JANE SLADE

Business and Enterprise

Suggested by Hattie Easterbrook

Hattie says, “In the late 19th century Jane ran the Slade family ship building business in Polruan, nr Fowey, Cornwall when it was unusual for women to do such things! She was my great, great, great, perhaps great, grandmother. Daphne Du Maurier was inspired to bring her story to life by immortalising her as “Janet Coombes” in her novel “The Loving Spirit”.

Many Slades still live in and around Polruan, Bodinnick and Fowey.”

From the Fowey Visitor guide:
Jane Slade lived in Polruan in the late 1800’s where she ran a successful boat building business, held shares in several ships and was the first landlady of the Russel Inn in Polruan, a wedding present from her father in 1832.

Jane took on the business after her husband’s death, but wasn’t merely a custodian. She was a serious business woman who had great success through the acquisition of neighbouring boat yards. This story of commercial enterprise, overcoming gender prejudice is admirable today, but even more significant in 19th century England when women couldn’t vote and their property was usually not considered their own.

Before his death, Jane’s husband named a schooner after his wife which carried her figurehead, bringing the crew protection from harsh seas. When Daphne Du Maurier visited Polruan as a holiday destination in the early 20th century, she discovered the wreck of the Jane Slade, rotting away nr Polruan. Du Maurier was struck by the imposing figurehead of Jane Slade and took her as inspiration for the character Janet Combe in her first novel, The Loving Spirit, published in 1931.

The Jane Slade ship’s figurehead, pictured here, can be seen today on the front of Ferryside in Bodinnick.

www.fowey.co.uk/visitor-information/daphne-du-maurier/the-jane-slade-project