The final resting place of Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls.

I found this photograph on Facebook

Photo by courtesy of Marcus Crothers Fitz-Gerald

He wrote

 Was here the weekend!

The final resting place of Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls.

Arthur Bell Nicholls, who was born in County Antrim in Ireland on 6 January 1819

 

Today we celebrate the birthday of Charlotte Brontë's husband Arthur Bell Nicholls, who was born in County Antrim in Ireland on 6 January 1819. His birth place was Tully Farm, Killead, in the townland of Tully, Co. Antrim. lisburn/historical_society

 

Mr. Nicholls in Banagher.

Mr. Nicholls in Banagher 1904

 

Isn't it wonderful that people can become friends through internet?

 

Some days ago Anne from  stayathomeartist wrote a post on my weblog

 about the visit to Banagher she and her husband made

brontesisters/a-visit-to-banagher.html

 

Today I read her story on her own weblog

stayathomeartist/banagher.html

 

I know Anne a good many years

 

When I started this weblog

I started in the first place for myself

I started in Dutch

I wanted to collect all kind of articles about the Brontes

 

 But during time I copied parts of articles

and I realised I find much more articles in English then in Dutch

And doing so I started to meet people

from all over the world

And I love it

 

Like Anne who is living in the States

I admire the knowledge she has about the Brontes!!!!

 

It gives me so much fun

to meet Bronte fans

In real life I don't know anyone who even reads a Bronte novel ;-)

 

Anne, I copied 2 photographes you have on your weblog

I never saw the picture of Mr. Nicholls in Banagher 1904 ( see above)

What a beautiful picture

 

And the photograph here under

The same spot in Banagher today

 

Read: stayathomeartist/banagher.html

 

 

 

A visit to Banagher

I am very proud to announce to you a quest blogger, Anne Lloyd from Stay at home artist

Anne also made the photographs.

A visit to Banagher

By Anne Lloyd

Every Bronte enthusiast dreams of visiting Haworth.  I realized that dream when my husband and I traveled to the famous Yorkshire village in 2014. The idea to also visit Banagher then came to the fore. Especially when I found out Hill House, the Irish home Arthur Bell Nicholls shared with his  2nd wife, Mary Anna, Aunt Harriette Bell and his treasure trove of Bronte items for 45 years, was now a handsome B and B called Charlotte's Way.

You mean one can stay there?

In the very house?

Indeed

http://www.charlottesway.com/

The lure was irresistible.

I'm an Arthur Bell Nicholls fan. It seems to me not just anyone could get a Bronte to the alter. I think it took a special person. It is singular that those who honor Charlotte Bronte,  the author who taught us not to discount a plain governess, often forget the lesson when it comes to the plain curate she chose for her husband. I think Charlotte's judgment can be trusted in this matter.

After Charlotte's tragic death in 1855,  Arthur looked after Haworth parish and his father in law, Patrick Bronte  until Patrick's own passing in 1861. Arthur was not rewarded the Haworth living. So he returned home to Banager and to his Aunt Harriette who had raised him.

Years before Harriette Bell had lived at Cuba Court, the site of the Royal School where her husband, Dr. Bell was headmaster. This large house was where Arthur and Charlotte stayed when they visited on their honeymoon in 1854.

In 1861 Aunt Bell resided at Hill House, near St Paul's church with her daughter, Arthur's cousin, Mary Anna. That is where Arthur joined them.

Indeed I did not know until I visited Banager that Hill House was once the parsonage to St. Paul's. So after Patrick Bronte's death, Arthur went from living in a Parsonage to another Parsonage and as a married man, Arthur always lived with an in-law.

Hill House, is now a B and B called Charlotte's Way. The name is in deference to its Bronte connection. The house is situated in the Irish midlands with the River Shannon near by. It could not be more in the middle of the emerald isle and as an American, it's almost a puzzle where to fly in. We choose Shannon because it is 30 miles closer to Banagher than Dublin.

At first I looked at buses to complete our journey,  train to the Banagher stopped long ago. But there was only one bus daily and it took four hours to arrive in  Banagher. In addition, one had to ask the driver especially to go on to Banagher, otherwise the bus would begin its return trip before reaching the town.

I couldn't see a four hour bus ride after a transatlantic flight, so we opted to hire a car and driver to met us at Shannon. It was a pleasure to sit back and watch the Irish country side roll by.  I have to say as we drew closer and the name " Banagher " began to appear on road sings, our excitement mounted. In an hour's time we were there.

It was awe inspiring. The house is beautiful and wonderfully kept. We were greeted  by Mr. John Daly, the owner's father as she, Nicola, was still at work. He showed us to the honeymoon suite. It was once Hill House 's attic and where Arthur stored many of his Bronte mementos. I imagine Arthur would visit here from time to time and here we were.

Today it has been beautifully made over into an inviting en suite with a jacuzzi tub! Its large skylight gives one a view over the Irish Midlands that goes on seemingly for miles. It was called the Hill House after all.

We soon met Nicola's mother, who kindly offered to make us coffee and toast! Later, we met Nicola herself. Her welcome could not have been warmer. Charlotte's Way is an excellent B and B, with all the professional points one expects and yet it is also a real Irish home. Remarkable.

We immediately became devotes of the ever glowing turf fire in the living room. B and B patrons are usually off elsewhere after breakfast. But we loved just sitting before the turf fire in the home where  Arthur lived with his memories for 45 years.

