Lewson, Jane (c. 1700–1816)

views updated

Lewson, Jane (c. 1700–1816)

English woman who inspired a famous Dickensian character. Name variations: Lady Lewson. Born Jane Vaughan around 1700 in England; died in 1816; married.

Jane Lewson became a recluse after the death of her husband in 1726. Her eccentricities are reputed to have been the basis for Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations.