Jane Windeyer

Jane Windeyer (1865–1950) was the second eldest daughter of politician and judge Sir William Charles Windeyer (1834–1897) and his wife, Mary (née Bolton, 1837–1912), a leading campaigner for women’s rights. Born in Sydney, Jane spent much of her childhood living with her paternal grandmother, Maria Windeyer, at Tomago, the family estate in the Hunter Valley. Jane was educated privately but – curiously, given her parents’ prominent support of higher education for women – never attended university. When her mother died in 1912, Jane returned to Sydney and took up residence with her younger sister, Margaret, in Elizabeth Bay. Margaret Windeyer (1866–1939) had followed her mother into the women’s rights movement and was an integral member of organisations such as the Womanhood Suffrage League and the National Council of Women (NSW). Jane and Margaret never married; Jane acted as her sister’s companion and assisted Margaret in her charity work. When Margaret died in 1939, Jane catalogued her letters for presentation to the State Library of New South Wales (where Margaret had worked as a librarian between 1901 and 1927). Jane was also a collector, amassing a collection of approximately 2000 bookplates which was donated to the Sydney University Library in the 1940s. She died in Sydney in 1950.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Gift of the Windeyer family 2012