Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë are famous
figures of English Literature: the three sisters,
who spent a secluded childhood in rural
Yorkshire, grew up to pen some of the most
influential novels of the 19th century, including
‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘The Tenant
of Wildfell Hall’. Their lives were often tinged
with tragedy, yet they produced enduring works
which have stood the test of time.

Early Lives
In 1820, a clergyman named Patrick Brontë
arrived to take the post of rector at the parsonage
in Haworth, West Yorkshire. He brought with
him his wife Maria and their six children: Maria
(born 1814), Elizabeth (born 1815), Charlotte

(born 1816), Patrick (known as Branwell, born
1817), Emily (born 1818) and Anne (born
1820). An ambitious clergyman, Patrick had
already published some works of fiction and
poetry. He had been born Patrick Brunty in
Ireland in 1777, but changed his name to Brontë
(because he believed it sounded more impressive)
when he won a place at Cambridge University.
The Brontës had not been long established in
the parsonage in Haworth when tragedy struck:
Maria, Patrick’s wife, died in 1821 of cancer.
To help with the children, her unmarried sister,
Elizabeth Branwell, moved up from Cornwall to
live with the family.

Schooling
As a clergyman, Patrick Brontë earned only a
small wage and could not afford quality private
schooling for all of his daughters. Instead,
he elected to send the eldest four to a school

where they were taken on as ‘charity children’
in 1824. Cowan Bridge School was not a happy
experience for the four girls: it is believed to be
the inspiration for the miserable Lowood School
in Charlotte’s later novel ‘Jane Eyre’. Among
their experiences, the girls were forced to eat
burnt porridge, wash in freezing bowls of water,

Literary Lives: The Brontës

Haworth Parsonage

The Brontë sisters, painted by their brother, Branwell.

‘Whatever our souls are made of, his and
mine are the same.’ (‘Wuthering Heights’ by
Emily Brontë)

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and were humiliated by staff and other pupils.
There were also constant illnesses and medical
attention was not effective or kind.
In 1825, following a typhoid outbreak, Maria
and Elizabeth contracted tuberculosis at the
school and were sent home, but died within
a week of each other. Charlotte and Emily,
traumatised by the deaths of their sisters, were

subsequently removed from the school.
After this tragedy, the four remaining children,
Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne, remained
at home and were educated by their father and
visiting tutors. Patrick Brontë urged them to
read voraciously, and, perhaps encouraged by
their relatively lonely and isolated lifestyle, they
began to create an imaginary world of their own,
called Angria. The world was originally inspired
by a set of toy soldiers given to Branwell by his
father. The set sparked a wealth of imaginative
stories and ideas, and the children even wrote
tiny books for the soldiers. Later, when Charlotte
left home for school again, Emily and Anne
would create another imaginary world, titled
Gondal, which was ruled by women.
Money remained tight for the family, and it
became obvious that Charlotte, the eldest
surviving daughter, would have to find a way
to earn a living. She was sent to Miss Wooler’s
School in Mirfield in 1831 when she was 14.
This time, school was a happy experience for
Charlotte and she made some lifelong friends.
Three years later, Miss Wooler offered Charlotte
a position at the school and it was decided

that part of her salary would be used to pay
for Emily’s education at the same institution.
Emily, however, did not enjoy the experience as
much as Charlotte and, after three months, she
returned home to Haworth and her sister Anne
took her place.

Charlotte Brontë.

The Brontës in Numbers
2: number of copies the first edition of
‘Poems’ by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell sold.
6: number of children born to Maria and
Patrick Brontë.
200: annual income, in pounds, of Patrick
Brontë.
114,000: amount, in pounds, that a first
edition of ‘Wuthering Heights’ fetched at
auction in 2007.
34,023: number of copies of ‘Wuthering
Heights’ sold in 2009, thanks to a mention
in the ‘Twilight’ series of books.

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The World of Work
Charlotte and Anne both became governesses,
tutoring children in their homes for short
periods of time. Charlotte then had an idea to
start a school of their own, based at the Haworth
parsonage, and decided that it would be useful
to be able to teach modern foreign languages.
As a consequence, she and Emily enrolled in a
boarding school in Brussels for six months in
1842. On the death of their aunt, they returned
to Haworth. Charlotte returned to Belgium
in 1843, where she became infatuated with
Constantin Heger, who ran the Brussels school.
In the end, she resigned her post and returned
to Haworth. She wrote some passionate letters
to her unrequited love from England, but never
received a reply.

