On this day in 1855 Charlotte Bronte died at Haworth

Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father's curate, on June 29th, 1854. By this time she was a successful writer and financially independent. Although she does not appear to have been swept off her feet by this match she seems to have grown fonder of her husband after her marriage. However, by January 1855 she was pregnant and suffering from chronic morning sickness. Her increasing emaciation led to a loss of consciousness. Her friend Elizabeth Gaskell reports: "(Charlotte) saw her husband's woe-worn face, and caught the sound of some murmured words of prayer that God would spare her. 'Oh!' she whispered forth, 'I am not going to die, am I? He will not separate us, we have been so happy..."

Charlotte Bronte died in the early hours of Saturday, 31st March, 1855. Her unborn child died with her. bbck/bradford/culture/words

Black-edged stationery informed friends and relatives of the loss of a loved one.

Victorianweb/letters/condolence.

On this day in 1843 Branwell Bronte wrote his poem "Thorpe Green".

Thorpe Green

I sit, this evening, far away

From all I used to know,

And nought reminds my soul today

Of happy long ago.

Unwelcome cares, unthought-of fears

Around my room arise;

I seek for suns of former years,

But clouds o’ercast my skies.

Yes–Memory, wherefore does thy voice

Bring back old times to view,

As thou would bid me not rejoice

In thoughts and prospects new?

I’ll thank thee, Memory, in the hour

When troubled thoughts are mine—

For thou, like sun’s in April’s shower,

On shadowy scenes will shine.

I’ll thank thee when approaching death

Would quench life’s feeble ember,

For thou wouldst even renew my breath

With thy sweet word “Remember!”
Patrick Branwell Brontë 

March 30th 1843, Thorpe Green

 

Substantial manor house near Little Ouseburn, six miles from Boroughbridge, where Anne went as governess to the Robinson family in 1840, and Branwell followed her as tutor to Edmund, the one son, in 1843. The family had lived there for nearly 50 years, and the Rev. Edmund Robinson seems to have been a country gentleman in his tastes and pursuits. The estate was large and beautiful, and the possibilities for field sports were abundant. The house burnt down early in the twentieth century, but the rooms and their proportions can be found in the advertisements when the house was let after the departure of the Robinsons ( Leeds Intelligencer , 21 Aug 1847 and 8 Dec 1855). Also part of the estate was the Monks’ House, where Branwell apparently lodged. This building still stands. blackwell reference

Like his sisters, Branwell Brontë was tutored at home at Haworth Parsonage. The only brother in a family of sisters, he was the indulged, spoiled darling of the family. But he was also, like his sisters, highly talented. A willing scholar with a ‘precocious intellect’, he translated Horace to critical acclaim, played the organ in his father’s church, and aspired to being a professional portrait painter.

Physically small, he had flaming red hair, was impulsive and quick-witted, and had a “penchant for showing off in company”, according to the Brontë Society’s biography. He also had an erratic and emotional nature that stopped him making the most of his talents, however. York press

On this day in 1839/ Charlotte Bronte wrote her poem "Life".

 

flickriver

LIFE

by: Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

LIFE, believe, is not a dream

So dark as sages say;

Oft a little morning rain

Foretells a pleasant day.

Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,

But these are transient all;

If the shower will make the roses bloom,

O why lament its fall?

Rapidly, merrily,

Life's sunny hours flit by,

Gratefully, cheerily

Enjoy them as they fly!

What though Death at times steps in,

And calls our Best away?

What though sorrow seems to win,

O'er hope, a heavy sway?

Yet Hope again elastic springs,

Unconquered, though she fell;

Still buoyant are her golden wings,

Still strong to bear us well.

Manfully, fearlessly,

The day of trial bear,

For gloriously, victoriously,

Can courage quell despair!

"Life" is reprinted

from Poems  by 

Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. 

Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Bronte.

On this day in 1857 The "Life of Charlotte Bronte" by Elizabeth Gaskell was published.

Charlotte sent copies of Shirley to selected leading authors of the day, including Elizabeth Gaskell. Gaskell and Charlotte subsequently met in August 1850 and began a friendship which, whilst not necessarily close, was significant in that Gaskell would write a biography of Charlotte after Charlotte's death in 1855. The biography, The Life of Charlotte Brontë, was published in 1857 and was unusual at the time in that, rather than analysing its subject's achievements, it instead concentrated on the private details of Charlotte's life, in particular placing emphasis on aspects which countered the accusations of 'coarseness' which had been levelled at Charlotte's writing. Though frank in places, Gaskell was selective about which details she revealed; for example, she suppressed details of Charlotte's love for Heger, a married man, as being too much of an affront to contemporary morals and as a possible source of distress to Charlotte's still-living friends, father and husband. Gaskell also provided doubtful and inaccurate information about Patrick Brontë, claiming, for example, that he did not allow his children to eat meat. This is refuted by one of Emily Brontë's diary papers, in which she describes the preparation of meat and potatoes for dinner at the parsonage, as Juliet Barker points out in her recent biography, The Brontës. It has been argued that the particular approach of The Life of Charlotte Brontë transferred the focus of attention away from the 'difficult' novels of not just Charlotte but all the Brontë sisters, and began a process of sanctification of their private lives. answers/charlotte-bronte


Then came in 1857 the Life of Charlotte Brontë, in two volumes. Miss Bronte, who had enjoyed the friendship of Mrs. Gaskell and had exchanged visits, died in March 1855. Two years earlier she had begged her publishers to postpone the issue of her own novel Villette in order that her friend's Ruth should not suffer. This biography, by its vivid presentation of the sad, melancholy and indeed tragic story of the three Brontë sisters, greatly widened the interest in their writings and gave its author a considerable place among English biographers. But much matter was contained in the first and second editions that was withdrawn from the third. Certain statements made by the writer as to the school of Charlotte Brontë's infancy, an identification of the "Lowood" of Jane Eyre with the existing school, and the acceptance of the story of Bramwell Brontë's ruin having been caused by the woman in whose house he had lived as tutor, brought threats of libel actions. Apologies were published, and the third edition of the book was modified, as Mrs. Gaskell declares, by "another hand." The book in any case remains one of the best biographies in the language  nndb.com/people