I wish my readers a Happy New Year.

 

The New Year card pictured here is typical of the expanding range of greetings cards that appeared after 1840 when Rowland Hill invented the idea of postage stamps. At first there was just one stamp and this was called the Penny Black. It cost a penny and with this a letter could be sent anywhere in the country. Before the stamp was invented, it was far more costly to send a letter because the person who received the letter paid for the postage and the amount depended on how far a letter had travelled.

So with the cheaper postage, many more people started sending letters as well as greetings cards. The first Christmas card was sent in 1843 and it soon became a popular custom. Letters and cards were the only way of keeping in touch because telephones were not invented until 1876 and even then were not common in Victorian homes.

With the arrival of the penny post, streets had to be given name plates and houses numbers so that the postmen knew where to deliver letters. Post boxes (the first ones were green) appeared on street corners and people began to fit post boxes in their front doors so that letters could be delivered.

Celebrate the 200th Wedding Anniversary of Maria and Patrick Brontë

 

 

Today, December 29th, at the Brontë Parsonage Museum:

December 29, 2012 is the 200th anniversary of the day that Patrick Brontë and Maria Branwell - parents of Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne - married at Guiseley Church, West Yorkshire.

To mark the occasion the Brontë Parsonage Museum is offering a day of free activities – and a piece of wedding cake! – to all visitors.

• Meet ‘Mrs Brontë’ as she tours the Museum in her wedding dress

• Listen to a short talk about Maria and Patrick’s courtship and wedding at intervals throughout the day

• Handle real period costume items

• Enjoy children’s activities in the foyer

• And partake of a free slice of commemorative wedding cake!

Mrs Brontë will be at the Museum between 11am and 4pm, and is available for pictures outside the church, in the Museum and in the Museum garden.

Mrs Brontë herself discuss what she will wear for the occasion on Hathaways of Haworth.

Picture Source: Hathaways of Haworth. More information in Keighley News.
bronteblog

A double wedding anniversary celebration

 

A double wedding anniversary celebration will be held at Haworth Parish Church tomorrow.
It will be 200 years since the Reverend Patrick Brontë, father of the famous sisters, married his wife Maria. He was vicar at Haworth from 1820 to 1861. It will also be 39 years since the current Priest-in-Charge, the Reverend Peter Mayo-Smith and his wife Eileen, were married.
To mark Patrick Brontë’s double-centenary the bell-ringers at the parish church will carry out a two-and-three-quarter- hour full peal.
Simon Burnett, the Haworth Church bell captain, said: “A full peal of bell involves 5,040 changes in various methods.”
Earlier in the day, the bell-ringers at Guiseley Parish Church, where Patrick and Maria were married, will also be attempting a full peal.The moors, my mistress
---------------------------
When her parents died, Maria had to look for a job. In 1812 her aunt Jane Fennell, who was housekeeper at the Woodhouse Grove School at Rawdon in Yorkshire, invited Maria to assist her. Maria accepted and left Penzance to start a new life. John Fennell, Jane's husband and Maria's uncle, was a methodist minister and the headmaster of the school. In 1812 he invited his former colleague Patrick Bronte to visit the school. Here, he met Maria and after a short courtship the couple were married on 29th December 1812. It was a double ceremony as John and Jane's daughter, Jane Branwell Fennell, also got married to the Reverend William Morgan. On that same day, but in Penzance, Joseph and Charlotte Branwell, two cousins of the brides, got married as well.
history and other thoughts
 

Charlotte Brontë letters to her bff return to Haworth

A set of six rare and significant letters written at various stages in her life by Charlotte Brontë to her best friend Ellen Nussey are headed back to the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth on the Yorkshire moors, which was for many years the family’s home. The museum had to bid for them at Sotheby’s English Literature, History, Children’s Books & Illustrations sale on December 12th, and since the letters are highly desirable, the bidding was fierce. Thankfully they had a grant to get them over the hump.

The reason these six letters (and a first edition of the two-volume 1857 biography of Charlotte Brontë by Elizabeth Gaskell which was also part of the lot, but that was a negligible part of the value) are so dear is that Charlotte’s letters to Ellen are the basis for much of the Brontë scholarship that exists today.

Ellen kept all of the letters Charlotte wrote her, more than 500 in the final tally. Charlotte’s husband, her father’s curate Rev. Arthur Bell Nichols, wanted the letters destroyed after Charlotte’s death, fearing that they would somehow tarnish her reputation. Nussey refused, bless her forever for that. For the rest of her life — she died at the age of 80 in 1897 — Ellen considered herself a custodian of Charlotte’s personal and literary legacy, and biographers from Elizabeth Gaskell onward sought Ellen out for her recollections and correspondence.