Nicola herself has a deep passion for the house, its history and for those who were there before. I saw photos of how the house was when she bought it 12 years ago. A ruinous shell. You would never know looking about today. It  seems original. Interestingly Nicola's mother was a housekeeper here years ago and Nicola played here as a child. So both would know better than most how the house was before the abject ruin.

When the house went up for sale, Nicola jumped at it. As you speak to her about the house, one gets a lesson in the Irish love of the land. These feelings are core. One has to know the young Irish clergyman Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls, arriving in Haworth, was without " brass"  (money) or property back home. If he had it, he would be seeing to it rather than looking for a post in England.

It is also of note a few years after Arthur's  marriage to Mary Anna, Aunt Bell gave her son-in-law Hill House and its property. Arthur finally had something of his own to care for. Of course Aunt Bell's trust in Arthur was rewarded, just as Charlotte's and Patrick's trust was before. 

Haworth is Bronte country and Banagher is Bell country. No wonder Charlotte was enthusiastic about her " new relations ".  Among Aunt Bell's nine biological children were two doctors, two clergymen and one of the doctors was also a colonel in the British Army.  In Haworth it was thought Arthur was over stepping his place by seeking Charlotte in marriage. But in Banagher, Charlotte found herself  socially improved by being married to gentry!

The B and B Charlotte's Way would be very worthy of one's custom even without its historic  associations. Besides the charming house, comfortable rooms, and its beautiful setting, the B and B  advertises a "full Irish breakfast" Indeed. Nicola has her own chickens to supply the wonderful eggs  and our warmed plates also had delicious sausage and ham. Generous resupply of coffee,  toast and Nicola's own homemade soda bread are just for the asking ( and she does come  round to ask! ). Plus there is cereal,  yogurt and juice to enjoy as you wait while Nicola expertly cooks your eggs etc.

You won't leave the table hungry! The Irish believe in filling you up! lol. While eating in Banager itself, we asked for one portion of chips ( fries ) to share and were staggered at the mound brought to our table! Irish chips are wonderful btw. That's another thing they take serious, lol There are excellent pubs known for their music and food down the hill from the house, plus the marina on the river.

Of course visiting Arthur's grave was a major draw to us. He is at rest a short way at St. Paul's, Church of Ireland. The church is small but still very imposing with its beautiful tower and east facing window un the top of the hill. One cannot see Arthur and the Bell's graves from the road, a large tree blocks the view ( the plot is behind the church to the left if you stand at the iron gate ). We  learned St Paul's graveyard was open all the time! I had thought it was available only on Sunday. I had made sure our visit included Sunday for this propose. When we found out we could visit the graves anytime, we were out like a shot. It's a minute walk to St Paul.
 
It was astonishing to finally stand at Arthur's and Mary Anna's grave. Locals tell me the stones were much brighter 30 years ago. They are almost unreadable now. We visited the graveyard every day, just as we went to the Parsonage every day were were in Haworth. Why not? What a privilege to finally be in such places.

Married couples sharing a grave seems to have been a Bell family tradition. In the four graves above, Aunt Bell  ( 2nd grave from the left ) is a surrounded by her 3 clergymen sons, both biological and adopted, and their wives. Arthur and Mary Anna rest on the farthest grave on the right.
On Sunday, we also went to St Paul before noon to attend the weekly service. It got close to noon without a sign of life, but just before the hour stuck,  a car pulled in. It was a lay minster and his teenage children. I have to say they could not have been more gracious and welcoming. It interested  them why we Americans were there. We ran into that a good bit in the town ...friendly wonder over what brought us to Banagher. I don't think they see very many Yanks! We explained we were Bronte fans and were visiting Charlotte's husband's home and grave.

Inside the St. Paul's was like a time machine, it has lovely old style oak box pews and gorgeous stained windows. There is a beautiful marble tribute to Aunt Bell's third son, Arthur Bell, the army  colonel and doctor.  He died in India of cholera in 1869, leaving behind a wife and three children. The tribute was funded by his fellow officers. 

We know of the sadness in the Bronte history, but Aunt Bell had much grief to endure herself.  She outlived all her 6 sons and one of her three daughters.

After the service, I understood more the type of worship both Rev Bronte and Arthur Bell Nicholls presided over and the strong role of the  gospel in it . We brought flowers in town to lay at the graves. It was very special to finally come to Banager, to St Paul's,  to Arthur's grave and to Charlotte's Way.

 

Mr. Nicolls in love with Charlotte Bronte

13-12-1852      Mr. Nicolls proposed marriage to Charlotte
05-01-1853      Charlotte set out for London. Correcting the proofs for Vilette.
     02-1853      Back in Haworth

 

The Bishop of Ripon, Reverend  Dr. Charles Longley paid a visit. 
Charlotte:"" Mr. N. demeaned himself not quite pleasantly.  I thought he made no effort to struggle with his dejection but gave way to it in a manner to draw notice; the Bishop was obviously puzzled by it.  Mr. Nicholls also showed temper once or twice in speaking to papa.  Martha was beginning to tell me of certain “flaysome” looks also, but I desired not to hear of them:""wiki/Charles_Longley

      04-1853     Charlotte visits Mrs. Gaskell in Manchester.

15-05-1853      Last communion service Mr. Nicolls.

"Having ventured on Whit Sunday to stop the sacrament, I got a lesson not to be repeated.  He struggled, faltered, then lost command over himself—stood before my eyes and in the sight of all the communicants white, shaking, voiceless. Joseph Redman spoke some words to him.  He made a great effort, but could only with difficulty whisper and falter through the service.  I suppose he thought this would be the last time; he goes either this week or the next.  I heard the women sobbing round, and I could not quite check my own tears".

