The Times/1923/Obituary/Jane Ellen Panton

Mrs. J. E. Panton

Mrs. Jane Ellen Panton, who died on London recently, was the second daughter of W. P. Frith, R.A., the painter of "The Derby Day." Mrs. Panton, who was born on October 18, 1848. was the author of a number of books. Her "Leaves from a Diary" drew a vivid picture of the artistic and literary society of the mid-Victorian period, among which her father, and his family moved. Other works of hers, "Leaves from a Garden," "Leaves from the Countryside," and "The year's Mind," drew very charming pictures of country life as a setting to narrative fiction without the aid of dialogue, a mode employed by her with considerable success. In a different vein, she wrote earlier in life a well-known book, "From Kitchen to Garret," and other kindred works, to which many young housekeepers owed a good deal Mrs. Panton had a vivid and brilliant personality. She was a witty and outspoken conversationalist, with the courage of her opinions, and under a naturally impatient temperament there lay a fund of real kindness and wisdom which was always at the service of her friends, and to which many, especially young people owed much. Mrs. Panton was married to Mr. James Albert Panton, of Wareham, Dorset, who died in 1921, after over fifty years of married life. There were five children of the marriage, of whom two sons and two daughters survive.