After her death, the letters were sold, many of them ending up in the Haworth museum collection. These particular six were lent to Elizabeth Gaskell who apparently put them between the covers of the first edition of her biography of Charlotte and forgot about them. They were only recently rediscovered when the volumes, then in a private collection, were opened and the letters found out. They’ve only been known from poorly made transcripts until now, all of them inaccurate, so having the originals is an important addition to Brontë scholarship.
The letters cover the entire span of their friendship.
Read all: thehistoryblog

164 years ago today, lying on the dining-room sofa (still there today at the Parsonage), the astonishing Emily Bronte died, aged just 30.

 

 

"Dec. 21st, 1848.
 

"Emily suffers no more from pain or weakness now. She never will suffer more in this world. She is gone, after a hard short conflict. She died on Tuesday, the very day I wrote to you. I thought it very possible she might be with us still for weeks; and a few hours afterwards, she was in eternity. Yes; there is no Emily in time or on earth now. Yesterday we put her poor, wasted, mortal frame quietly under the church pavement. We are very calm at present. Why should we be otherwise? The anguish of seeing her suffer is over; the spectacle of the pains of death is gone by; the funeral day is past. We feel she is at peace. No need now to tremble for the hard frost and the keen wind. Emily does not feel them. She died in a time of promise. We saw her taken from life in its prime. But it is God's will, and the place where she is gone is better than that she has left.

Read also: kleurrijkbrontesisters

The Bronte Parsonage museum in Haworth will be celebrating a unique event, a 200th weddding anniversary.

From Hathaways of Haworth:

 Maria Branwell met, fell in love with and married Patrick within a few months and hurriedly sent to Cornwall for her possessions and more of her clothing to be “sent around by sea” as that was the quickest way to transport things from Cornwall to Yorkshire at that time. Her possesions were almost all lost at sea in a storm which would suspect leave a big gap in her trousseau and replacing the lost essentials would make a huge gap in the cash available for buying new silks etc. The news of the shipwreck reached Maria sometime just before or around the 18th of November so she would have some time to make new items but having read her letters I imagine she would be more concerned with preparing for her married life and her new home than in making a trousseau. Though I should like to have created something new for the oocasion.

I was thrilled to be asked to be “Mrs Bronte” though finding a dress at short notice has been a challenge as I have a fairly limited regency wardrobe of day gowns and ball gowns. The ball gowns were made from expensive silks and far to lavishly trimmed but even for a regency wedding the brown day dresses seemed a bit gloomy.Very rarely did anyone except the rich have specially made wedding dresses they usually wore their sunday best. When they were well enough off to have a new dress made it was always one that could be reworn for everyday use later. Brown was in fact a popular colour because of its usefulness but to modern eyes a bit dreary.

The Bronte Parsonage museum in Haworth will be celebrating a unique event, a 200th weddding anniversary. On Dec 29th 2012 it will be the 200 anniversary of the Marriage in Guisley church of Maria Branwell and the Rev Patrick Bronte.The eventual Parents of the Bronte sisters and their brother Branwell.
Heres the museums information on the day of special events http://www.bronte.org.uk/
To mark the occasion the Brontë Parsonage Museum is offering a day of free activities – and a piece of wedding cake! – to all visitors.

• Meet ‘Mrs Brontë’ as she tours the Museum in her wedding dress
• Listen to a short talk about Maria and Patrick’s courtship and wedding at intervals throughout the day
• Handle real period costume items
• Enjoy children’s activities in the foyer
• And partake of a free slice of commemorative wedding cake!

Bronte Society appointment

Professor Ann Sumner has been appointed executive director of the Bronte Society.
She will take over day-to-day management of the Bronte Parsonage Museum at Haworth.
And she will also lead the world-renowned international literary society and promote its contemporary arts programme.
Professor Sumner, currently director of the Birmingham Museums Trust, spent many years working in Yorkshire.
She held curatorial posts at various organisations, including the Harewood House Trust.
She will take up the new role in February.
“As a lifelong Bronte enthusiast, I could not be starting at a better time, with refurbishment of the Parsonage Museum coming up in early 2013 and planning for the bicentenary celebrations of Charlotte Bronte’s birth in 2016,” she said.
“I feel honoured and excited to be taking up my new role and returning to work in the beautiful county of West Yorkshire. I’m hugely looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
Bronte Society president, Bonnie Greer, said the appointment would be a huge boost. She added: “The wealth of Ann’s curatorial experience is a great resource for us to draw upon, and her national high standing as an art historian and museums director will certainly boost our profile, both within the UK and internationally.” keighleynews

Charlotte Bronte’s parasol

My parents were born in Oxenhope, a village connecting to Haworth. My grandparents and aunts lived there. Auntie Eleanor (b. 1899-d. 2001) had the Bronte parasol given to her by the Bronte housekeeper. I don’t know when that was but Eleanor was quite young. In the mid 20th century she gave it to my sister Anne who lived in R.I. U.S.A. After Anne died in 2004 I inherited it.

