My celebration of the 200th anniversary of Emily Bronte's birthday, part 1, her Birthday.

Liberty was the breath of Emily’s nostrils; without it, she perished. 

Charlotte Bronte

Emily Jane Bronte, author of Wuthering Heights, poem, mystica, daughter and sister, animal lover, lover of the moors, housekeeper, lover of nature, breadmaker, finance manager. 

Today we celebrate that she was born 200 year ago 

 This year I will every week 

describe a part of her life on my blog

  I use these two books

Emily Brontë was born on 30 July 1818 in the village of Thornton 72-74 Market Street on the outskirts of Bradford to Maria Branwell and Patrick Bronte. She had three sisters older than her, Maria (4 year old), Elisabeth (3 year old) and Charlotte (2 year old) and one brother Branwell  (1 year old). 

 Emily's parents

Maria Branwell 

Maria Branwell  was petite, plain, pious, intelligent and well read with a ready wit. She made friends easily, and the friends that the Brontë's made in Thornton remained life-long friends to Patrick and his children. Read more on: Maria Branwell

Patrick Bronte

Read all about him: kirklees/patrickbronte

Winifred Gerin: Only two facts are known about her infancy; apart from the date of her birth, noted in the diary of of her parents young friend Elizabeth Firth, the one record concerning her is of her christening at her fathers church, St. James's, Thornton on 20 august 1818. 

annebronte/thornton-where-the-bronte-story-began

yvesnaarmstrong/thornton-bronte-sisters-birthplace

Elizabeth Firth

Miss Elizabeth Firth lived at Kipping House at Thornton, near Bradford, to which village the Brontë Family moved in 1815 when Patrick Brontë became curate there. Elizabeth was then 18 years old; her father, John Scholefield Firth, was a doctor; her mother had died in an accident the previous year. A friendship rapidly developed between Elizabeth and Maria Brontë, and both father and daughter were asked to become godparents to the Brontës daughter Elizabeth. heffield.ac.uk//ElizabethFirthdiariestranscript

Beautiful photo' s: brontebirthplace

During this time Patrick was curate at the Old Bell Chapel in Thornton. Referring to his five years' residence at Thornton, Patrick Bronte wrote in 1835

" My happiest days were spent there."

From an old diary, published by Prof. Moore Smith in the Bookman, October, 1904,

and written by his grandmother, who, as Miss Firth, lived near the Brontes at Thornton in her early days, it is evident

that both Mr. and Mrs. Bronte enjoyed themselves in a quiet way, visiting and receiving visits

from the Firth family, who lived at Kipping, and from Mr. and Mrs. Morgan and uncle Fennell.

There were very few houses in Thornton at that time, so that Patrick Bronte would be able to get

round to his parishioners fairly often; he was always a faithful pastoral visitor. Miss Elizabeth

Branwell, Mrs. Bronte's sister, spent several months at the Thornton parsonage in 1815 and 1816,

and as she is constantly referred to in the diary, it is probable that she was responsible for some

of the social intercourse between the Brontes and prominent families in the neighbourhood,

and was able to render help to Mrs. Bronte in the management of her young family.

The historic fireplace that witnessed the birth of the Brontes

Inside the dining room by the fireplace is where Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell were born

Click on haworth-villagebrontes/thornton to see more images about the Thornton house

St. James's, Thornton

Emily´s christening at her fathers church,  on 20 august 1818

The original font (in which the Bronte children Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne were all baptised) bronte-country

Horoscope of Emily Bronte

astrotheme/Emily_Brontë