Jane Goodall was born in 3 April 1934 in London, England with the name Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall. Her father, Mortimer Herbert Morris-Goodall (1907-2001) was an engineer, later a racing car driver, and her mother, Margaret Myfanwe Joseph (1906-2000), was an author, who wrote under the name Vanne Morris-Goodall. Jane has a younger sister, Judith, who was born on the same day as Jane four years later.

Jane’s father gave her a stuffed chimpanzee toy what she named Jubilee. Although Jane mother’s friends were shocked by the toy and thought she would be scared of it, she was rapturous by it from the first time and brought it everywhere. Goodall claims that her passionate about animal started with this present. She was very interested in animals from a very young age. Once Jane’s whole family was looking for her and it turned out that she was watching laying hens for hours. Jane didn’t have a dog during her childhood but she had a very strong bonding with Rusty, a dog who was living nearby.

After Jane read the book about Doctor Doolittle, a doctor who can communicate with animals, she was dreaming about living with and writing about animals in Africa. She also liked the story of Tarzan and thought she would be a better partner to him than Tarzan’s Jane.

Jane’s father had to go to the war and her parents divorced after it. Later, she spent most of her time in a town, called Bournemouth, with her mother’s family, but also remained a strong relationship with her father and spent time with him as well, in London. Jane remembers as she had a blissful childhood.