Julie Akhurst says she’ll keep me posted on the museum’s progress. She thanked me for my helpful post and added that, without it, the parasol would have been forgotten.
I expect the parasol would have made it to the museum eventually, but I’m glad to be part of the story. Read the complete article: charlotte-brontes-parasol

Christmas in Haworth

 

mail.google.com/I love the bronte Sisters Facebook

iplayer/episode//Charlotte_Bronte

bbc./iplayer/episode//Charlotte_Bronte_Villette

On this day in 1841 Charlotte Bronte wrote her poem "Passion".

PASSION

by: Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

OME have won a wild delight,
By daring wilder sorrow;
Could I gain thy love to-night,
I'd hazard death to-morrow.

Could the battle-struggle earn
One kind glance from thine eye,
How this withering heart would burn,
The heady fight to try!

Welcome nights of broken sleep,
And days of carnage cold,
Could I deem that thou wouldst weep
To hear my perils told.

Tell me, if with wandering bands
I roam full far away,
Wilt thou to those distant lands
In spirit ever stray?

Wild, long, a trumpet sounds afar;
Bid me--bid me go
Where Seik and Briton meet in war,
On Indian Sutlej's flow.

Blood has dyed the Sutlej's waves
With scarlet stain, I know;
Indus' borders yawn with graves,
Yet, command me go!

Though rank and high the holocaust
Of nations steams to heaven,
Glad I'd join the death-doomed host,
Were but the mandate given.

Passion's strength should nerve my arm,
Its ardour stir my life,
Till human force to that dread charm
Should yield and sink in wild alarm,
Like trees to tempest-strife.

If, hot from war, I seek thy love,
Darest thou turn aside?
Darest thou then my fire reprove,
By scorn, and maddening pride?

No--my will shall yet control
Thy will, so high and free,
And love shall tame that haughty soul--
Yes--tenderest love for me.

I'll read my triumph in thine eyes,
Behold, and prove the change;
Then leave, perchance, my noble prize,
Once more in arms to range.

I'd die when all the foam is up,
The bright wine sparkling high;
Nor wait till in the exhausted cup
Life's dull dregs only lie.

Then Love thus crowned with sweet reward,
Hope blest with fulness large,
I'd mount the saddle, draw the sword,
And perish in the charge!

"Passion" is reprinted from Poems By Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Charlotte, nne, and Emily Bronte. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1848.

MORE POEMS BY CHARLOTTE BRONTE

Ann Sumner: Are regional museums sleepwalking into a situation in which university expertise replaces curatorial research?

This question was recently debated by over 100 curators, directors, students, representatives of auction houses and grant-giving bodies at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts.

It was organised by Birmingham Museums Trust and the University of Birmingham’s Institute of Advanced Studies, and it gave us all food for thought.
Read on: museumsassociation

Red House Celebration

 yorkshire.com

Kirklees Brontë Group invites everyone to come and join them at Red House Museum - in the restored cart sheds - to celebrate Christmas and the two hundredth anniversary of Patrick Brontë's marriage. The date is Saturday 15 December from 1.15 - 3.15pm. Descendants of his sister Sarah have been invited, and mulled wine will be available. You will be able to view the seasonally decorated house, and there will be a Santa for the children.

Books and toys will be on sale to help raise funds to publish a book about former Red House residents and their visitors. These include the last family to reside at Red House before it became a museum - Lord Shaws. Some Brontë family recipes will be included. Money raised from the sale of the book will go to Holly Bank school (formerly Roe Head) in Mirfield, and Friends of Red House Museum in Gomersal. (From Imelda Marsden)

Red House Opening Hours:
From 1 October to 28 February new winter opening hours apply:
Tuesday to Thursday 11am to 4pm;
Saturday to Sunday 12noon to 4pm.
Monday and Friday: Museum closed.
bronteparsonage/red-house-celebration

Down the Belliard Steps: book launch

 

On Wednesday 28 November over 50 people attended the launch of Helen MacEwan’s book about the experience of setting up the Brussels Brontë Group, Down the Belliard Steps: Discovering the Brontës in Brussels.