      08-1853     Mr Nicolls is writing to Charlotte that he will become the the curate of Kirk Smeaton. After let many letters unanswered Charlotte writes back. By the autumn they were in regular
correspondence.

     09-1853     Mr Gaskell is visiting Haworth. Elizabeth Gaskell asks Richard Monckton Milnes to give Mr. Nicolls a pension. Richard_Monckton_Milnes

During the troubled period when Patrick was opposing his daughter’s connection with Arthur Bell Nicholls he met him (his family seat was close to Kirk Smeaton, whither Nicholls had “exiled” himself) and dangled in front of him two chances of possible Church preferment, which Nicholls refused. At Mrs Gaskell’s instigation he attempted to get him a pension, but he was – unusually for him – unsuccessful. blackwellreference


21-11-1853 Charlotte receives a letter from Mrs. Smith about the wedding plans of George Smith.This may have helped finally to pave the way for mr. Nicolls. She braved her father's wrath  and demanded to be allowed the meeting for which Mr. Nicolls had asked.the meeting.

• George Smith was unmarried, and, though eight years younger than Charlotte, she was clearly attracted to him, writing to her friend Ellen Nussey in January 1851:

‘Were there no vast barrier of age, fortune etc. there is perhaps enough personal regard to make things possible which are now impossible. If men and women married because they like each others’ temper, look, conversation, nature and so on – and if besides, years were more closely equal – the chance you allude to might be admitted as a chance – but other reasons regulate matrimony – reasons of convenience, of connection, of money. Meantime I am content to have him as a friend – and pray to God to continue to me the commonsense to look on one so young, so rising and so hopeful in no other light...’

• Many years after Charlotte’s death the author Mrs Humphry Ward asked Smith directly whether he had ever been in love with Charlotte. He replied:

‘No, I was never in the least bit in love with Charlotte Brontë... The truth is I never could have loved any woman who had not some charm or grace of person, and Charlotte Brontë had none. I liked her and was interested by her, and I admired her – especially when she was in Yorkshire and I was in London. I never was coxcomb enough to suppose that she was in love with me. But I believe that my mother was at one time rather alarmed.’

• Smith’s mother had no cause for alarm, however. In February 1854 he married the pretty, very sociable, eminently suitable Elizabeth Blakeway. Four months later Charlotte herself was married to Arthur Bell Nicholls, her father’s curate. george-smith 

    

01-1854 Mr. Nicolls came to stay for 10 days with his friend  Mr Sowden at Oxenhope. Here in the bitterly cold weather  Charlotte and Mr. Nicolls met and walked. Charlotte had the opportunaty to become better acquainted.   the-blue-snow-of-new-england

Elizabeth Gaskell  wrote that Charlotte told her father

Father, I am not a young girl, nor a young woman, even--I never was pretty. I now am ugly. At your death I will have £300 besides the little I have earned myself--do you think there are many men who would serve seven years for me?... Yes, I must marry a curate if I marry at all; not merely a curate but your curate; not merely your curate but he must live in the house with you, for I cannot leave you.

In a letter to Miss Wooler, a friend, she wrote of her engagement:
"I must tell you then, that since I wrote last, papa's mind has gradually come round to a view very different to that which he once took; and that after some correspondence, and as the result of a visit Mr. Nicholls paid here about a week ago, it was agreed that he was to resume the curacy of Haworth, as soon as papa's present assistant is provided with a situation, and in due course of time he is to be received as an inmate into this house.

24-02-1854   The situation had caused a cooling in the friendship on Nussey's part, who was probably jealous of Brontë's attachment to Nicholls, having thought they would both live as spinsters.
Answer of  MARY TAYLOR to ELLEN NUSSEY on a letter Ellen waswriting.

""You talk wonderful nonsense abt C. Bronte in yr letter. What do you mean about "bearing her position so long, & enduring to the end"? & still better -- "bearing our lot whatever it is". If it's C's lot to be married shd n't she bear that too? Or does your strange morality mean that she shd refuse to ameliorate her lot when it lies in her power. how wd. she be inconsistent with herself in marrying? Because she considers her own pleasure? If this is so new for her to do, it is high time she began to make it more common. It is an outrageous exaction to expect her to give up her choice in a manner so important, & I think her to blame in having been hitherto so yielding that her friends can think of making such an impudent demand"".

11-04-1854 Charlotte announced her engagement in a letter to Ellen Nussey

18-04-1854   Charlotte Bronte made up a marriage settlement in anticipation of her marriage to Arthur Bell Nicholls. Charlotte.s marriage settlement was unusual because most marriage settlements stated that if the wife predeceased the husband and was childless, only then would the money revert to the husband. In Charlotte Brontë.s case, the intention of the marriage settlement was to exclude Arthur Bell Nicholls altogether, because if Charlotte died childless, the money would go to her father, Patrick Brontë. As it turned out, Charlotte later revoked this marriage settlement before her death by

changing her will, and leaving everything to her husband.

22-05-1854   Before her marriage in 1854 Charlotte converted the room into a study for her future husband, the Revd. Arthur Bell Nicholls, who in 1845 had come to assist her father as curate at Haworth Church. A fireplace was added to the room and the present doorway created into the entrance hall.

