The Brontes Chronology

02/12/1776

Elizabeth Branwell was born at Penzance in Cornwall, elder sister of Maria Branwell. She brought the Bronte children up after their mother Maria Branwell (Bronte) died.

17/03/1777

Patrick Bronte was born at Emdale, Drumballyroney, County Down, Ireland.

15/04/1783

Maria Branwell was born at Penzance, Cornwall.

01/10/1802

Patrick Bronte aged 25 registered as a student at St John’s College Cambridge.

03/10/1802

Patrick Bronte a student at St Johns College Cambridge, changed the spelling of his name from Brunty to Bronte.

23/04/1806

Patrick Bronte was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree.

01/01/1809

Patrick Bronte conducted his last parish duty at St Mary Magdalene Church, of Wethersfield in Essex, performing a burial.

He had taken the post of curate in the autumn of 1806.

05/12/1809

Patrick Bronte began his curacy at Dewsbury

29/09/1810

Elizabeth Gaskell who wrote the Life of Charlotte Bronte was born.

29/12/1812

Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell were married at Guiseley Church.

23/04/1814

Maria Bronte, first child of the Bronte family was baptised at Hartshead.

08/02/1815

Elizabeth Bronte, second child of the Bronte family was born at Hartshead.

19/05/1815

The Bronte family moved to the Parsonage at Market Street, Thornton, Bradford.

26/08/1815

Elizabeth Bronte second child of the Bronte family was baptised at Thornton.

21/04/1816

Charlotte Bronte, third child of the Bronte family was born at Thornton.

29/06/1816

Charlotte Bronte third child of the Bronte family was baptised at Thornton.

26/02/1817

Mary Taylor close friend of Charlotte Bronte was born.

26/06/1817

Patrick Branwell Bronte fourth child of the Bronte family was born at Thornton.

30/07/1818

Emily Jane Bronte, fifth child of the Bronte family was born at Thornton.

20/08/1818

Emily Jane Bronte, fifth child of the Bronte family was baptised.

06/01/1819

Arthur Bell Nicholls was born at Killhead, County Antrim, Ireland. He was Charlotte Bronte’s husband.

19/11/1819

The resignation of the Revd. Samuel Redhead from the Perpetual Curacy of Haworth was officially recorded by the Bradford Parish Clerk.

Redhead had the shortest stay lasting just 3 weeks due to outrage in Haworth that he was appointed without consulting the local Trustees. Elizabeth Gaskell wrote:

“A man rode into the church upon an ass, with his face turned towards the tail, and as many old hats piled on his head, as he could possibly carry. He began urging his beast round the aisles, and the screams, and cries, and laughter of the congregation entirely drowned all sound of Mr Redhead’s voice; and, I believe, he was obliged to desist.”

17/01/1820

Anne Bronte, sixth child of the Bronte family was born at Thornton.

25/02/1820

Patrick Bronte was granted perpetual curacy of Haworth.

25/03/1820

Anne Bronte sixth child of the Bronte family was baptised at Thornton.

20/04/1820

The Bronte family moved from Thornton to Haworth Parsonage. The procession of seven carts and one covered wagon led up the Main St (then known as Kirkgate) finishing at Parsonage Lane (now Church St).

21/01/1821

Maria Bronte wife of Patrick Bronte was diagnosed with cancer.

15/09/1821

Maria Bronte wife of Patrick Bronte died at Haworth aged 38.

22/09/1821

Maria Bronte wife of Patrick Bronte, was buried in the family vault at Haworth Parish Church. She had died on 15th September aged 38.

27/11/1821

Patrick Bronte wrote:

“My dear wife was taken dangerously ill on the 29th of January last; and in a little more than seven months afterwards she died. During every week and almost every day of this long tedious interval I expected her final removal. I was left quite alone, unless you suppose my six little children and the nurse and servants to have been company.”

21/04/1823

Patrick Bronte wrote to Mary Burder’s mother in Wethersfield, Essex, explaining the past 14 years of his life, and asking of her family.

His wife Maria had died in 1821, he had met Mary Burder when he was curate of St Mary Magdalene Church in Essex from 1806 – 1809. Patrick with six young children was finding it hard to cope on his own.

21/07/1824

The eldest Bronte girls, Maria and Elizabeth were sent to the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge.

10/08/1824

Charlotte Bronte was sent to the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge.