Waterstones bookstore in Brussels kindly hosted the launch. Apart from book-signing, talks were given by Helen and by Derek Blyth, who has long been interested in the Brontë links in Brussels and has written about them in his many guide books. Below are some photos of the event. brusselsbronte

Ann Sumner, new director of the Brontë Parsonage Museum

 

Birmingham News Room provides some interesting biographical data:

Professor Sumner studied History of Art at the Courtauld Institute, University of London, and undertook her PhD in History at Newnham College, University of Cambridge.

She began her career at the National Portrait Gallery, London and has held curatorial positions at the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Harewood House Trust, and the Holburne Museum, Bath. Prior to her appointment to the Barber Institute in October 2007, she had been Head of Fine Art at Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales, for seven years.

Professor Sumner’s specialist areas of interest are 17th-century British portraits and miniatures, French Impressionist painting, including the art of Alfred Sisley, Pre-Raphaelite artists, especially John Brett, and the art of Wales, being an expert on the paintings of Thomas Jones, pupil of Richard Wilson. She also has experience in country house management and has a long term interest in the social history of lawn tennis.

Professor Sumner is on the steering group for the National Gallery’s Advisory Committee for Research on European Paintings, is a member of the curatorial and academic committee of Ironbridge Gorge Museums, sits on the Museum and Gallery Committee for Aberystwyth School of Art, is on the Committee for the Leverhulme Prize for Art History and is also on the steering group for the proposed lawn tennis museum in Edgbaston.

bronteblog/ann-sumner-new-director-of-bronte.html

Meet the Brontës

Busy Brontë day tomorrow in Yorkshire:
More information and updates on Hathaways of Haworth.
1. In Haworth:

Hathaways of Haworth present
Meet the Brontës
West Lane Baptist Church on Saturday, December 8

An interesting and unique Brontë event, examining the hidden elements of the Brontës life.
Runs all day from 1.30 onwards with kids activities 1.30 until 4pm and adults from 4pm until 6 pm, talk and evening events from 7 pm.
To include costume displays, discussion on recent new "portraits", reenactors dressed as the Brontës, and light supper of soup and rolls with belgium sweets and cakes and much more...

From 1.30 onwards there will be a chance to see displays on Haworth and the Brontës, handle replica Brontë diary papers and mini books, see Hathaways research and work on rarely seen Brontë artifacts and meet and take your own photos with costumed re enactors.. A chance to see some of Hathaways costumes on display as well as some items from TV costume dramas, original Victorian items of clothing and a dressing up “box” so children and adults can try dressing up in Victorian hats and bonnets.

From 4.30 until 6pm there is an adults only time with more Victorian clothing and Brontë era artifacts on display, rare Smith and Elder copies of Brontë's work, more early victorian clothing to view. The BBC Cranford gown will be on display from 4.30 onwards and there will be a chance to talk to some of the evenings speakers.

Talks by James Gorin Von Grozny, owner of a famous portrait of three sisters which has been in the news as a possible new Brontë portrait; Mr Charles Butler, an independent artist and author who has acted nationally across the country for the past twenty years including some big and small screen work and more recently acting in the play Brontë Boy; Ian Howard, local Brontë researcher musician and co-author with Lynne Cunliffe of the short play “A Brontë Christmas Carol “ will be giving a talk on his research on Branwell. Followed by an exciting mix of Brontë inspired music by HuuJuu including new songs...

http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/

 

I wish everybody a lot of fun tomorrow.

I wished I could be there!!!!!!

I am looking forward to see pictures and video's.

 

The parsonage in the snow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hathaways of Haworth

 

The West Lane Bronte day

hathawaysofhaworth/the-west-lane-bronte-day-update/

Twitter news

Christine Went‏@ChrisWentBronte

The Bronte Society's new Exec Director will be Professor Ann Sumner, described on Womans Hour as the most powerful woman in UK museum world ChrisWentBronte

 

Our poor old Tabby is dead and buried.

Reaction of a reader Stay at home artist:

Yes buried Feb 17th 1855, the same day that Charlotte changed her will and left Arthur everything, he would wanted nothing, but her.

He was the one who spoke the prayers over Tabby's grave. A burial service Charlotte would only have to look out of her bedroom window to see, but was perhaps too weak to do so.

Old photo albums on loan for the Haworth Local Distinctiveness project.

facebook.photo

 

Exciting stuff. 4 old photo albums on loan for the Haworth Local Distinctiveness project.

