On this day in 1809

 

Patrick Bronte began his curacy at Dewsbury

 

What brought Patrick Brontë to Dewsbury in the first place? Amateur local historian Graham Hardy explains that back in 1809 it seems that he was facing a choice between working in the West Riding or the much warmer climes of the West Indies. Perhaps surprisingly, Patrick chose Dewsbury! Why he made that decision to come here we'll perhaps never really know, but Graham believes it could be because Patrick and others believed it was fertile ground for 'spreading the word' of the Gospel: "They regarded Yorkshire - which was just going through the throes of the Industrial Revolution at that time - as The Promised Land, the land where they were going to save souls."

dewsbury-minster-church-of-all-saints-patrick-bronte

 

It wasn't long before Patrick Brontë made his mark on Dewsbury, according to Graham. He says there are many tales told about this young curate who certainly lived up to his reputation as "clever and good-hearted, but impetuous and hot-tempered" - as one Dewsbury lawyer described him at the time. Graham says: "There was the occasion when a drunk tried to stop a Sunday School procession and Patrick Brontë unceremoniously threw the drunk into the ditch at the side of the road. There was also another occasion when Patrick was doing his Sunday evening meditation in the old vicarage by the side of the Minster and the church bell ringers decided to have an extra practice. Patrick was so upset about this that he seized his shillelagh [a large stick], dashed up to the belfry and actually drove them out!" And Denis Ripley adds that as well as saving souls, Patrick also saved someone's life: "He was walking along the River Calder and he met a group who were acting silly. One boy pushed another into the river. Now, in spite of the fact that he couldn't swim, he jumped in and saved the boy. It was quite a famous incident."

"It was as a result of him coming here that the Yorkshire connection was launched and became famous worldwide!"
Denis Ripley on Patrick's legacy

Patrick Brontë was clearly no shrinking violet, but he was also - even in his early days in Dewsbury - a man of influence who wanted to right any wrongs which took place in the town. Graham explains: "There was a young man called William Nowell who was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. It was claimed by another young man that William had enlisted in the army at Lee Fair - a gathering just outside Dewsbury. William denied this...but he was hauled before the magistrates and flung into prison as a deserter. Patrick was very upset about this so he got together some of the prominent members of the town, credible witnesses, and he wrote to Lord Palmerston, who was Secretary of State for War but who Patrick had known at Cambridge. Palmerston intervened, as well as [social reformer and anti-slave trade supporter] William Wilberforce. Between them the case was reviewed, William Nowell was freed and the chap who'd given the false evidence was transported to the colonies!"

Graham Hardy says that as curate, Patrick Brontë was also well-known for travelling to all corners of his Dewsbury parish in an effort to spread the word on people's doorsteps: "He used to go around to people's houses and he used to preach there. In those days, of course, most churches in the outlying districts like Hanging Heaton, Dewsbury Moor and Batley Carr hadn't even been built. The Dewsbury parish was quite big so there were often important meetings held in people's houses."
It's obvious, then, that Patrick Brontë was an important figure in his own right - never mind the fact that his time in Dewsbury firmly established the roots of the Brontë family in West Yorkshire.