25/11/1824

Emily Bronte was sent to the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge.

06/05/1825

Maria Bronte first child of the Bronte family died at Haworth of consumption. She was 12 years old.

01/06/1825

The Bronte sisters left the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge; the conditions there were described as disgusting and filthy.

15/06/1825

Elizabeth Bronte died at Haworth aged 10 years.

18/06/1825

Elizabeth Bronte aged 10 was buried at Haworth. She had died on 15th June.

25/07/1825

Timothy Feather was baptised by Patrick Bronte. He became known as the last Hand-loom Weaver and lived all his life at Stanbury.

05/07/1826

Patrick Bronte returned from Leeds and gave a box of toy soldiers to Branwell.

22/04/1828

Martha Brown who was a servant to the Bronte household was born.

12/03/1829

“I am in the Kitchen of the Parsonage house Haworth. Tabby the servant is washing up after breakfast and Anne my youngest sister is kneeling on a chair looking at some cakes which Tabby has been baking for us. Emily is in the parlour brushing it, papa and Branwell are gone to Keighley. Aunt is up stairs in her room and I am sitting by the table writing this in the kitchen.”

Charlotte Bronte – The History of the Year.

13/07/1830

A watercolour still life of wild roses was painted by Charlotte Bronte ‘from Nature’.

22/08/1830

Charlotte Bronte wrote her poem “Morning”.

30/04/1833

Aunt Branwell who brought the Bronte children up made her will. The money helped finance Charlotte, Emily and Anne’s early publications.

24/11/1834

Emily Bronte wrote:

“I fed Rainbow, Diamond, Snowflake Jasper pheasent alias this morning. Branwell went down to Mr Drivers and brought news that Sir Robert Peel was going to be invited to stand for Leeds. Anne and I have been peeling apples for Charlotte to make an apple pudding…..Taby said just now come Anne pillopatate…”

29/07/1835

Charlotte Bronte went as teacher to Miss Wooler’s school Roe Head. Emily accompanied her as a pupil.

01/02/1836

Branwell Bronte was proposed a Freemason.

29/02/1836

Branwell Bronte became a full member of the Three Graces Lodge in Haworth.

22/02/1837

Meeting held in the Sunday School rooms and chaired by Patrick Bronte to repeal the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.

12/03/1837

Charlotte Bronte received a letter from Robert Southey – The Poet Laureate: “Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life: & it ought not to be.”

07/08/1837

Emily Bronte wrote her poem “O God of Heaven! The dream of horror”.

14/05/1838

Branwell Bronte wrote his poem “At dead of midnight drearily”.

04/12/1838

Emily Bronte wrote the poem:

“A little while, a little while,

The noisy crowd are barred away;

And I can sing and I can smile

A little while I’ve holyday!”

18/12/1838

Emily Bronte wrote her poem “The Bluebell”.

12/01/1839

Emily Bronte wrote the poem “The night was dark yet winter breathed….”

26/03/1839

Charlotte Bronte wrote her poem “Life”.

08/04/1839

Anne Bronte became governess for the Ingham family at Blake Hall Mirfield.

12/07/1839

Emily Bronte wrote her poem “And now the house-dog stretched once more”.

30/09/1839

Emily Bronte wrote the poem “The organ swells the trumpets sound”.

14/11/1839

Emily Bronte wrote the poem “Well, some may hate, and some may scorn, And some may quite forget thy name…”.

06/01/1840

Emily Bronte wrote the poem “Thy son is near meridian height, and my sun sinks in endless night…”.

14/02/1840

William Weightman who was Patrick Brontes curate sent Valentines to the three Bronte sisters, the first they had ever received.

31/08/1840

Branwell Bronte was appointed Assistant Clerk at Sowerby Bridge Railway Station near Halifax. His starting salary was £75 a year.

01/03/1841

Emily Bronte wrote her poem “Riches I hold in light esteem and Love I laugh to scorn…”.

02/03/1841

Charlotte Bronte became a governess for the White family who lived at Upperwood House, Rawdon, near Bradford.

01/04/1841

Branwell Bronte was employed as Clerk in Charge of Luddenden Foot station near Hebden Bridge. While there he was known to frequent the Lord Nelson Tavern.

16/07/1841

Emily Bronte wrote her poem “Aye, there it is! It wakes tonight”.

12/12/1841

Charlotte Bronte wrote her poem “Passion”.