Undressing Miss Earnshaw

A short post to illustrate the use of clothing to help alienate Kathy and Heathcliff in wuthering heights. In contrast to Charlotte who often describes clothing to delineate character or class or act as a contrast to the characters social positions, Emily uses clothing in Wuthering heights as a tool within the story. Read more: hathawaysofhaworth

http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/

 

News outlets still have a lot to say about the Duchess of Cambridge and hyperemesis gravidarum. The Telegraph and Argus is the most relevant to Brontëites as it has asked Ann Dinsdale about Charlotte's final illness.

The Duchess of Cambridge is suffering the same pregnancy-related illness that most likely claimed the life of Haworth author Charlotte Bronte.
But vastly improved medical techniques mean Kate Middleton’s condition is unlikely to end in the same tragic circumstances as the writer of Jane Eyre, who died in 1855 aged 38. [...]
Ann Dinsdale, of Haworth’s Bronte Parsonage Museum, said: “It was generally accepted Charlotte died of Hyperemesis Gravidarum in the early stages of her pregnancy.
“There was nothing that could be done for her then. Today people get good care, but back then there just wasn’t that care. Treatment wasn’t possible.
“There are a few really expressive pencilled notes she wrote in that period that make it clear she suffered terribly.
“People who suffer today have drips attached and get through it fine, but what happened to Charlotte Bronte really highlights the fact that this can be a very serious condition without the right care.”http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/ 

lifestyle/celebrity 

What happened to Charlotte Bronte?

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

‘Haworth, January 19th, 1855.

‘Dear Ellen,—Since our return from Gawthorpe we have had a Mr. Bell, one of Arthur’s cousins, staying with us.  It was a great pleasure.  I wish you could have seen him and made his acquaintance; a true gentleman by nature and cultivation is not after all an everyday thing.

‘As to the living of Habergham or Padiham, it appears the p. 499chance is doubtful at present for anybody.  The present incumbent wishes to retract his resignation, and declares his intention of appointing a curate for two years.  I fear Mr. Sowden hardly produced a favourable impression; a strong wish was expressed that Arthur could come, but that is out of the question.

‘I very much wish to come to Brookroyd, and I hope to be able to write with certainty and fix Wednesday, the 31st January, as the day; but the fact is I am not sure whether I shall be well enough to leave home.  At present I should be a most tedious visitor.  My health has been really very good since my return from Ireland till about ten days ago, when the stomach seemed quite suddenly to lose its tone; indigestion and continual faint sickness have been my portion ever since.  Don’t conjecture, dear Nell, for it is too soon yet, though I certainly never before felt as I have done lately.  But keep the matter wholly to yourself, for I can come to no decided opinion at present.  I am rather mortified to lose my good looks and grow thin as I am doing just when I thought of going to Brookroyd.  Dear Ellen, I want to see you, and I hope I shall see you well.  My love to all.—Yours faithfully,

‘C. B. Nicholls.’

Soon after her return, she was attacked by new sensations of perpetual nausea, and ever-recurring faintness. After this state of things had lasted for some time; she yielded to Mr. Nicholls' wish that a doctor should be sent for. He came, and assigned a natural cause for her miserable indisposition; a little patience, and all would go right. She, who was ever patient in illness, tried hard to bear up and bear on. But the dreadful sickness increased and increased, till the very sight of food occasioned nausea. A wren would have starved on what she ate during those last six weeks," says one. Tabby's health had suddenly and utterly given way, and she died in this time of distress and anxiety respecting the last daughter of the house she had served so long. Martha tenderly waited on her mistress, and from time to time tried to cheer her with the thought of the baby that was coming. "I dare say I shall be glad some time," she would say; "but I am so ill - so weary - " Then she took to her bed, too weak to sit up. From that last couch she wrote two notes - in pencil. The first, which has no date, is addressed to her own

 " Dear Nell."

"I must write one line out of my weary bed. The news of M----'s probable recovery came like a ray of joy to me. I am not going to talk of my sufferings - it would be useless and painful. I want to give you an assurance, which I know will comfort you - and that is, that I find in my husband the tenderest nurse, the kindest support, the best earthly comfort that ever woman had. His patience never fails, and it is tried by sad days and broken nights. Write and tell me about Mrs. ----'s case; how long was she ill, and in what way? Papa - thank God! - is better. Our poor old Tabby is dead and buried. Give my kind love to Miss Wooler. May God comfort and help you. elizabeth_gaskell/charlotte_bronte/29/

"C. B. Nicholls."

 

December fashion in the time of the Bronte Sisters

darvillsrareprints

 

 

DESCRIPTION: This fine and original color lithograph was printed in Paris (France) in 1848. It was printed on very heavy wove paper and the image is exquisitely drawn and hand-colored at the time of the publication. Colours are vivid and fresh.

