Person:Jane Honnyng (1)

Born on 4th August 1542, soon after her parents’ marriage. At the age of only fifteen, if Davy is to be believed, she died on her wedding day. There is no record of whom she married, nor the cause of death - fright perhaps, she being so young! She was pictured as a young lady in red hair, neatly dressed in black and white, her right hand pointing to the clouds, denoting that this eldest child was deceased. She was buried at Eye on 19th August 1557.

A separate portrait of her was painted, probably in 1585 when the family picture was made, in which she is described: The young lady wears a black-and-white dress; her light brown hair is enclosed in a net, with a rich “billiment” or circlet of goldsmiths’ work around her head. A massive gold chain passes thrice round her neck. In her left hand she holds a green scarf; and in her right, a rose, upon which falls a ray, probably intended for a blast of wind issuing from clouds in the upper corner of the picture.

1.   Davy, David Elisha. Suffolk Collections. (London, England: British Library).
2.   Barry, T. The Life and Family History of William Honnyng. (London, England: ISBN-13 978 0 9532685 3 5, 2008)
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