliest Governors. In 1764, Jenny married James Leigh-Perrot, whose sister Cassandra Leigh, was mother of the famous novelist, Jane Austen. Jenny and James spent their summers at Scarlets, Berkshire and their winters in Bath. In 1797, their niece, Jane Austen, aged 22, came to stay with them and began writing Northanger Abbey. Critics have identified Jenny as the inspiration for some of Austen’s less appealing characters: Mrs. Allen in Northanger Abbey, Aunt Norris in Mansfield Park and Lady Denham in Sanditon.  Jenny and James became very rich, and Jane Austen and her siblings hoped for an inheritance, which never came. Jenny lived to over 90, keeping her relations guessing over which of them would inherit her huge fortune.