Jane Wilde

Jane Wilde
Jane, Lady Wilde sketch attributed to George Morosini
Born	Jane Francesca Agnes (1821-12-27)27 December 1821 Wexford, Ireland
Died	3 February 1896(1896-02-03) (aged 74) Chelsea, London, England
Other names	Lady Wilde
Occupation	Poet, writer
Spouse(s)	Sir William Wilde
Children	Oscar Wilde Willie Wilde

Jane Francesca Agnes, Lady Wilde (née Elgee; 27 December 1821 – 3 February 1896) was an Irish poet under the pen name "Speranza" and supporter of the nationalist movement; and had a special interest in Irish folktales, which she helped to gather. She married Sir William Wilde on 12 November 1851, and they had three children: William Charles Kingsbury Wilde (1852–1899), Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854–1900), and Isola Francesca Emily Wilde (1857–1867).

Jane was the last of the four children of Charles Elgee (1783–1824), a Wexford solicitor, and his wife Sarah (née Kingsbury, d. 1851). Her great-grandfather was an Italian who had come to Wexford in the 18th century. Lady Wilde, who was the niece of Charles Maturin, wrote for the Young Ireland movement of the 1840s, publishing poems in The Nation under the pseudonym of Speranza. Her works included pro-Irish independence and anti-British writing; she was sometimes known as "Speranza of the Nation". Charles Gavan Duffy was the editor when "Speranza" wrote commentary calling for armed revolution in Ireland. The authorities at Dublin Castle shut down the paper and brought the editor to court. Duffy refused to name who had written the offending article. "Speranza" reputedly stood up in court and claimed responsibility for the article. The confession was ignored by the authorities. But in any event the newspaper was permanently shut down by the authorities.

She was an early advocate of women's rights, and campaigned for better education for women. She invited the suffragist Millicent Fawcett to her home to speak on female liberty. She praised the passing of the Married Women's Property Act of 1883, preventing women from having to enter marriage 'as a bond slave, disenfranchised of all rights over her fortune'.

William Wilde was knighted in January 1864, but the family celebrations were short-lived, for in the same year Sir William and Lady Wilde were at the centre of a sensational Dublin court case regarding a young woman called Mary Travers, the daughter of a colleague of Sir William's, who claimed that he had seduced her and who then brought an action against Lady Wilde for libel. Mary Travers won the case and costs of £2,000 were awarded against Lady Wilde. Then, in 1867, their daughter Isola died of fever at the age of nine. In 1871 the two illegitimate daughters of Sir William were burned to death and in 1876 Sir William himself died. The family discovered that he was virtually bankrupt.