| Jane Wallas Penfold | |
| Birth Name: | Jane Penfold |
| Birth Date: | 1 November 1820 |
| Birth Place: | Funchal, Madeira, Portugal |
| Death Date: | 9 February 1884 |
| Death Place: | Castle Cary, Somerset |
| Occupation: | Naturalist, Illustrator |
| Nationality: | English |
| Children: | 7, including Lloyd Mathews and Lady Estella Cave |
Jane Wallas Penfold (1 November 1820 - 9 February 1884) was an English naturalist and illustrator. She published Madeira: Flowers, Fruits and Ferns in 1845, which included a poem by William Wordsworth.[1]
Penfold was born in Madeira to wine merchant William Penfold (1776–1835) and mother Sarah Penfold, née Gilbert. She had eight siblings. Her family acquired the Quinta da Achada wine estate on Madeira in the 19th century.[2]
Penfold married Captain William Withey Mathews (1821–1872) at the British Consulate in Madeira in March 1846, followed by a celebration at Castle Cary, Somerset, England on 26 July 1847. They had seven children survived to adulthood, including the botanical artist, Augusta Robley.[3] Penfold lived at Woolston Manor[4] and Crewkerne in Somerset.[5]
Penfold introduced Salvia splendens (t.x.) to Madeira from a "small plant in England". By the 1860s it was "the principal ornamental shrub in most cottage gardens" on the island. The Portuguese used the petals to make a rose-coloured dye.[6]
Penfold published Madeira: Flowers, Fruits and Ferns in 1845, including 20 plates of coloured illustrations by Penfold. It was published by Lovelle Augustus Reeve and was written "to gratify those visitors and residents who take an interest in [Madeiran] productions."[7] It included scientific descriptions of the plants by Rev. W L P Garnons.[8]
William Wordsworth wrote a poem for Penfold on New Year's Day 1843.[9] Titled To a Lady in answer to a request that I would write her a poem upon some drawings that she had made of flowers in the Island of Madeira, which featured in her 1845 book.[10]
It begins:
It is thought that while Penfold didn't know Wordsworth personally, there may have been a Cumbrian family connection.[11] The poem also featured in the Knight edition of Poetical Works of William Wordsworth.
Madeira: Flowers, Fruits and Ferns also included a poem by Mrs Calverley Bewicke, Song of the Madeira Flowers.
A selection of Penfold's illustrations from her 1845 book Madeira Flowers, Fruits and Ferns: