Janet le Brun Brown (Keats) (1900-1985), soprano, was born on her family's property, Riggsdale, near Goulburn, but on account of frailty she was sent to live with her grandparents in Inverell, Moree and Dungog before going to boarding school in the Blue Mountains and Gosford. She met Horace Keats in Sydney, and after hearing her sing at the New Zealand Soldiers Rest Room, he determined to make her his wife. They were married in 1918, and were to live at various addresses in Mosman throughout their lives together. Always addressed as 'Mrs Keats' by their friends, under the name of Barbara Russell she became the principal performer of his songs; he described her as his critic and guide. In 1946, the year after Keats died, Janet married the poet Hugh McRae; their marriage was dissolved two years later.
