Janet "Jessy" Harden, n. Allan (25 February 1776 to c.1837) was a Scottish diarist who wrote 32 small volumes, considered exclusive documentations of the Edinburgh New Town society at the beginning of the 19th century. Her writing described the daily life of her family's affairs to update her sister, Agnes Ranken, who was living in India with her husband.[1]

Biography

Harden was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 25 February 1776. Her father, Robert Allan, was a banker, and the owner of the newspaper Caledonian Mercury and her mother was Margaret Learmonth.[1]

Harden and her husband John lived for some time at Brathay Hall near Ambleside in Cumbria, England, renting it from Henry Law who had inherited it in 1802 on the death of his father, George Law, its builder.[2] Their guests there included Wordsworth, Coleridge and Constable, and the lounge bar of the hall, now an educational and holiday centre, is named "The Harden Bar" in their memory.[3] The British Museum has an 1806 drawing by John Harden described as "Portrait group of five figures, including John Constable making a drawing of Jessy Harden; five figures seated around table at Brathay Hall".[4]

Diaries and letters

Harden diaries and letters are held in the Archives and Manuscripts Collections of the National Library of Scotland.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Elizabeth Ewan, ed. (2018). The new biographical dictionary of Scottish women. Edinburgh. p. 189. ISBN 978-1-4744-3629-8. OCLC 1057237368.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ↑ Thomas, Andrew (3 February 2019). "Family members return to the home of their ancestors near Ambleside". The Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  3. ↑ "Cheers to Brathay Hall's historic lounge bar!". Brathay Trust. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  4. ↑ "Description and image of Harden's drawing". The British Museum. British Museum. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  5. ↑ "Catalogue of Archives and Manuscripts Collections | National Library of Scotland | NLSMSS | Drawings and journals chiefly of John Harden, a landowner from Tipperary and an accomplished amateur water-colourist, and of his wife Jessy, the daughter of Robert Allan, the Edinburgh banker, and an assiduous diarist". manuscripts.nls.uk. Retrieved 2023-01-27.

Further reading

  • Dybeck, Maurice (2015). Jessy's journal : Jessy & John, the Hardens of Brathay Hall 1804-1811 : the journal of Jessy Harden 1804 to 1811 (letters to her sister in India) : with drawings and paintings by John Harden. Ambleside, Cumbria: Brathay Hall Trust. ISBN 9780952920045.
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