08/02/1842

Charlotte and Emily Bronte began their journey to Brussels to stay at the Pensionnat Heger, a finishing school run by the Heger family. Patrick Bronte travelled with them on the journey.

31/03/1842

Branwell Bronte was dismissed from his post as Clerk in charge of Luddenden Foot station near Hebden Bridge. There was a deficit in the station accounts attributed to Branwell Bronte’s incompetence rather than theft.

14/08/1842

William Weightman, Patrick Bronte’s curate performed his last duty at Haworth. He had been visiting the sick and was taken ill with cholera, he died on 6th September 1842.

06/09/1842

William Weightman aged 26, who was Patrick Brontes curate died of cholera, the disease was prevalent in Haworth at the time.

“He was three years curate of Haworth and by the Congregation and Parishioners in general was greatly respected for his orthodox principles, active zeal, moral habits, learning, mildness and affability. His useful labours will long be gratefully remembered by the members of the Congregation and Sunday School Teachers and Scholars.”

10/09/1842

William Weightman who was Patrick Brontes curate was buried. He had died of cholera on 6th September, the disease was prevalent in Haworth at the time.

02/10/1842

A Memorial service was given by Patrick Bronte in memory of William Weightman who had died of cholera on 6th September. Patrick Bronte had loved him as a son.

29/10/1842

Elizabeth Branwell, Aunt to the Bronte children who brought them up, died aged 66.

03/11/1842

Elizabeth Branwell, Aunt to the Bronte children who brought them up, was buried at Haworth. She had died aged 66 on 29th October.

10/11/1842

Anne Bronte wrote her poem “To Cowper”.

26/12/1842

Branwell Bronte attended his last meeting as Mason of the Three Graces Lodge in Haworth.

30/03/1843

Branwell Bronte wrote his poem “Thorpe Green”.

04/08/1843

Charlotte Bronte’s tutor M. Heger presented her with a wood fragment from Napoleon’s coffin.

04/10/1843

Patrick Bronte wrote to the Church trustees about the rumour in Haworth village regarding the lotion he was using for his weak eyesight. Gossip had circulated that the smell was similar to alcohol.

31/10/1843

Anne Bronte wrote her poem “The Captive Dove”.

29/12/1843

Charlotte Bronte received a Diploma from the Pensionnat at Brussels.

01/01/1844

Charlotte Bronte left the Penssionat at Brussels for home. While studying there she had received a Diploma.

03/01/1844

Charlotte Bronte arrived back home at Haworth Parsonage, she had been studying at the Heger’s Pensionnat at Brussels.

11/03/1844

Emily Bronte wrote her poem “The Wanderer from the Fold”.

01/05/1844

Emily Bronte wrote a poem “The linnet in the rocky dells, The moor-lark in the air…”.

18/01/1845

Anne and Branwell Bronte returned to their employment as tutors for the Robinson family at Thorp Green.

03/02/1845

Emily Bronte wrote her poem “The Philosopher”.

03/03/1845

Emily Bronte wrote her poem “Remembrance”.

10/04/1845

Emily Bronte wrote her poem “Death”.

14/04/1845

Emily Bronte wrote the poem Stars: “….All through the night, your glorious eyes were gazing down in mine,…”

18/05/1845

The Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls aged 26 was appointed Curate at Haworth with a salary of £100 per annum. He married Charlotte Bronte in 1854.

20/05/1845

Anne Bronte wrote her poem “If this be all”.

18/06/1845

Branwell Bronte returned to his employment as tutor with the Robinson family at Thorp Green. While there he had an affair with Mrs Robinson.

17/07/1845

Branwell Bronte was dismissed from his post as tutor for the Robinson family at Thorp Green. It had been discovered that while there, he had an affair with Mrs Robinson.

02/01/1846

Emily Bronte wrote her poem “No coward soul is mine, No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere…”.

25/01/1846

Emily Bronte wrote the poem, “No coward soul is mine No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere…”.

06/02/1846

Charlotte Bronte sent a manuscript of poems to Messrs. Aylott and Jones publishers. They used the pseudonym of Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell.

06/04/1846

Charlotte Bronte wrote to publisher Aylott & Jones:

“C.E & A Bell are now preparing for the Press a work of fiction – consisting of three distinct and unconnected tales which may be published together as a work of 3 vols. of ordinary novel-size, or separately as single vols – as shall be deemed most advisable.”