Describing her preparations for the room's conversion in a letter dated 22 May 1854, Charlotte wrote: '...I have been very busy stitching - the little new room is got into order now and the green and white curtains are up - they exactly suit the papering and look neat and clean enough.' Three wallpaper samples were found in Charlotte's writing desk. A fourth sample, held in the New York Public Library, is accompanied by a note, authenticated by Elizabeth Gaskell, which describes it as being a 'Slip of the paper with which Charlotte Brontë papered her future husband's study, before they were married'. bronte-parsonage

08-05-1854           CATHERINE WINKWORTH to EMMA SHAEN,

If only he is not altogether far too narrow for her, one can fancy her much more really happy with such a man than with one who might have made her more in love, and I am sure she will be really good to him. But I guess the true love was Paul Emanuel [Charlotte's character in VILLETTE based off M. Heger] after all, and is dead; but I don't know, and don't think that Lily [Mrs. Gaskell] knows...

29-06-1854 The marriage took place at Haworth.

Henceforward the sacred doors of home are closed upon her married life. We, her loving friends, standing outside, caught occasional glimpses of brightness, and pleasant peaceful murmurs of sound, telling of the gladness within; and we looked at each other, and gently said, "After a hard and long struggle - after many cares and many bitter sorrows - she is tasting happiness now!" We thought of the slight astringencies of her character, and how they would turn to full ripe sweetness in that calm sunshine of domestic peace. We remembered her trials, and were glad in the idea that God had seen fit to wipe away the tears from her eyes. Those who saw her, saw an outward change in her look, telling of inward things. And we thought, and we hoped, and we prophesied, in our great love and reverence. life-of-charlotte-bronte-elizabeth.html
 

He continued to write to Charlotte, and while she initially did not respond to his letters, they gradually developed a clandestine correspondence, and met secretly whenever Nicholls stayed with the family of Reverend Joseph Brett Grant near Haworth.

Charlotte's own accounts of this courtship and eventual engagement, given in her letters to Ellen Nussey as it went along, could not be bettered in the finest novel in the world. Mr. Bronte's jealous fury, expressing itself as snobbish resentment - a curate with £100 a year marry his famous daughter! Mr. Nicholl's stubborn passion, which almost unseated his reason - he would not eat or drink; stayed shut up in his lodgings at the Browns' (though he still took poor old Flossy out for walks); broke down in the Communion Service, while the village women sobbed around; was rude to a visiting Bishop; resigned his Haworth curacy and agreed to remain till Mr. Bronte found another curate; volunteered as a missionary to Australia but finally took a curacy at Kirk Smeaton, in the West Riding itself. Charlotte, exasperated by Nicholl's lack of the qualities she desired in a husband, infuriated by her father's ignoble objections to the match, conscious of the absence of alternatives. The villagers, torn between opposing parties - some say they would like to shoot Mr. Nicholls, but they gave him a gold watch as a parting present. What a tragic drama - or a roaring comedy, depending on its result. Love, coupled with Charlotte's loneliness and Mr. Bronte's dissatisfaction with his new curate, Mr. De Renzi, triumphed." bronte_Charlotte

Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls, who had been licensed to the curacy of Haworth in June 1845, had first professed his affection for Charlotte Brontë in December 1852, to the great disapproval of her father Reverend Patrick Brontë. Charlotte consequently refused him, and Nicholls left for a curacy at Kirk Smeaton near Pontefract. He continued to write to Charlotte, and while she initially did not respond to his letters, they gradually developed a clandestine correspondence, and met secretly whenever Nicholls stayed with the family of Reverend Joseph Brett Grant near Haworth. Patrick Brontë gradually though grudgingly increased his acquaintance with Nicholls and eventually consented to a marriage between him and Charlotte.brontes-1854

Reverend Joseph Brett Grant
As the population had increased because of the mills, the Rev. Patrick Bronte of Haworth sent his curate, the Rev. Joseph Brett Grant to start the church in Oxenhope. He had to hold services in a house at the top of the catsteps, although nobody now knows which one it was. He was allowed to perform baptisms, but marriages and funerals could only take place in a church. As a school and vicarage were needed as well as a church, it was decided to build the school first. This was completed in 1846, and services were held there. The Rev. Brett Grant raised money by approaching people, telling them he needed money to build a church, holding out his hand and asking them how much they would give him. Charlotte Bronte described him in her novel 'Shirley' under the name of the Rev. Don, adding that he had walked so far he had worn out 14 pairs of shoes! She quite rightly described him as 'the champion beggar'. As a result of his persistence, the foundation stone was laid on 14 February 1849 and the finished building was consecrated by the Bishop of Ripon on 11 October 1849 OxenhopeVillage/history

I found him leaning against the garden door in a paroxysm of anguish, sobbing as women never sob. Of course I went straight to him.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

‘May 19th, 1853.

‘Dear Ellen,—I cannot help feeling a certain satisfaction in finding that the people here are getting up a subscription to offer a testimonial of respect to Mr. Nicholls on his leaving the place.  Many are expressing both their commiseration and esteem for him.  The Churchwardens recently put the question to him plainly: Why was he going?  Was it Mr. Brontë’s fault or his own?  “His own,” he answered.  Did he blame Mr. Brontë?  “No! he did not: if anybody was wrong it was himself.”  Was he willing to go?  “No! it gave him great pain.”  Yet he is not always right.  I must be just.  He shows a curious mixture of honour and obstinacy—feeling and sullenness.  Papa addressed him at the school tea-drinking, with constrained civility, but still with civility.  He did not reply civilly; he cut short further words.  This sort of treatment offered in public is what papa never will forget or forgive, it inspires him with a silent bitterness not to be expressed.  I am afraid both are unchristian in their mutual feelings.  Nor do I know which of them is least accessible to reason or least likely to forgive.  It is a dismal state of things.
‘The weather is fine now, dear Nell.  We will take these sunny days as a good omen for your visit to Yarmouth.  With kind regards to all at Brookroyd, and best wishes to yourself,—I am, yours sincerely,

‘C. Brontë.’

