Jane Henrietta (Poitier) Thompson (1736 - aft. 1786)

Born 8 Jun 1736 in London, England

Biography

Jane was born in 1736. She was the daughter of Michael Poitier and Clermonde Lasere.

He father was dancer on the stage in London.

She came to national attention after she married a fellow singer, Joseph Vernon. They married at the Savoy Chapel without reading marriage banns. John Wilkinson, the incumbent of the Savoy Chapel, thought that the terms of the Marriage Act 1753, aimed at clandestine marriages, did not apply to his church as it was a royal peculiar. He ignored the act and continued to issue marriage licenses and to conduct marriages. Poitier and Vernon's marriage was the test case taken to court by the authorities.

She remarried a Mr Thompson.

In 1781 Mrs Thompson refers to her father Mr Poitier as a dancing instructor in London.

In a 1781 advertisement - Saunders's News-Letter December 3, 1781

Dancing taught to Ladies by Mrs Thompson

She is patronised by many of the Nobility, who her father (the late Mr Poitier) had the honour of instructing in London.

She died after 1786.

Sources

• Wikipedia - Jane Poitier
• Dictionary of National Biograhy - Joseph Vernon