1848-antique-fashion-lithograph

 

1848 fashion plate shows bonnets and winter-wear.

 

With the narrow, sloping shoulder line of the 1840s, the shawl returned to fashion, where it would remain through the 1860s. It was now generally square and worn folded on the diagonal.
Riding habits consisted of a high-necked, tight-waisted jacket with long snug sleeves, worn over a tall-collared shirt or chemisette, with a long matching petticoat or skirt. Contrasting waistcoats or vests cut like those worn by men were briefly popular. Tall hats or broad-brimmed hats like those worn by men were worn.
With the new narrower sleeves, coats and jackets returned to fashion. These were generally knee-length with a cape-like collar. Ankle-length cloaks with cape-collars to cover slits for the arms were worn in cold or wet weather. Ermine muffs with attached handkerchiefs were worn to keep hands warm and be fashionable.^[3]
The pelerine was a popular name for wide, capelike collars that extended over the shoulders and covered the upper chest. Sometimes they had layers of tiered fabric, long front panels hanging down from center front, or were also belted at the natural waistline.
The mantlet was a general name for any small cape worn as outerwear.

wiki/1840s_in_fashion
Mantelets

Dress of Charlotte Bronte
This dress is not made for winter time
This dress is the dress Charlotte used during her honeymoon in august

pinterest.historic-fashion-1830-1865

 

Remembering Charlotte's visit

picasaweb 

 

BBC News reports that 'Sixty holly trees will be planted in the Peak District National Park to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee' and includes an interesting piece of lore:
The trees will be planted at the Hollin Bank site near Stanage Edge, above the town of Hathersage, on 8 December.
Estate ranger Bill Gordon said Hollin Bank was a "fitting site" as Hollin is a traditional dialect word for holly.
Stanage Cottage used to stand on the site and had links back to the times of Queen Victoria, who also celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, Mr Gordon added.
"The cottage was built for the gamekeeper on the original shooting estate... and then became known as Hugh Thorp's cottage after the people who lived there in the 1800s.
"Hugh's wife lived to her 90s and remembered being at North Lees when Charlotte Brontë visited. So it is a historic site," said Mr Gordon.Remembering Charlotte's visit

Kate Middleton's new connection to Charlotte Brontë

The Independent:
Acute morning sickness, known as hyperemesis gravidarum, is a serious medical condition with potential consequences for mother and baby. While seven out of ten pregnant women suffer nausea, usually in the first three months, some are sick morning noon and night throughout, vomiting as much as 25 times a day.
Until the 1950s, women even died from the condition through becoming dehydrated – Charlotte Bronte is believed to have been a victim. Now dehydration can be treated with a drip and is a common reason for hospitalisation accounting for more than 25,000 admissions a year. (Jeremy Laurance) Read more on: Kate Middleton's new connection to Charlotte Brontë

December Pictures. Haworth in the snow.

December Pictures

Brontë Verbs

Constance Hale lists some examples of using verbs in English with creativity in The Huffington Post:

Another nineteenth-century writer, Charlotte Brontë, shows that when the verbs are good, you can rely on terse, crisp sentences. Notice how much meaning she packs into these tight sentences from Villette, in which the narrator awaits reunion with her beloved:

The sun passes the equinox; the days shorten; the leaves grow sere; but—he is coming.
Frosts appear at night. November has sent his fogs in advance; the wind takes its autumn moan; but—he is coming.
The skies hang full and dark; a rack sails from the west; the clouds case themselves into strange forms—arches and broad radiations; there rise resplendent mornings—glorious, royal, purple as monarch in his state; the heavens are one flame; so wild are they, they rival battle at its thickest—so bloody, they shame victory in her pride. I know some signs of the sky, I have noted them ever since childhood. God watch that sail! Oh, guard it!  bronteblog/bronte-verbs

Haworth Through the Lens of History

Haworth Through the Lens of History

Back Video Productions presents
Haworth Through the Lens of History
Written and Presented by Geraldine Bell
Video Production by James Hutton (34 min)

Photography has been entertaining and amusing people since its invention in the 1800's. Nowadays old photographs can serve as a window into the past. In this video we shall blend old and new photographs to help transport you back in time, exploring how the landscape and social fabric of this area has changed.

