Today, almost no-one in Australia will have heard of Jane New, but in her own time, she was probably the most famous woman in New South Wales. Known for her exceptionally striking beauty, she was indeed, a “loin-stirrer”, as Marcus Clarke refers to her in his monumental, and monumentally flawed, History of Australia. However, beyond being footnoted to history with this brief epithet, there was a lot more to New and the events surrounding her than her looks. Her tale was certainly one that captured the adventurous imaginations of her day, but more than stirring romantic fantasies, the issues involving her stirred nothing less than movements for independence from Britain, after helping to ensure a messy end to Ralph Darling’s governance, as New South Wales was progressing from regimental to civil leadership. Her tragic end was as mysterious as the events that gave rise to her celebrity, but New’s story provides revelations about life for a woman in her time, the reality of which is far more fascinating than either the fantastical tales or dismissive footnotes that later came to define her.
