Born five years after a string of three brothers, Janey was quite a tomboy and even when 15 was still climbing the mulberry tree. She had a donkey which she rode and also tried to teach to perform tricks. She was the only daughter to be sent to a formal school, Crieff College in Scotland, after which she spent some years in England, staying with her grandmother and aunt at Bramblebury. Like her sister Clara, she was sent to Mr Jago when she developed a weakness in her back, which was successfully treated. She finally left Madeira when her parents retired to England and lived with them at the Carmo, Clapham until she established her own career. She seems to have led quite a busy social life and maintained lots of family ties.