09/04/1846

Branwell Bronte visited the Halifax Guardian and placed an advert for a post that would take him abroad.

07/05/1846

First printed copies of the Book of “Poems” by Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte arrived at the Parsonage. They had used the pseudonym of Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell.

26/05/1846

Mrs Robinson’s husband died, she had a relationship with Branwell Bronte and news of the death gave Branwell hope of marriage.

04/07/1846

The published Bronte Poems using the pseudonym of Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell received favourable criticism. Only two copies were sold.

26/08/1846

Surgeons performed an operation on Patrick Bronte’s cataracts at Manchester. The operation was successful and after a month convalescing he was able to read again.

14/09/1846

Emily Bronte wrote the poem “Why ask to know the date – the clime?”.

13/12/1846

Branwell Bronte through heavy drinking had incurred debts. Officers charged him to pay the debt off or go to prison. The Bronte family had to bail him out.

15/12/1846

Charlotte Bronte wrote:

“I hope you are not frozen up; the cold here is dreadful. I do not remember such a series of North-Pole days. England might really have taken a slide up into the Arctic Zone; the sky looks like ice; the earth is frozen; the wind is as keen as a two-edged blade.”

25/12/1846

Music I love–but never strain

Could kindle raptures so divine,

So grief assuage, so conquer pain,

And rouse this pensive heart of mine–

As that we hear on Christmas morn,

Upon the wintry breezes borne…..

more here…

Music On Christmas Morning – Poem by Anne Bronte, published in the 1846 collection Poems By Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell under Anne’s nom de plume ‘Acton Bell’.

04/07/1847

The manuscripts of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and Anne’s Agnes Grey were sent to the publishers; T.C. Newby. They were published in December 1847.

15/07/1847

Charlotte Bronte sent the manuscript of the “Professor” to the publisher Smith, Elder and Co. Cornhill. It was not published.

24/08/1847

Charlotte Bronte’s manuscript of Jane Eyre was sent to the publisher Smith, Elder and Co. Cornhill.

16/10/1847

Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre was published under the pseudonym Currer Bell.

19/10/1847

Charlotte Bronte received copies of her published novel “Jane Eyre”.

10/12/1847

Charlotte Bronte received payment for her novel Jane Eyre which was published on 16th October 1847.

14/12/1847

Emily and Anne received six published copies of their novels, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey from their publishers.

08/07/1848

Charlotte and Anne Bronte visited London to meet their publisher and revealed their true identity. The Bronte sisters had been using the pseudonyms Acton Currer and Bell.

22/07/1848

Anne Bronte finished the preface to the second edition of her novel the Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

28/09/1848

Branwell Bronte was buried in the family vault at Haworth Parish Church. He had died on 24th September aged 31. The service was conducted by William Morgan.

16/11/1848

Emily Brontes health was poor. Charlotte Bronte wrote of her sister having difficulty breathing and pains in her chest.

19/12/1848

Emily Bronte died at 2 o’clock in the afternoon. She was 30 years old.

22/12/1848

Emily Bronte was buried in the family vault at Haworth Parish Church. She had died on 19th December aged 30.

05/01/1849

Anne Bronte caught influenza, consumption was diagnosed in both lungs.

24/05/1849

Charlotte and Anne Bronte went to Scarborough with Ellen Nussey. Anne’s health was declining.

28/05/1849

Anne Bronte died at 2 o’clock in the afternoon aged 29 at Scarborough.

30/05/1849

Anne Bronte was buried at St Mary’s churchyard Castle Hill Scarborough. She had died on 28th May aged 29.

28/08/1849

The lack of fresh water in Haworth was a concern. Patrick Bronte had prepared a petition which was sent to the General Board of Health in London in an effort to improve sanitation.

29/08/1849

Charlotte Bronte completed her novel Shirley.

09/10/1849

Patrick Bronte sent a second petition to the General Board of Health in London about the poor sanitation in Haworth.

26/10/1849

Charlotte Bronte’s novel Shirley was published under the pseudonym Currer Bell.

05/02/1850

Patrick Bronte wrote to the General Board of Health in London asking them to survey the water supply in Haworth.

02/04/1850

Benjamin Herschel Babbage travelled to Haworth to examine the sanitary condition of the village on behalf of the General Board of Health.

