The Brontes At Haworth
Patrick Prunty or Bronty (it's unclear which) was born in Ireland and became a schoolmaster at the age of sixteen. He later won a place at St John's, Cambridge, where he changed his name to Bronte , perhaps influenced by naval hero Lord Nelson, who was made the Duke of Bronte. Later ordained, the Reverend Bronte, and his Cornish wife Maria, took up a living at Thornton, just outside Bradford, where the four youngest of their six children - Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne - were born between 1816 and 1820. Later that year, the Bronte family moved into the draughty parsonage in nearby Haworth. Mrs Bronte died within the year and her sister was despatched to help look after the children. The four oldest girls were sent away to school, but withdrawn after first Maria, then Elizabeth, died after falling ill. The surviving daughters, and smothered Branwell, were kept at home, where they amused themselves by making up convoluted stories and writing miniature books. As they successively came of age, the girls took up short-lived jobs as governesses at various local schools; Charlotte and Emily even spent a year in Brussels, learning French. Branwell , meanwhile, was already sowing the dissolute seeds of his disappointing future: he had a talent for art, but failed to apply to study at the Royal Academy, got into debt, and then spent two years as a junior stationmaster near Halifax but was later dismissed in disgrace. He then took a tutor's job but was dismissed again and retreated to Haworth, where he made himself overly familiar with the beer in the Black Bull and began experimenting with drugs. Charlotte's, Emily's and Anne's continuing attempts to amuse themselves with their writings led to the private publication, in 1846, of a series of poems, paid for using part of a legacy from their aunt. They used the (male) pseudonyms Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell - corresponding to their own initials - and though few copies of the collection were ever sold, the little volume acted as a catalyst. Keeping the pseudonym, Charlotte wrote a novel the same year, which was rejected by various publishers; but her Jane Eyre , submitted in 1847, was an instant success. Emily's Wuthering Heights and Anne's Agnes Grey received similar acclaim the same year; Anne's second novel, the better-known Tenant of Wildfell Hall , was published in 1848. But the next two years destroyed the family, as it was ravaged by consumption. First Branwell, who had sunk ever deeper into addictive misery and ill-health, died in September 1848, followed by Emily in December of that year, and Anne in May of the following year. Charlotte lived on for another six years, writing two more novels - Shirley (1849) and Villette (1853) - and becoming something of a literary figure once she had revealed her identity. Charlotte finally married Reverend Bronte's curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls, who moved into the parsonage, but she died after nine months of marriage in the early stages of pregnancy. The Reverend Bronte lived on until 1861 - the entire family, except Anne (who is buried in Scarborough) lies in the Bronte vault in the village church, next to the house.
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