Lady Jean Skipwith (1748-1826) of Virginia owned:
Elements of botany; or, Outlines of the natural history of vegetables by Benjamin Smith Barton
The gardeners dictionary containing the best & newest methods of cultivating & improving the kitchen, fruit, flower garden, & nursery; ... The eighth edition, revised & altered according to the latest system of botany by Philip Miller
The Botanist's calendar, & pocket flora : arranged according to the Linnæan system. To which are added references to the best figures of British plants
Lady Jean Skipwith's library is one of the very few known southern women's libraries from the colonial period, and is certainly the largest collection assembled by a Virginia woman. Although little is known of Jean Skipwith's education, her passion for books is obvious. Numerous invoices, lists and inventories, most contained in the Skipwith Family Papers in the library of the College of William and Mary, have allowed the library to be outlined in great detail. A bibliography of the collection can be found in Mildred K. Abraham, "The Library of Lady Jean Skipwith: A Book Collection from the Age of Jefferson." The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 91:3 (July, 1983), pp. 296-347.
Lady Jean Skipwith was born Jane Miller; her father Hugh Miller was a Scottish tobacco merchant who lived in Virginia from 1746 to 1760, and her mother Jane was a member of the well-known Bolling family. Following his wife's death, Hugh Miller returned to Glasgow with his five young children; he died there in 1762. Jean (she had changed her name) lived in Scotland until around 1786, then moved briefly to Liverpool before returning to the Elm Hill plantation in Virginia which had been inherited from her father.
Lady Jean Skipwith was born Jane Miller; her father Hugh Miller was a Scottish tobacco merchant who lived in Virginia from 1746 to 1760, and her mother Jane was a member of the well-known Bolling family. Following his wife's death, Hugh Miller returned to Glasgow with his five young children; he died there in 1762. Jean (she had changed her name) lived in Scotland until around 1786, then moved briefly to Liverpool before returning to the Elm Hill plantation in Virginia which had been inherited from her father.
In 1788, Jean married Sir Peyton Skipwith of Mecklenburg County, VA (1740-1805). Skipwith, one of the wealthiest men in Virginia, had previously been married to Jean's sister Anne (1742/3-1779). Lady Jean gave birth to four children in five years (all after the age of forty), and by 1797 had moved her family from Elm Hill to her husband's new plantation, Prestwould, which still stands. Detailed records of household purchases and garden notes (not to mention her library records) reveal Lady Jean's wide-ranging interests and occupations. Following her husband's death in 1805, Lady Jean remained at Prestwould until she died in 1826, aged 78.