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

‘Haworth, May 27th, 1853.

‘Dear Ellen,—You will want to know about the leave-taking?  The whole matter is but a painful subject, but I must treat it briefly.  The testimonial was presented in a public meeting.  Mr. Taylor and Mr. Grant were there. Papa was not very well and I advised him to stay away, which he did.  As to the last Sunday, it was a cruel struggle.  Mr. Nicholls ought not to have had to take any duty.

‘He left Haworth this morning at six o’clock.  Yesterday evening he called to render into papa’s hands the deeds of the National School, and to say good-bye.  They were busy cleaning—washing the paint, etc., in the dining-room, so he did not find me there.  I would not go into the parlour to speak to him in papa’s presence.  He went out, thinking he was not to see me; and indeed, till the very last moment, I thought it best not.  But perceiving that he stayed long before going out at the gate, and remembering his long grief, I took courage and went out, trembling and miserable.  I found him leaning against the garden door in a paroxysm of anguish, sobbing as women never sob.  Of course I went straight to him.  Very few words were interchanged, those few barely articulate.  Several things I should have liked to ask him were swept entirely from my memory.  Poor fellow!  But he wanted such hope and such encouragement as I could not give him.  Still, I trust he must know now that I am not cruelly blind and indifferent to his constancy and grief.  For a few weeks he goes to the south of England, afterwards he takes a curacy somewhere in Yorkshire, but I don’t know where.

‘Papa has been far from strong lately.  I dare not mention Mr. Nicholls’s name to him.  He speaks of him quietly and without opprobrium to others, but to me he is implacable on the matter.  However, he is gone—gone, and there’s an end of it.  I see no chance of hearing a word about him in future, unless some stray shred of intelligence comes through Mr. Sowden or some other second-hand source.  In all this it is not I who am to be pitied at all, and of course nobody pities me.  They all think in Haworth that I have disdainfully refused him.  If pity would do Mr. Nicholls any good, he ought to have, and I believe has it.  They may abuse me if they will; whether they do or not I can’t tell.

‘Write soon and say how your prospects proceed.  I trust they will daily brighten.—Yours faithfully,

‘C. Brontë.’

I got a lesson not to be repeated. He struggled, faltered, then lost command over himself—stood before my eyes and in the sight of all the communicants white, shaking, voiceless.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

‘March 4th, 1853.

‘Dear Ellen,—We had the parsons to supper as well as to tea.  Mr. N. demeaned himself not quite pleasantly.  I thought he made no effort to struggle with his dejection but gave way to it in a manner to draw notice; the Bishop was obviously puzzled by it.  Mr. Nicholls also showed temper once or twice in speaking to papa.  Martha was beginning to tell me of certain “flaysome” looks also, but I desired not to hear of them.  The fact is, I shall be most thankful when he is well away.  I pity him, but I don’t like that dark gloom of his.  He dogged me up the lane after the evening service in no pleasant manner.  He stopped also in the passage after the Bishop and the other clergy were gone into the room, and it was because I drew away and went upstairs that he gave that look which filled Martha’s soul with horror.  She, it seems, meantime, was making it her business to watch him from the kitchen door. If Mr. Nicholls be a good man at bottom, it is a sad thing that nature has not given him the faculty to put goodness into a more attractive form.  Into the bargain of all the rest he managed to get up a most pertinacious and needless dispute with the Inspector, in listening to which all my old unfavourable impressions revived so strongly, I fear my countenance could not but shew them.
‘Dear Nell, I consider that on the whole it is a mercy you have been at home and not at Norfolk during the late cold weather.  Love to all at Brookroyd.—Yours faithfully,
‘c. Brontë.’

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

‘You ask about Mr. Nicholls.  I hear he has got a curacy, but do not yet know where.  I trust the news is true.  He and papa never speak.  He seems to pass a desolate life.  He has allowed late circumstances so to act on him as to freeze up his manner and overcast his countenance not only to those immediately concerned but to every one.  He sits drearily in his rooms.  If Mr. Grant or any other clergyman calls to see, and as they think, to cheer him, he scarcely speaks.  I find he tells them nothing, seeks no confidant, rebuffs all attempts to penetrate his mind.  I own I respect him for this.  He still lets Flossy go to his rooms, and takes him to walk.  He still goes over to see Mr. Sowden sometimes, and, poor fellow, that is all.  He looks ill and miserable.  I think and trust in Heaven that he will be better as soon as he fairly gets away from Haworth.  I pity him inexpressibly.  We never meet nor speak, nor dare I look at him; silent pity is just all that I can give him, and as he knows nothing about that, it does not comfort.  He is now grown so gloomy and reserved that nobody seems to like him.  His fellow-curates shun trouble in that shape; the lower orders dislike it.  Papa has a perfect antipathy to him, and he, I fear, to papa.  Martha hates him.  I think he might almost be dying and they would not speak a friendly word to or of him.  How much of all this he deserves I can’t tell; certainly he never was agreeable or amiable, and is less so now than ever, and alas! I do not know him well enough to be sure that there is truth and true affection, or only rancour and corroding disappointment at the bottom of his chagrin.  In this state of things I must be, and I am, entirely passive.  I may be losing the purest gem, and to me far the most precious, life can give—genuine attachment—or I may be escaping the yoke of a morose temper.  In this doubt conscience will not suffer me to take one step in opposition to papa’s will, blended as that will is with the most bitter and unreasonable prejudices.  So I just leave the matter where we must leave all important matters.
‘Remember me kindly to all at Brookroyd, and—Believe me, yours faithfully,

‘C. Brontë.’‘Haworth, April 6th, 1853

 

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

‘May 16th, 1853.

