Jane Fairfax was an orphan, the only child of Mrs. Bates’s youngest daughter. The marriage of Lieut. Fairfax, of the – regiment of infantry, and Miss Jane Bates, had had its day of fame and pleasure, hope and interest; but nothing now remained of it, save the melancholy remembrance of him dying in action abroad – of his widow sinking under consumption and grief soon afterwards – and this girl.
– Jane Austen
Emma, Chapter 20. In the backstory of Jane Fairfax’s family, we learn that her military father died abroad and her mother soon after succumbed to consumption and grief. This would have left young Jane in poor financial circumstances, highlighting the difficulties faced then of women with no wealth. There is an allusion to the Napoleonic Wars, in which Jane’s father was killed in action fighting for his country.