Brontë Connections

Patrick Brontë, father of Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell, rose from humble beginnings in County Down, born in 1777, to study at St John’s College, Cambridge, changing his surname from Brunty to the more distinguished Brontë. He married Maria in 1812 and settled in Thornton in 1815, where their younger children were born, before moving to the Parsonage in Haworth in 1820. Patrick and Maria’s children went on to achieve literary greatness: Charlotte with Jane Eyre, Emily with Wuthering Heights (said to be inspired by Top Withens), and Anne with The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, works that remain cornerstones of English literature. You can explore Emily’s novel and its local connections on Visit Bradford’s Wuthering Heights in Haworth.

Life, however, was harsh in the 19th century. Patrick endured the loss of all six of his children at young ages: Emily died at 30, Branwell at 31, Anne at 29, and Charlotte just before her 39th birthday, while two older sisters died in childhood and his wife Maria passed in her thirties. Today, the Parsonage is preserved as the Brontë Parsonage Museum, filled with personal possessions and exhibitions on their lives. Combined with the Brontë association and Haworth’s preservation as a 19th‑century village, it remains a rewarding destination for visitors drawn to the family’s remarkable legacy.