‘Dear Ellen,—The east winds about which you inquire have spared me wonderfully till to-day, when I feel somewhat sick physically, and not very blithe mentally.  I am not sure that the east winds are entirely to blame for this ailment.  Yesterday was a strange sort of a day at church.  It seems as if I were to be punished for my doubts about the nature and truth of poor Mr. Nicholls’s regard.  Having ventured on Whit Sunday to stop the sacrament, I got a lesson not to be repeated.  He struggled, faltered, then lost command over himself—stood before my eyes and in the sight of all the communicants white, shaking, voiceless.  Papa was not there, thank God!  Joseph Redman spoke some words to him.  He made a great effort, but could only with difficulty whisper and falter through the service.  I suppose he thought this would be the last time; he goes either this week or the next.  I heard the women sobbing round, and I could not quite check my own tears.  What had happened was reported to papa either by Joseph Redman or John Brown; it excited only anger, and such expressions as “unmanly driveller.”  Compassion or relenting is no more to be looked for than sap from firewood.
‘I never saw a battle more sternly fought with the feelings than Mr. Nicholls fights with his, and when he yields momentarily, you are almost sickened by the sense of the strain upon him.  However, he is to go, and I cannot speak to him or look at him or comfort him a whit, and I must submit.  Providence is over all, that is the only consolation.—Yours faithfully,

‘C. Brontë.’

 

Yours, wishing devoutly that papa would resume his tranquillity, and Mr. Nicholls his beef and pudding,

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

‘Haworth, December 18th, 1852.

You ask how papa demeans himself to Mr. Nicholls.  I only wish you were here to see papa in his present mood: you would know something of him.  He just treats him with a hardness not to be bent, and a contempt not to be propitiated.  The two have had no interview as yet; all has been done by letter.  Papa wrote, I must say, a most cruel note to Mr. Nicholls on Wednesday.  In his state of mind and health (for the poor man is horrifying his landlady, Martha’s mother, by entirely rejecting his meals) I felt that the blow must be parried, and I thought it right to accompany the pitiless despatch by a line to the effect that, while Mr. Nicholls must never expect me to reciprocate the feeling he had expressed, yet, at the same time, I wished to disclaim participation in sentiments calculated to give him pain; and I exhorted him to maintain his courage and spirits.  On receiving the two letters, he set off from home.  Yesterday came the inclosed brief epistle.
‘You must understand that a good share of papa’s anger arises from the idea, not altogether groundless, that Mr. Nicholls has behaved with disingenuousness in so long concealing his aim.  I am afraid also that papa thinks a little too much about his want of money; he says the match would be a degradation, that I should be throwing myself away, that he expects me, if I marry at all, to do very differently; in short, his manner of viewing the subject is on the whole far from being one in which I can sympathise.  My own objections arise from a sense of incongruity and uncongeniality in feelings, tastes, principles.
‘How are you getting on, dear Nell, and how are all at Brookroyd?  Remember me kindly to everybody.—Yours, wishing devoutly that papa would resume his tranquillity, and Mr. Nicholls his beef and pudding,

‘C. Brontë

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

‘January 2nd, 1853.

‘Dear Nell,—I thought of you on New Year’s night, and hope you got well over your formidable tea-making.  I trust that Tuesday and Wednesday will also pass pleasantly.  I am busy too in my little way preparing to go to London this week, a matter which necessitates some little application to the needle.  I find it is quite necessary I should go to superintend the press, as Mr. Smith seems quite determined not to let the printing get on till I come.  I have actually only received three proof-sheets since I was at Brookroyd.  Papa wants me to go too, to be out of the way, I suppose; but I am sorry for one other person whom nobody pities but me.  Martha is bitter against him; John Brown says “he should like to shoot him.”  They don’t understand the nature of his feelings, but I see now what they are.  He is one of those who attach themselves to very few, whose sensations are close and deep, like an underground stream, running strong, but in a narrow channel.  He continues restless and ill; he carefully performs the occasional duty, but does not come near the church, procuring a substitute every Sunday.  A few days since he wrote to papa requesting permission to withdraw his resignation.  Papa answered that he should only do so on condition of giving his written promise never again to broach the obnoxious subject either to him or to me.  This he has evaded doing, so the matter remains unsettled.  I feel persuaded the termination will be his departure for Australia.  Dear Nell, without loving him, I don’t like to think of him suffering in solitude, and wish him anywhere so that he were happier.  He and papa have never met or spoken yet.  I am very glad to learn that your mother is pretty well, and also that the piece of challenged work is progressing.  I hope you will not be called away to Norfolk before I come home: I should like you to pay a visit to Haworth first.  Write again soon.—Yours faithfully,

‘C. Brontë.’
 

dailymail/The-Brontes

 

 

The Rev. A. B. Nicholls, curate of Haworth since 1845, proposed marriage to Charlotte in 1852.

In 1826 Arthur Bell Nicholls was taken in by his uncle the Reverend Allan Bell, headmaster of the Royal Free School, Banagher, and 10years later went up to Trinity College, Dublin, graduating in 1844. His first clerical position was the curacy at Haworth, and he took up his duties in May 1845...