Meanwhile, back at home, Branwell had tried
to pursue a career as a painter in Bradford, but
ended up returning to the parsonage in debt.
A couple of other jobs had also ended badly,
and it is believed he had an affair with his

employer’s wife. Anne had secured another post
as a governess, but she decided to leave the role
and return home in 1845.

The return of the siblings coincided with the
decline of their father, whose eyesight had been
badly affected by cataracts. Charlotte devoted
herself to nursing him after an operation on his
eyes, and during this time she began writing in
earnest. The plan to start up a school of their
own never came to fruition; it proved unpopular

and unable to attract pupils.
Publishing Success and Secret Identities
In 1846, Charlotte, Emily and Anne used some
money left by their recently deceased aunt to
publish a volume of their poetry. Titled simply
‘Poems’, it was published under the pseudonyms
Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell in the hope that
these names would not reveal that they were
women. The volume sold only two copies.
Charlotte decided to next write a novel, titled
‘The Professor’, which she sent to publishers
and which was rejected (although it would
be published after her death). Her next novel,
however, titled ‘Jane Eyre’, was immediately
accepted and published in 1847, again under
the pseudonym Currer Bell. It was a great
success and well-received by the public. The
story of a woman, employed as a governess,
who falls in love with her employer and then
discovers a dark secret about him, it drew
heavily on Charlotte’s life experiences.

Emily Brontë

‘I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am
a free human being with an independent
will.’ (‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Brontë)

‘Reading is my favourite occupation, when
I have leisure for it and books to read.’
(‘Agnes Grey’ by Anne Brontë)

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Meanwhile, Emily had written ‘Wuthering
Heights’, the story of a passionate relationship
which spans three generations on the Yorkshire
Moors, which was also published in 1847, also
under her pseudonym, Ellis Bell. This novel,
however, was less well received – some critics
were outraged by the dark and brooding tone of
the work. Despite the mixed reception, however,
it sold well.
‘Wuthering Heights’ was first published as part
of a two-volume set with Anne’s first novel,
‘Agnes Grey’. She also used her pseudonym,
Acton Bell. The novel is about a governess who
works for various families and eventually falls
in love and marries. Although not as celebrated
as the works of her sisters, it was nevertheless
well received by the public.

The success of all three novels fuelled speculation
about the authors, with some claiming the
books were all written by one man. Eventually,

the sisters were compelled to reveal their true
identities, shortly after Anne published her
second novel in 1848, ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall’.
Tragedy Strikes Again
While the sisters were enjoying their publishing
success, Branwell’s life was deteriorating. His
failure at so many jobs had made him depressed,
and he had become increasingly dependent on
alcohol and drugs. He was plagued by nightmares
and his behaviour became erratic. He finally
succumbed to tuberculosis in September 1848,
aged 31. His death was a huge shock to the sisters.
Sadly, the tragic events were not over. After
attending her brother’s funeral, Emily never left
the house again and she, too, died of tuberculosis
just three months later, aged 30. Then, it
became clear that Anne was also extremely ill.
Charlotte nursed her sister carefully but Anne
died during a trip to Scarborough, aged 29.
Devastated by the deaths of her siblings,
Charlotte returned to writing and published
‘Shirley’ in 1849. She had become a literary
celebrity, and met many well-known and
influential people, including the novelists
William Thackeray and Elizabeth Gaskell. She

published her final novel, ‘Villette’, in 1853

Brief Happiness
The curate to her father in Haworth, Arthur
Bell Nichols, fell in love with Charlotte and
proposed to her. Although she initially rejected
his advances, she changed her mind and the
two were married in 1854. However, this
happiness was short-lived: Charlotte died, aged
39, in 1855. The cause of death is uncertain;
it could have been tuberculosis, but may also
have been Hyperemesis Gravidarum – otherwise
known as excessive morning sickness – given
that Charlotte was pregnant.
Patrick Brontë outlived all his children. He
finally died in 1861, aged 84.