Jane was born to John and Jane Swallow on the last day of 1875. The family were living in Little Hadham and Jane was the eldest of eight children. The majority of her siblings would later move to the USA but Jane would remain at home. However some of her grandchildren would also emigrate to shores further afield.

Jane first appears in the 1881 census living at The Ford in Little Hadham with her parents. Ten years later the 1891 census has her residing at Chapel Hill in Little Hadham. At that point she was working as a General Servant aged just 15.

By 1901 she was working at living at the Union Workhouse in Bishops Stortford as a Domestic Servant and on the 4th August of that year she gave birth to what would her only child - Howard Walter Johnson Swallow. The father of the child remains unknown. Could it be that the name of the father lay in the middle two names? This may be a mystery that is never solved.

The 1911 census has Jane in residence in Ware at Melbourne Villa in the High Road. Details of the Union Workhouse can be found using the links below. However, today it is the Herts and Essex Hospital and quite likely has seen the passage of many local Swallow's through its doors down the years.  

Link to: Union Workhouse History

Link to: Bishops Stortford Workhouse Layout