Haworth

 

Great to see Lyn Cunliffe

walking around,

 in her beautiful dress,

through Haworth
Lynn is from Hathaways of Haworth

The Bronte Sisters and weblogs

 

Emily Brontë (1818-1848), Guwald Tower, Haddington, 8 December 1832. Pencil on paper. Inscription by Ellen Nussey. 164 x 149 mm. Robert H. Taylor Collection (RHT), Rare Books and Special Collections. Gift of Robert H. Taylor, Class of 1930.
Quote from Christine Anne Alexander and Jane Sellars, The Art of the Brontës (Cambridge [Eng.]: Cambridge University Press, 1995). (SA) N6797.B758 A4 1995

Read more: graphicarts

 

Two of the most iconic novels of the Victorian era were written by the Bronte sisters. When they were initially released "Jane Eyre" was the most popular amoungst the public and critics of that time period. Now, thanks to modern novels that appreciate the work of Emily Bronte "Wuthering Heights" appears to be the favourite. I have always liked "Jane Eyre" and decided to finally read "Wuthering Heights" in order to decide where the novels stand from my viewpoint.

Both books are considered to be of the gothic genre and having being written in the same household I could hardly imagine the tension and competitive nature that may have played a big part in the realtionships between the Bronte sisters. Also, a third and lesser-known sister, Anne Bronte had a novel released around the same time. I hardly think it's fair to compare sisters, but now having seen many articles of the sort and finding an opinion of my own on the subject I realise that another opinion is of little matter when there are so many circulating the blogosphere on the subject.

quirkygirllikesvintage

 

etsy/bronte-sisters-emily-charlotte-anne

 

 

(Dutch) Ik hou van lezen, maar bij de bibliotheek kan ik toch altijd niet echt vinden wat ik zoek. Maargoed, al je boeken kopen is ook weer zo’n gedoe en mijn voornaamste bezwaar: het is zo duur. Dacht jij dit ook tot nu toe? Meet Book Depository. De ideale site om je Engelse boeken te shoppen, ze zijn namelijk hartstikke goedkoop én er zijn geen verzendkosten! Tel uit je winst, haha. Ik had echt helemaal geen boeken meer om te lezen, dus besloot ik mezelf te verwennen met een belachelijk grote bestelling bij BD. Ondertussen heb ik al m’n boeken binnen dus ik ga ze jullie even laten zien.

 

  dashingdays

 

I was looking forward to getting books that I love but don’t own and I’d had my eye on some editions with newly redesigned covers to add to my library collection. After being in the store for an hour perusing the disorganized store I realized my arms were sore from the growing, toppling stack. I set down my selections and looked at many of the ones I’d scooped up. 

Stick girl jam

 

This trend, reminiscent of the 18^th and 19^th centuries, was seen in 2011’s Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska. We are sure this won’t be the last we see of quilted clothes – or the Brontës – on the silver screen

elle

Beginning of the Moorland path above the Parsonage the Brontes would have taken across Penistone hill.

twitter.com/Wuthering

The Bronte Birthplace

Villagers leading a campaign to buy the birthplace of the Bronte sisters are in a race against time to secure the site through a new Government law.
The Bronte Birthplace Trust is looking to get a Community Right to Bid in place on the house in Market Street, Thornton, after it was put on sale for £129,950.
If the bid goes through, the house would be reserved for the group to buy if it raises sufficient funds or receives a grant.
The group, which aims to turn the house into a museum as part of a plan to help boost tourism in the village, has said it hopes to have the bid in place within the next week.

“We would like to run it as a museum, a working museum, where people can come along and be taken around it, and then the whole community could benefit. The Bronte Birthplace would link up with the Old Bell Chapel and the South Square project, so it’s a three-pronged tourist attraction.
“The objective is education, to get school children coming round and things like that.”
Read all: thetelegraphandargus

Six letters of Charlotte Brontë to be auctioned in Sotheby's

 

Catalogue NoteAn important cache of six letters by Charlotte Brontë, including several written in the throes of her religious crisis of 1836. She had admitted to Ellen Nussey that she was unfulfilled and frustrated teaching at Roe Head School. Nussey replied with conventional Christian pieties, and in several of these letters Brontë appears to be desperately searching for consolation in the faith propounded by her friend. Ellen Nussey (1817-1897) was Charlotte Brontë's most important correspondent: they exchanged over 500 letters between 1831, when they met as fellow students at Roe Head School, and Charlotte's death in 1855. She refused Rev. Nicholls's request to destroy Charlotte's letters to her and made some 350 letters available to Mrs Gaskell for the Life: "but for these letters and her acquaintance with the members of the Brontë household our knowledge of that remarkable family must have been meagre indeed" (William Scruton, 'Reminiscences of the late Miss Ellen Nussey', Transactions ... of the Brontë Society, Vol. 1, Pt. VIII, 1898). The letters were widely dispersed following their sale to the infamous collector and forger T.J. Wise. These letters have hitherto only been published from transcripts.
Read more: Six letters of Charlotte Brontë to be auctioned in Sotheby's

