BBC Radio Scotland: Jane Cummings - an Anglo-Indian in 1810 Edinburgh

Louise Welsh related the story of Jane Cumming (b. 1795/6), an unhappy illegitimate Anglo-Indian school girl, daughter of George Cumming, eldest son of Lady Helen Cumming Gordon, of Charlotte Square, Edinburgh. George Cumming was working for the East India Company at Patna in India. His early death caused Lady Helen to send for Jane from India with the intention of educating her for some respectable trade. However, in 1810, in Edinburgh, Jane accused her schoolmistresses, Jane Pirie and Marianne Woods, of having a lesbian affair in the presence of their pupils. The accuser's influential grandmother removed Jane from the school & advised her friends to likewise remove their daughters from the school. Within days the school was deserted and the two women had lost their livelihood. Pirie and Woods sued and eventually won, both in court and on appeal, but given the damage done to their lives, their victory was considered hollow. Lillian Hellman based her 1934 play, ‘The Children’s Hour’ on the events. A Hollywood film was made in 1961. The Scotch Verdict: Miss Pirie and Miss Woods V. Dame Cumming Gordon (1983), by Lillian Faderman, recounts the historical incident.