Patrick Bronte and Wethersfield, Hartshead and Woodhouse Grove School,

 

St Mary's, Wethersfield

 

Patrick Bronte served his first curacy in Wethersfield from 1806 to 1808. He lived in St George’s House, which still stands opposite the Church. He moved to Yorkshire where Branwell, Emily Aime and Charlotte were born.  stepneyrobarts/wethersfield-essex

The register of the parish church of St Mary Magdelene records his stay.  history detail 

Reverend Patrick Bronte (1777-1861)  was appointed curate at Wethersfield, Essex, where he was ordained a deacon of the Church of England, and ordained into the priesthood in 1807. In 1809 he became assistant curate at Wellington in Shropshire and in 1810 he published his first poem Winter Evening Thoughts in a local newspaper, followed in 1811 by a collection of moral verse, Cottage Poems. 

Woodhouse Grove School

The following year (1812) he was appointed a school examiner at a Wesleyan academy, Woodhouse Grove School, near Guiseley. At Guisely Brontë met Maria Branwell (1783–1821), whom he married on 29 December 1812. wiki/John_Wesley

The first inspector at the Woodhouse Grove School was the Rev. Patrick Bronte, who examined the pupils at the end of the summer term. It is probable that the Rev. William Morgan knew that Patrick Bronte had been a successful teacher in County Down. His report on the school has never been quoted and research has failed to find it.  The Woodhouse Grove Academy, or school as it is now called, is on the north bank of the Aire, just below the bridge ; it is delightfully situated in its own grounds, and the governor's house adjoins the school. Whether Patrick Bronte had been to Woodhouse Grove Academy before he went as an examiner we are not told, but before August, 1812, was out, he was sending love letters to the Headmaster's niece, Maria Branwell daughter of Mr. Fennell's wife's brother. Evidently Mr. Bronte's warm-hearted Irish temperament would not allow him to remain a woman-hater for long. The engagement appears to have taken place in July, and the nine letters which have been published point to times of happiness and pleasure, referring to country walks to the historic spots around Apperley, to Calverley and to Kirkstall Abbey; the latter place inspired Patrick Bronte to write a poem on the old abbey. editor/target=post;post