Lavinia Smith Dr Lavinia Smith was a world - renowned virologist in the mid - to late - 20th century . She was the sister of Africana and Eddie Smith , the sister - in - law of Barbara Smith and the aunt of Sarah Jane Smith . She took care of Sarah after her parents died in 1951 and , after Sarah was grown and on her own , she took another orphan , Brendan Richards , as her ward . Biography . Lavinia Smith had two brothers , Eddie ( TV : " The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith " ) and Africana . ( PROSE : " The Curse of Kanbo - Ala " ) Raising Sarah Jane . She reared her niece , Sarah Jane Smith , after her brother Eddie and his wife Barbara died in a car accident on 18 August 1951 during Sarah ' s infancy . ( PROSE : " Playtime " , TV : " The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith " , " The Day of the Clown " ) She always told Sarah Jane that her parents had been wonderful , loving parents even though they had seemingly abandoned her in her pram before their death . ( TV : " The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith " ) Sarah Jane ' s room at her Aunt Lavinia ' s was well - stocked with vintage toys , including a clown marionette that young Sarah Jane found terrifying . ( TV : " The Day of the Clown " ) When Sarah Jane was about eight years old , she and Lavinia were living in Wolfenden . Lavinia was a good friend of Eddison Clough . They worked together and were both very important scientists . Newspapers and magazines published many articles about their work . The alien Mrs Hendrick stole some of Sarah Jane , Lavinia and Eddison ' s memories . They did not remember that they had been in Wolfenden , and Lavinia and Eddison also forgot about each other . Eddison later found some pictures and newspaper articles about their time there . The articles and pictures helped him to get to know a little about what had happened during his time in Wolfenden . Lavinia , however , never found out that some of her memories were missing . ( AUDIO : " The White Wolf " ) Lavinia published a paper on the teleological response of the virus . As a young journalist , Sarah Jane impersonated Lavinia in order to investigate a mysterious UNIT base while a journalist , unaware that someone at UNIT , namely the Third Doctor , had read and admired the paper . He knew that a person as young as Sarah Jane ( in her early twenties at the time ) could not have written it , as he realised that Sarah Jane must have been five years old when it was written . ( TV : " The Time Warrior " ) Sarah Jane was still sharing Lavinia ' s home on Hill View Road in South Croydon throughout her secretive involvement with UNIT in the 1970s . ( TV : " The Hand of Fear " ) Moreton Harwood . In 1978 , Dr Smith was still living on Hill View Road in South Croydon when she received a mysterious crate addressed to her niece . Not knowing what it contained , she packed it away and took it with her when she moved to the manor house she purchased in the small Gloucestershire village of Moreton Harwood the following year ; she also acquired a half interest in the manor ' s market garden . At some stage , she adopted a ward , Brendan Richards . Valuing education , she sent Brendan to board at Wellington College . Lavinia was not widely liked in Moreton Harwood , as she was intolerant of superstitions and the growing practice of witchcraft , and her letters to the editor of the " Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard " were frequently published . Her closest friends there were Juno Baker and Juno ' s husband Howard , and her partner in the market garden , Commander Bill Pollock ( whom she was unaware was the high priest of the Hecate Cult and nearly sacrificed Brendan ) . Before going on a lecture tour of America in December 1981 , Lavinia had the crate brought down from the attic for Sarah Jane to open when she arrived a few days later . The crate turned out to be from the Doctor . It contained a gift for Sarah Jane , K9 Mark III . ( TV : " A Girl ' s Best Friend " ) Lavinia and Sarah Jane each described the other as " never being in one place long enough to lick a stamp " because of their frequent and extensive travels . ( TV : " A Girl ' s Best Friend " , " The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith " ) By 1983 , Lavinia was living in Oxfordshire . She liked to think of herself as a Miss Marple type , often sending Sarah Jane to investigate and report on her behalf . She sent her niece to Egypt to cover the story of Dr . Warren Martyn ' s archaeological digs . ( COMIC : " City of Devils " ) Death and legacy . According to one account , Dr Smith died in late 1998 . ( PROSE : " Millennium Shock " ) Another source placed her death in 2001 or 2002 . A tree was planted in her honour in Moreton Harwood , and her wake was held at Juno Baker ' s house . Brendan was unable to attend the funeral as he was working in San Francisco . ( AUDIO : " Comeback " ) Lavinia was very wealthy . She left Sarah her house and share of the market garden as well as the royalties from all of her patents . ( AUDIO : " Comeback " ) As Clyde Langer said , " But Sarah Jane ' s loaded , right . All this money from her aunt . The house , " indicating Sarah Jane inherited a substantial bequeath from Lavinia after her death . This apparently helped support her when she entered freelance journalism and established her " base " at 13 Bannerman Road , Ealing . ( TV : " The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith " ) Lavinia ' s niece and ward , Sarah Jane , ultimately followed Lavinia ' s example . Despite being spinsters and never bearing children of their own , they gave loving homes to orphans , each taking in a son and daughter . ( TV : " A Girl ' s Best Friend " , " Invasion of the Bane " , " Sky " )