Jane Williams

Jane Williams
Portrait of Jane Williams by George Clint
Born
Jane Cleveland

(1798-01-21)21 January 1798
Marylebone, London, England
Died8 November 1884(1884-11-08) (aged 86)
London, England
Resting placeKensal Green Cemetery
OccupationHousewife
Known forInspiring poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Spouse
John Edward Johnson
(m. 1814; died 1840)
Partner(s)Edward Ellerker Williams
Thomas Jefferson Hogg
ChildrenEdward Medwin Williams
Jane Rosalind Williams
Mary Prudentia Hogg
Prudentia Sarah Jefferson Hogg
Parent(s)John and Mary Cleveland

Jane Williams (née Jane Cleveland; 21 January 1798 – 8 November 1884)[1][2] was a British woman best known for her association with the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Jane was raised in England and India, before marrying a naval officer and settling in London. She soon left him for another military officer, Edward Ellerker Williams. After Edward and she left England for Italy, they became acquainted with Percy and Mary Shelley. Though she never had a romantic relationship with Shelley, near the end of his life he became deeply infatuated with her and addressed several of his poems to her. After Shelley and Edward Williams perished in a boating accident, she lived with Thomas Jefferson Hogg, also a close friend of Shelley, and had two children with him. The rest of her life was spent as a housewife in London.

  1. ^ Rees 1985, p. 35
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Normanpxxxviii was invoked but never defined (see the help page).