04/04/1850

Benjamin Herschel Babbage Inspector of the General Board of Health in London opened his investigation on the state of the water supply in Haworth. His report found the sanitation was poor, open sewers coursing down Main St and water leaching from the graveyard into the main source of drinking water.

27/04/1850

Patrick Bronte wrote: ” I have been rather uneasy by information from Mr Nicholls, respecting a path leading through the Church lands to the Mill”.

22/05/1850

Charlotte Bronte wrote of her dead sister Emily Bronte:

“For my part I am free to walk on the moors – but when I go out there alone – everything reminds me of the times when others were with me and then the moors seem a wilderness, featureless, solitary, saddening – My sister Emily had a particular love for them , and there is not a knoll of heather, not a branch of fern, not a young bilberry leaf not a fluttering lark or linnet but reminds me of her.”

09/06/1850

Charlotte Bronte met the Duke of Wellington at the Chapel Royal London.

13/06/1850

Charlotte Bronte sat for her portrait. She was drawn by the artist George Redmond.

09/06/1851

Charlotte Brontë wrote to her father about her visit to the Great Exhibition:

“Yesterday I went for the second time to the Crystal Palace. We remained in it about three hours, and I must say I was more struck with it on this occasion than at my first visit. It is a wonderful place – vast, strange, new and impossible to describe. Its grandeur does not consist in one thing, but in the unique assemblage of all things. Whatever human industry has created you find there, from the great compartments filled with railway engines and boilers, with mill machinery in full work, with splendid carriages of all kinds, with harness of every description, to the glass-covered and velvet-spread stands loaded with the most gorgeous work of the goldsmith and silversmith, and the carefully guarded caskets full of real diamonds and pearls worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.”

08/09/1851

Patrick Bronte wrote again to the General Board of Health regarding sanitation in Haworth: “Yet after, tedious delay, they, have, as far as we know done almost nothing – We might have thought that this arose from a press of more urgent business, had it not been, that we have learned from good authority, that their salutatory rules have been adopted, and enforced, in various other places where there was less necessity for them”.

29/03/1852

Charlotte Bronte completed the first draft of her novel “Villette”.

23/05/1852

Charlotte Bronte visited Filey staying at the same lodgings she and Ellen Nussey had stayed after Anne’s death. Charlotte went to visit Anne’s grave and discovered a number of errors on the Gravestone, in particular Anne’s age, the date on the stone is 28, she was 29 when she died.

13/12/1852

Arthur Bell Nicholls proposed to Charlotte Bronte. Charlotte informed her father who was not pleased about the marriage proposal. She wrote to Nicholls rejecting him.

28/01/1853

Charlotte Bronte’s novel Villette was published.

31/01/1853

Patrick Bronte wrote a reference on behalf of A.B. Nicholls to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. He said that Nichols had been his curate for seven years and had ‘behaved himself wisely, soberly and piously.’

Nicholls had applied to the SPG for a missionary post in Australia after Charlotte turned down his proposal of marriage.

23/02/1853

A.B. Nicholls wrote to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel enquiring whether his application for a missionary posting had been received as he had not had a reply.

25/05/1853

Revd. A. B. Nicholls was presented with a pocket watch, inside the cover is inscribed: “Presented to the Revd. A. B. Nicholls by the teachers scholars and congregation of St Michael’s Haworth Yorkshire May 25th 1853”.

19/09/1853

Elizabeth Gaskell who wrote “The life of Charlotte Bronte” visited Charlotte Bronte at Haworth.

11/04/1854

Arthur Bell Nicholls proposed to Charlotte Bronte who accepted.

28/04/1854

Patrick Bronte wrote a testimonial for William Brown asserting his competence as a sexton.

29/06/1854

Charlotte Bronte and Arthur Bell Nicholls were married at Haworth Church at 8.00am in the morning. 2004 wedding re-enactment here…

01/08/1854

Charlotte Bronte and Arthur Bell Nicholls returned to Haworth from their honeymoon in Ireland. They were married on 29th June 1854.

29/11/1854

Charlotte Bronte and her husband Arthur Nicholls walked to what is now known as the Bronte waterfalls. Charlotte had wished to see the waterfall in all its glory as heavy rain and melting snow had turned the water into a “perfect torrent”.

30/01/1855

Charlotte Bronte was examined by Dr Mc Turk and was found to be pregnant.

