First appearances: 1.1: The Journey Begins
Janet was the daughter of Walter Ward, a strict minister who was highly overprotective of his daughters. She had a sister named Abigail, but they seldom got along.  Janet was pursued by Alec King, but her father refused to allow them to court. Janet's Aunt, Eliza Ward, stood up to the reverend and convinced him otherwise.  Alec and Janet were married in 1888.

In 1890, their first daughter, Felicity was born. Alec ran King farm after his father died and they had two more children, Felix and Cecily.  Janet was a caring mother and was especially overprotective of her son, Felix. In winter 1904, Janet gave birth to her second son, Daniel (2.13: Misfits and Miracles).

Janet's Rebellion

In Fall 1905, Janet became inspired by the suffragette movement and led a campaign to bring better wages for the cannery workers. Janet rallied the workers against the deplorable working conditions imposed by the cannery owner, Angus McCorkndale.

Her protests put tremendous stress on her family and her marriage. During a strike, Janet was arrested and imprisoned in Carmody.

When Margaret McCorkndale learned that the cannery was losing money, due to the strike, she forced her husband to accept Janet's terms and increase the workers wages. Janet was released from prison and having won victory, was able to reconcile with Alec (3.6: Aunt Janet Rebels).

Tragedy Strikes the King Family

In winter 1909, Cecily contracted tuberculosis. Alec and Janet had to make the difficult decision of sending Cecily to a sanitarium (5.9: Thursdays Child).

The following year, Alec and Janet received a phone call from Thornhill Sanitatium, notifying them that Cecily was healthy enough to return to Avonlea (6.13: Homecoming).

Secrets and Sacrifices

Janet's sister Abigail returned from the Yukon in 1911 with her husband Malcolm and her son "Lucky" MacEwen. Cecily overheard Abigail comment that Janet pretended to be sick on her honeymoon so that Alec wouldn't be embarrassed about not affording their honeymoon trip.

Alec planned to use money from a stock certificate on a threshing machine, but when Cecily told him about Abigail's conversation, Alec decided to spend the money on Janet. Alec decided that he was going to buy Janet a ring he believed that she wanted.

After several mishaps and misunderstandings, Alec learned that Janet was not interested in the ring after all. Janet refused to accept Alec's gift, but Alec surprised her with the ring as a reminder of how important she was to her family (7.5: Secrets and Sacrifices). Alec and Janet faced changes in their family as Felix joined the Navy and Felicity married Gus Pike.

Despite all the opportunities to leave Avonlea, Alec and Janet remained at King farm with their daughter Cecily.

Avonlea at War

In December 1914, the King family were devastated when they received notice that Felix was missing in action. Janet blamed Alec, claiming that he didn't try to stop Felix from enlisting.

As a result, Janet's growing resentment conflicted sharply with Hetty's support of the war effort. Miraculously, Felix eluded death and returned home to celebrate with his relieved family (Happy Christmas Miss King).