Author: Houghton, Jane
Biography:
HOUGHTON, Jane (c. 1787-1840: findmypast.com)
Her only known publication is the curious Blossoms of Genius, written when she was twelve years old and a pupil at Mrs. Melville’s school in Liverpool. It consists of simple poems celebrating flowers, birds, country and seaside walks, and her father, followed by “Memoirs” of the school, including profiles--by name--of several of the other pupils. They were the daughters of tradesmen, merchants, and craftsmen. A child of this name had been born in Liverpool to Thomas and Elizabeth Houghton on 1 Jan. 1787 and baptised on 21 Jan., but her father was a tailor. She married a mariner, James Smith, in 1804, and was still living in Liverpool at the time of the Census of 1841 as a widow with three children, one of them a blacksmith. A more likely candidate in terms of class and education, although no birth or baptismal record has been found, is Jane Houghton, only daughter of John Houghton, Esq., “of Houghton Buildings, Dale St.” (d 1821), who was a prosperous businessman. Her mother’s name has not been discovered; since she does not feature in the collection of poems, it is possible that she died young. John Houghton’s will of 1819 mentions his “beloved wife Mary”; John Houghton, merchant, had married Mary Harrison, spinster, on 24 May 1804 at the Parochial Chapel of St. Nicholas, Liverpool. His daughter Jane married Edward Gibbon, Esq., of Little Stretton, Shropshire, a landowner, on 15 Jan. 1806 at Christ Church, Liverpool. The couple moved into Houghton Buildings and baptised five children at the same church between 1807 and 1814. Jane Gibbon died at home on 8 Mar. 1840. She does not appear to have published under her married name. (findmypast.com 4 Dec. 2022; ancestry.com 4 Dec. 2022; Chester Chronicle 24 Jan. 1806; Liverpool Albion 16 Mar. 1840; NA Prob. 11/1639/245)