17/02/1855

Tabitha Ackroyd “Tabby” faithful servant of the Bronte family died aged 85. She did not marry or have children, she is recorded on the 1851 census as “Unmarried”.

21/02/1855

Tabitha Ackroyd “Tabby” faithful servant of the Bronte family was buried at Haworth aged 85. She had died on 17th February 1851. She did not marry or have any children.

31/03/1855

Charlotte Bronte died at Haworth, she was 38 years of age.

There’s no use in weeping,

Though we are condemned to part:

There’s such a thing as keeping

A remembrance in one’s heart:

Parting by Charlotte Bronte

04/04/1855

Charlotte Bronte was buried in the family vault at Haworth Parish Church. She had died on 31st March aged 38.

20/06/1855

Patrick Bronte made his own will.

23/07/1855

Elizabeth Gaskell visited Haworth to meet Patrick Bronte to discuss the biography of Charlotte Bronte.

13/08/1855

John Brown was buried in the Churchyard. Arthur Nicholls officiated, Patrick Brontë sat with Mrs. Mary Brown and Martha Brown in the Bronte pew.

02/10/1856

Elizabeth Gaskell wrote of Charlotte Bronte:

“leaving all authorship on one side, her character as a woman was unusual to the point of being unique. I never heard or read of anyone who was for an instant, or in any respect, to be compared to her. And everything she did and every word she said and wrote bore the impress of this remarkable character.”

07/02/1857

The manuscript of the “Life of Charlotte Bronte” by Elizabeth Gaskell was completed.

24/02/1857

Patrick Bronte carried out his last marriage service at Haworth church.

25/03/1857

The “Life of Charlotte Bronte” by Elizabeth Gaskell was published.

06/06/1857

Charlotte Bronte’s previously rejected novel “The Professor” was published.

21/08/1857

With regard to the statement that Mr Brontë, in his desire to bring up his children simply and heartily, refused to permit them to eat flesh meat he asserts that Nancy Garr alleges that the children had meat daily, and as much of the food as they chose. The early article from which they were restrained was butter, but its want was compensated for by what is known in Yorkshire as “spice-cake,” a description of bread which is the staple food at Christmas for all meals but dinner.

“I did not know that I had an enemy in the world, much less one who would traduce me before my death. Everything in that book “the biography of his daughter” which relates to my conduct to my family is either false or distorted. I never did commit such acts as are ascribed to me. I stated this in a letter which I sent to Mrs Gaskell, requesting her at the same time to cancel the false statements about me in the next edition of her book. To this I received no other answer than that Mrs Gaskell was unwell, and unable to write.”

Extract printed in the Daily News England), Friday, August 21, 1857

30/10/1859

Patrick Bronte preached his last sermon from the pulpit of Haworth Church

07/06/1861

Patrick Bronte died at Haworth. He was 84.

12/06/1861

Patrick Bronte was buried in the family vault at Haworth Church. He had died on the 7th June aged 84.

01/10/1861

The auction of Bronte household items took place in Haworth.

25/08/1864

Arthur Bell Nichols married again.

12/11/1865

Elizabeth Gaskell who wrote the Life of Charlotte Bronte died. 360 degree view of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Grave here…

16/11/1865

Elizabeth Gaskell who wrote the Life of Charlotte Bronte was buried at Brook Street Chapel in Knutsford. She had died on November 12th 1865. 360 degree view of Elizabeth Gaskell’s Grave here…

18/10/1879

Mr James Ackroyd put up for auction the wood taken from the demolished Bronte Church. According to the report of the sale, the bulk of it did not fetch the price of even ordinary wood, and some of the best oak beams were reserved. It was stated, however, that several pieces had been disposed of at fancy prices previous to the sale.

19/01/1880

Martha Brown servant of the Brontes died aged 52.

09/01/1890

Mme Heger died in Brussels. The family ran the Pensionnat Heger, a finishing school in Brussels which Charlotte and Emily Bronte had attended.

01/03/1893

Mary Taylor close friend of Charlotte Bronte died.

16/12/1893

The Bronte society was founded in Bradford. The first meeting took place in Bradford Town Hall on Saturday December 16th at 3pm, and was attended by more than 50 people.

18/05/1895

The first Bronte Museum opened on the upper floor of the Yorkshire Penny Bank at Haworth. The building is now the Tourist Information Centre.

