Novelist behind uplifting tales of love and war

She invented the historical novel and in her time she and her sister were household names, but hardly anyone remembers Jane Porter anymore. But with the 250th anniversary of her birth this week, Jonathan Rowe can tell you all about her and the rest of the accomplished, adventurous (and sometimes scandalous) Porter family.

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Romanticised illustration of Jane Porter from the frontispiece of one of her many books

JANE Porter (1776-1850) and her sister Anna Maria (1778-1832) were the most famous literary sisters before the Brontes.

They were household names and frequent visitors to Bristol, staying at their brother’s home in St Paul’s. Both died in the city.

Jane was born in Durham 17 January 1776 and her novel The Scottish Chiefs (1810) is regarded by many as the first historical novel in the modern style. It was popular for 150 years, was reprinted in 75 editions and translated into several languages.

So Jane might be said to have invented the historical novel genre, some years before Sir Walter Scott began writing his Waverley novels. One obituary of Jane said she was “One of the most distinguished novelists that England has produced.”

The Scottish Chiefs centres around 13th century Scottish hero, William Wallace, later immortalised in the less-than-historically-accurate 1995 film Braveheart.

The novel is a blend of actual historical characters and fictional ones in a sweeping tale of murder, female cross-dressing and even a discreet romantic homoerotic love story.

Widowed thirtysomething Wallace is involved in a love quadrangle with Helen of Mar, daughter of the Earl of Mar, her step mother Joanna, Countess of Mar, and Helen’s 15-year-old cousin, Edwin Ruthven, who lives in a monastery and eventually dies after being shot with an arrow in the heart while protecting Wallace.

In one scene Porter writes: “Edwin was clasped in the arms of Wallace ... he pressed the dear boy again and again to his bosom, and kissed his white forehead with all the rapture of a fondest brother.”

(The earldom of Mar is one of the most ancient in Scotland and one member of the family is buried in St Luke's churchyard, Brislington.)