Jane Dormer, born at Eythrope near Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire on 6 January 1538, the daughter of Sir William Dormer (d. 17 May 1575) of Wing, Buckinghamshire, by his first wife, Mary Sidney (died 10 February 1542), the daughter of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, Kent, and Anne Pakenham. She had two brothers, Thomas Dormer and Robert Dormer, and a sister, Anne Dormer, who married Sir Walter Hungerford. She was the granddaughter of Sir Robert Dormer (died 2 or 8 July 1552) and Jane Newdigate, the daughter of John Newdigate (d. 15 August 1528), esquire, of Harefield, Middlesex, by Amphyllis Neville (d. 15 July 1544). Jane Newdigate's brother was the Catholic martyr, Sebastian Newdigate.