26/11/1897

Ellen Nussey, Charlotte Bronte’s life long friend died aged 80

02/12/1906

Arthur Bell Nicholls husband of Charlotte Bronte died. He was 87.

02/02/1909

“Dr Wilson says the Rev. John Wade Mr Story’s predecessor told him that when the Church was rebuilt in 1880 all bodies were removed from the interior of the Church keeping that of Mr Charnock and those of the Bronte family. Rev P.B lies about the chancel steps and Charlotte Emily etc under the large pillar on the right. Vault covered with concrete for foundation of pillar.”

05/03/1914

The portrait of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte, painted by Branwell Bronte was exhibited for the first time at the National Portrait Gallery. It had been presumed lost. After Charlotte Bronte died her husband Rev. Nichols took the picture to Ireland. In 1914 it was discovered folded in a cupboard, the creases are visible on the picture.

29/03/1927

Haworth old church

“When, in the late seventies of the last century, it was contemplated to pull down the historic old church at Haworth there was much opposition to the project, and others were even made by wealthy people to build a new church not far away if the old one could be preserved. It was of no avail, and the faculty was obtained from the Bishop of Ripon, and the last service was held in September, 1879. By Christmas the quaint old edifice in which the noted evangelist had ministered for 21 years (1742-63), and the father of the gifted Brontë sisters at a later period for 41 years (1820-61) had been razed to the ground, and the ceremony of foundation stones was performed. What a furore this caused is testified by the older people, who read eagerly what appeared in the correspondence columns of the leading journals of that day now about half a century ago.

The Rectory

At that time Bret Harte, the renowned American author and humorist, was consul in Glasgow, and he made a special visit to Haworth and wrote a powerful appeal for the preservation of the church. One wonders what will happen to the Rectory. Will it, after all, become the proud possession of the Brontë Society, and thus be preserved as the headquarters and the Museum of that virile organisation? The present premises are far too small for the priceless things they already possess, and to have the rooms in which the immortal works were written would indeed be a valued possession comparable to Shakespeare’s birthplace at Stratford-on-Avon.”

Telegraph and Argus article by Jonas Bradley 29th March 1927

04/08/1928

The Parsonage at Haworth was officially handed over to the Bronte Society.

14/06/1929

Probably the only living school-fellow of the Brontë sisters, Mr John Rushworth, a retired cartwright of Denholme, Yorks will shortly enter his 96th year. He spent his childhood at Haworth (near Denholme) during the vicariate of the Rev Patrick Brontë, and at the village school which he attended the Rectory children were also pupils. “I knew all the Brontë’s,” he told a “Daily Chronicle” representative who called upon him in his little cottage in Commercial Street last evening. “Charlotte and her sisters went to school when I did, though I did not see much of them there. The school was only one room and a partition divided boys from girls. “I remember Mr Brontë well. We used to have to go to church every day after lessons, and he would preach to us. But I can tell you it was a surprise when we got to know that Charlotte and Emily Brontë were authoresses. We could not believe it at first.”

In spite of his age, Mr Rushworth’s only infirmity is deafness. He is not teetotal and still enjoys his pipe. “I think I am so well,” he said, “because I always drink at gill of milk every day. It’s only these last 10 years that I have not been as active as I used to be. Why, at 70 I could jump a six-foot wall.”

Note by Jonas Bradley: “Did the Brontë children ever attend that school at Haworth? There is no record of it.”

10/08/1929

“The manuscript of Charlotte Brontë’s “The Violet” was sold at Sotheby’s on Monday for £250. At the foot of the preface is written, “A Book of Rhymes, by Charlotte Brontë, alias the Marquess of Douro-begun November 8, 1830, finished November 14, 1830.”

Yorkshire Evening News 10th August 1929

25/12/1929

In a cavity beneath a stone at the east end of Haworth church is a sealed bottle containing documents and coins of the Christmas of 50 years ago. It was placed there by Mr George Merrall on the occasion of the laying of the foundation-stone of the present church on Christmas Day of 1879, by Mr Michael Merrall, of Lawhouse. That ceremony was the culmination of a memorable year, and followed a bitter controversy over the demolition of the old church of the Brontë’s, which aroused tremendous interest and agitation throughout the country.

Records of the event show that the ceremony was witnessed by over 1000 people. The rector of Haworth (the Rev J Wade), who had been a central figure in the dispute over the old church, presented Mr Michael Merrall with a silver mallet with which to perform the ceremony. The church was opened in 1881.