Mr Brontë was by then 68 years old, and besides taking services and undertaking such duties as Mr Brontë might direct, Mr Nicholls had specific responsibilities for Stanbury village, and for the Church School, where he taught five mornings a week. He was diligent, serious-minded and widely read, and both Mr Brontë and the village thought well of him. A strongly built man, he liked fresh air and exercise, and would take the Brontë dogs for walks on the moors.
Mr Nicholls lived in the sexton John Brown's house adjoining the Church School. A few months after Mr Nicholls' arrival in Haworth, Branwell returned home in disgrace, and Mr Nicholls would have witnessed every stage of Branwell's decline over the next three years, and shared the tragedy of the deaths of Branwell, Emily and Anne in 1848-9. By 1850 he would have been more familiar than anyone with the family at the Parsonage.

His proposal of marriage to Charlotte in December 1852 came as a complete surprise to both her and her father. Angered by his curate's presumption, Mr Brontë withheld his consent and Charlotte declined the offer.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

‘December 15th, 1852.

On Monday evening Mr. Nicholls was here to tea.  I vaguely felt without clearly seeing, as without seeing I have felt for some time, the meaning of his constant looks, and strange, feverish restraint.  After tea I withdrew to the dining-room as usual.  As usual, Mr. Nicholls sat with papa till between eight and nine o’clock; I then heard him open the parlour door as if going.  I expected the clash of the front door.  He stopped in the passage; he p. 473tapped; like lightning it flashed on me what was coming.  He entered; he stood before me.  What his words were you can guess; his manner you can hardly realise, nor can I forget it.  Shaking from head to foot, looking deadly pale, speaking low, vehemently, yet with difficulty, he made me for the first time feel what it costs a man to declare affection where he doubts response.
‘The spectacle of one ordinarily so statue-like thus trembling, stirred, and overcome, gave me a kind of strange shock.  He spoke of sufferings he had borne for months, of sufferings he could endure no longer, and craved leave for some hope.  I could only entreat him to leave me then and promise a reply on the morrow.  I asked him if he had spoken to papa.  He said he dared not.  I think I half led, half put him out of the room.  When he was gone I immediately went to papa, and told him what had taken place.  Agitation and anger disproportionate to the occasion ensued; if I had loved Mr. Nicholls, and had heard such epithets applied to him as were used, it would have transported me past my patience; as it was, my blood boiled with a sense of injustice.  But papa worked himself into a state not to be trifled with: the veins on his temples started up like whip-cord, and his eyes became suddenly bloodshot.  I made haste to promise that Mr. Nicholls should on the morrow have a distinct refusal.
‘I wrote yesterday and got this note.  There is no need to add to this statement any comment.  Papa’s vehement antipathy to the bare thought of any one thinking of me as a wife, and Mr. Nicholls’s distress, both give me pain.  Attachment to Mr. Nicholls you are aware I never entertained, but the poignant pity inspired by his state on Monday evening, by the hurried revelation of his sufferings for many months, is something galling and irksome.  That he cared something for me, and wanted me to care for him, I have long suspected, but I did not know the degree or strength of his feelings.  Dear Nell, good-bye.—Yours faithfully,

‘C. Brontë.

 

On this day in 1819

Arthur Bell Nicholls was born at Killhead, County Antrim, Ireland.

historical_society

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.

Anne

I received this nice reaction from Anne. 
She is an artist and keeps an interesting weblog.
I post it here because her reaction is interesting and I love when people share with me their love of the Bronte Sisters!


"" I love the story of Charlotte's and Mr. Nicholls courtship. It's good to see this fine man finally get his due in these last years. 

It's no small thing to have won the hand of a Brontë, make her very happy and then protect her legacy for 50 years. Mr. Nicholls created the first Brontë museum in his home after leaving Haworth.

I also love reading about the 3 times Mr. Nicholls is so overwhelmed by his love for Charlotte, he simply breaks down.
Of course when he purposed,then the last church service, at Whitsum, ( when the congregation saw his struggle and cried )and when he left the school deeds at the parsonage before leaving Haworth, believing he would not see CB again. As we know, she came out and found him sobbing at the gate. 

Nicholls was too in love to give up just because those at the parsonage told him to. He persisted and won his prize

It must of been amazing for Charlotte to see in another a love that was so like the love she felt for Constantin Heger. To relive that huge event in her life, but from another perspective entirely.... this time she walked in Heger's shoes. 

This had to help Nicholls's cause. Because Charlotte knew so well the pain of unanswered letters, she could not afflict it on another forever...and indeed that was how Arthur started to win her, when she finally answered his letters. 
Few people were as keen an obverser of human nature than Charlotte Bronte. So it says a great deal about Arthur that the more she got to know him, the better she liked him, until esteem turned to love.

Her awful loneliness now that the London years were winding down and also the pressing need to somehow replace her father's work while he retained his position also helped Nicolls's cause as he was the answer. But how lovely real happiness came to Charlotte as well. 

Charlotte's need for such happiness was such, that if even she knew what was ahead, I can't say she would not have gone forward with the marriage anyway.

We know Nicholls never fully recovered from her loss and his grief remained raw. And I think he too would have said that the few months of his happiness with Charlotte as his wife was worth the subsequent 50 years of grief. This is a great love story and deserves its place in Brontë history""

Haworth homes plan comes under attack by Bronte guardians

One of the world’s most famous literary societies has warned that plans for up to 320 homes on Green Belt land in Bronte country could undermine the area’s heritage tourism.