Message on Twitter: Bracelet of Anne's hair

Bronte Parsonage‏@BronteParsonage16 november

 

Still preparing for next year's exhibition - this is a bracelet of Anne's hair, given by Charlotte to Ellen Nussey:

 

Click on  http://ow.ly/i/18pbs   and you can see the picture.

twitter.com/BronteParsonage

 

 

Paintings in the Bronte Parsonage Museum

Winifred Gerin

Date painted: c.1960–1981

Oil on board, 44.5 x 34.5 cm (estimated)

Collection: Brontë Parsonage Museum               

 

Winifred Gerin (1901–1981) was the Hamburg-born biographer of the Brontë sisters, most famous for her 1967 work, 'Charlotte Brontë: The Evolution of Genius'. The portrait, by Winifred Gerin's sister, is in a 20th-century realistic style.
 

Read more

The First Meeting of Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester

 

Where to see these and more paintings?

Brontë Parsonage Museum

Church Street Haworth, Keighley, West Yorkshire, England, BD22 8DR

bbc/paintings/located_at/bronte-parsonage-museum

 

Scarf, which belonged to... Patrick Bronte!

 

Fascinating day so far, choosing items for next year's exhibition, measuring them so that the special cases can be made, and writing the labels. Here's Sarah in the Bonnell Store, unrolling a flowered silk scarf. It belonged to a Bronte, but you'll never guess which...

 

 

Here's a close-up of the scarf, which belonged to... Patrick Bronte! - reputedly a dry old stick. But his wife referred to him as 'dear, saucy Pat', and he wore this, so he must have had a hidden frivolous side...
 

 

More preparations for the exhibition for next year: this is the knife-and-fork set Charlotte had to take to school with her at Roehead..facebook/Bronte-Parsonage-Museum

History bronte Society

newspapers

A whole day of Bronte Events for all ages at West Lane Baptist Church Sat Dec 8th from 1.30 to 10 pm

Hathaways of Haworth have a whole program of Bronte events is now planned for West Lane Baptist Church.There will be something for all age. (There is likely to be more events included over the next few days but at present these are those definitly a part of the program.)

From 1.30 onwards there will be a chance to see displays on Haworth and the Brontes handle replica Bronte diary papers and mini books, see Hathaways research and work on rarely seen Bronte artifacts and meet and take your own photos with costumed re enactors children’s activities during the afternoon will include.

A chance to see some of Hathaways costumes on display and try dressing up in Victorian hats and bonnets. Make your own Victorian hats. Make your own Bronte mini book or diary paper.
Colouring sheets for the very young and worksheets on the Victorians for kids. Admission is free for any child with an accompanying adult, adult admission is £2. and a free tea, coffee or cold drink is included in the cost.

Further displays of replica Bronte artifacts and victorian clothing which can both looked at and handled, Hathaways costumes ''A look at Haworth in the Brontes day and” imagine a world without any Brontes a look at how Haworth might be today had the Brontes never published. There will be a chance to talk to Reneactors dressed as the sisters and their brother. Branwell, Charlotte and Emily will be mingling with the guests and have been briefed to “act in character” so you can see the Brontes in a social situation. There will be a chance to speak to our speakers about their work and research.

Hathaways of Haworths owner Lynn Cunliffe who will be talking about he Bronte work and research, including what Bronte clothing can tell us about the lives of the Brontes and how it can help in identifying or discounting new Bronte portraits or photos such as those sold recently.The main element of the program will be “undressing the Brontes ” a look at what they wore by undressing two mannequins Charlotte and Emily and showing how each sisters clothing and attitudes to clothing can shed new light on “Bronte Myths”. hathawaysofhaworth

Bronte Society expresses disappointment at Ovenden Moor windfarm decision

The Brontë Society wishes to express its disappointment with the decision by Calderdale Council to grant planning permission to Yorkshire Wind Power for the repowering of the windfarm at Ovenden Moor.

We feel that this decision demonstrates a lack of consideration for a unique heritage landscape which has internationally renowned cultural associations. It shows, also, an insensitive disregard for the negative impact upon the environment and upon the local economy of Haworth and the area known as Brontë Country.

The Society has received a huge level of interest and support from all over the world. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude and to give an assurance of our continued commitment to Haworth’s cultural and historical significance.

13 November 2012

For further information please contact the Bronte Parsonage Museum on 01535 642323 / bronte@bronte.org.uk