Printed in the Bradford Telegraph 23rd December 1929

21/05/1930

Thousands of Brontë lovers who make an annual pilgrimage to Far Withens, on the Stanbury Moors, will receive a big shock when they learn that the Brontë Society cannot agree that it is in fact the original of Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights.”

The point arises out of the decision of Keighley Corporation to fence off Far Withens because of danger of the building collapsing, and to leave it to decay. Representatives of the Brontë Society tell me that even if Far Withens is a genuine relic of the Brontë’s they have not the necessary funds for its restoration.

Recently it has been claimed that the setting for “Wuthering Heights” was an old Hall at Southowram where Emily Brontë was governess, and point is lent to this theory by the presence there of a Gateway and statuettes which are described in the novel. The interior scenes were taken from Ponden Hall, Stanbury-a claim substantiated by chairs and other articles from Ponden Hall, now in the Brontë Museum here, and which are minutely described by Miss Brontë.

Bradford Chronicle 21st May 1930

12/07/1930

Mr John Toothill of Haworth better known as “Jack Tooit,” whose death took place yesterday at the age of 87 was a notorious practical joker. He was a village barber, and in the days of the penny shave a man with a weeks growth of beard came into his shop and asked if he could have a shave, though he possessed only a halfpenny. “Tooit ” solemnly lathered the man, shaved half his face, ran the back of the razor over the remainder of his cheek and then allowed his half shaved customer to go. When the customer discovered his plight he admitted “Tooit ” had had the better of him, borrowed a penny from a friend, and went back for a complete shave, which thus cost him three-halfpence.

He was always proud of his association with the Rev Patrick Brontë, rector of Haworth and father of the famous novelist sisters, for it was to his father’s shop that the rector used to come to be shaved. “Many’s the time I’ve lathered him,” Jack used to say, and he was never tired of recalling those old days. On one occasion when Mr Brontë was under the razor a well-known churchman came into the shop, and finding a large number of customers present he vowed in terms more expressive than polite that he would not have entered if he had known that the shop had been so crowded. Mr Brontë at once rebuked him for his unbecoming language, and said that he ought to read his Bible more. “Nay” said the offender, “I’ve a book at hooam that taks a lot moor hod o’ me than t’Bible.” “Oh, and what is that?” Asked Mr Brontë. “Tick book,” replied the man to the uproarious delight of the customers. Mr Brontë fully appreciated the local significance of the answer, and gave his parishioner a Florin.

24/04/1939

James Roosevelt, the son of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, visited the Parsonage.

19/05/1989

The Bronte bridge was destroyed by a flash flood. It was rebuilt in 1990.

About the Bronte Bridge and Waterfall here…

23/07/1997

Ann Crier MP (Keighley 1997 – 2010) gave her maiden speech to the House of Commons about her concern over the condition of Top Withens, which had been de-listed in 1992 on the recommendation of English Heritage:

“I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to speak briefly on a subject that has caused me some concern over the past two years. I also want to record my gratitude to my hon. Friend the Minister for replying to the debate: he must have many calls on his time in such a busy Department.

For the benefit of those less fortunate hon. Members who do not live in the West Riding, let me begin by explaining what and where Top Withens is. Top Withens, or what remains of it, is a much loved ruin–a sort of last outpost of human endeavour–standing in grand isolation on a vast windswept moor-top above the hamlet of Stanbury, which in turn stands above Haworth. All that is in my constituency.

Haworth contains the parsonage, now a museum, which is dedicated to the life and work of the Brontee sisters. Emily Brontee wrote her passionate, haunting book “Wuthering Heights” there, and a family friend, Ellen Nussey, subsequently explained that Emily had had Top Withens in mind when she described the position of Wuthering Heights with its “pure, bracing ventilation”. Although there are differences in the architecture of the two buildings, Withens remains a point of pilgrimage for Brontee enthusiasts from around the world, and a focal point for walkers, as it stands yards from the Pennine way national trail.”

Full article (House of Commons 23 July 1997) by Ann Cryer MP (Keighley) concerning the condition of Top Withens here…

About Top Withens here…

10/04/2013

Charlotte Bronte’s I’ve been wandering in the greenwoods, dated 14 December 1829, written when she was just 13 sold at auction for £92,450.