It is next to a lane to Oxenhope known as “Charlotte’s Path” after Jane Eyre author Charlotte Bronte, where she and her future husband, Arthur Bell Nicholls, held clandestine meetings before they were  married. thetelegraphandargus

 I have walked the route many times, and it has the happiest connections to the courtship and wedding of Charlotte Brontë and Arthur Bell Nicholls.  bronte parsonage
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Arthur Bell Nicholls, the curate who assisted Patrick Brontë in the parish, had proposed to Charlotte without consulting him. Charlotte's father knew Nicholls was penniless, without even the incumbency of a parish, which is what had enabled Patrick Brontë to provide for a family—and in no grand style, either. Patrick Brontë believed that Nicholls was after Charlotte's money, as her books were selling well, and he was furious that Nicholls should seek to win his daughter without the courtesy of a man-to-man discussion first. Losing his hot Irish temper, he criticized his future son-in-law in the harshest language every time the poor man's name came up.

Nor was Patrick Brontë the only person who opposed Nicholls' marriage proposal. The Brontë family servants (who were like family since they had served there for decades) also roundly criticized him, and so did Charlotte's old friend Ellen Nussey. (Brontës, 726, 735) Charlotte Brontë—who had never particularly noticed Arthur Bell Nicholls before the proposal—found herself in the unlikely position of his champion, defending Nicholls' character against the irate critics who surrounded her since she seemed to be the only person who was keeping a cool head about the whole affair. In this way, she began to see and appreciate her suitor's fine qualities. If those around Charlotte had been calmer about the proposal, it is very possible that Charlotte wouldn't have given him a second thought. (Brontës, 732)

Into the middle of this quarrel came Mrs. Gaskell on her first visit to Haworth. (Brontës, 738-741) She had learned about the proposal and its obstacles from Charlotte's letters, and her romantic heart found it tragic and disgraceful that this Romeo and Juliet should be kept apart. What she failed to take into account was Charlotte's own ambivalence about the love affair. Charlotte wasn't sure whether she was even interested in Nicholls, so her father's opposition to the match gave her the perfect excuse. She could act passive and resigned, and no one would be offended: not her father, who felt guilty for upsetting her; not Arthur Bell Nicholls, who was managing to carry on a quiet correspondence with her behind her father's back; and certainly not the romantic Mrs. Gaskell, who concluded that her poor friend was a persecuted saint. All negative attention could direct itself to the obstinate Patrick Brontë—and while his future son-in-law never blamed him, Mrs. Gaskell certainly did. (Brontës, 741)

But Charlotte was not generally passive and resigned, and she did not stay so now. As soon as she made up her mind, she went straight to her father and her suitor and told them how things were to be. She was going to marry Arthur Bell Nicholls, and she was not going to leave either her father or her home. Nicholls would return to Haworth to live in the parsonage with them, and he would resume his old occupation as curate, carrying out her father's duties so that the elderly Patrick Brontë could retire. (Brontës, 748)

One wonders how Patrick Brontë felt when she laid down the law like that, but he had not opposed any of his children when their minds were made up, and he did not do so now. "Papa's mind seems wholly changed about this matter," Charlotte writes. "And he has said both to me and when I was not there – how much happier he feels since he allowed all to be settled." (Brontës, 750) Charlotte and Nicholls married on June 29, 1854, and were very happy together, but that happiness was not to be long-lived; she died before they reached their first anniversary. Arthur Bell Nicholls then went on to take care of his aged father-in-law until Patrick Brontë's death six years later. A very close friendship sprang up between these formerly bitter rivals for Charlotte's affection, and when Patrick Brontë died, his son-in-law was so devastated by the loss that he could barely manage to walk in the funeral procession, physically supported by a friend. (Brontës, 821) clare dunkle br myths

----------------
‘Haworth, April 11th, 1854

‘Dear Ellen,
‘Mr. Nicholls came on Monday, and was here all last week.  Matters have progressed thus since July.  He renewed his visit in September, but then matters so fell out that I saw little of him.  He continued to write.  The correspondence pressed on my mind.  I grew very miserable in keeping it from papa.  At last sheer pain made me gather courage to break it.  I told all.  It was very hard and rough work at the time, but the issue after a few days was that I obtained leave to continue the communication.  Mr. Nicholls came in January; he was ten days in the neighbourhood.  I saw much of him.  I had stipulated with papa for opportunity to become better acquainted.  I had it, and all I learnt inclined me to esteem and affection.  Still papa was very, very hostile, bitterly unjust.

‘I told Mr. Nicholls the great obstacle that lay in his way.  He has persevered.  The result of this, his last visit, is, that papa’s consent is gained, that his respect, I believe, is won, for Mr. Nicholls has in all things proved himself disinterested and forbearing.  Certainly, I must respect him, nor can I withhold from him more than mere cool respect.  In fact, dear Ellen, I am engaged.

p. 486‘Mr. Nicholls, in the course of a few months, will return to the curacy of Haworth.  I stipulated that I would not leave papa; and to papa himself I proposed a plan of residence which should maintain his seclusion and convenience uninvaded, and in a pecuniary sense bring him gain instead of loss.  What seemed at one time impossible is now arranged, and papa begins really to take a pleasure in the prospect. gutenberg

2-12- 1906 Death of Arthur Bell Nicholls.

 

Arthur made his way to Hill House where he joined his aunt and cousin, Mary Anna. He became a small farmer, giving up the Church altogether. Martha Brown, one of the faithful Brontë servants came over from time to time and took over the housekeeping. She had nursed Charlotte and was one of Arthur's last links with the old days. When he was forty three and Mary Anna thirty two they decided to get married. She had always loved her cousin and he was fond of her. They married in 1864 and the ceremony was performed by Rev. Joseph Bell, Mary Anna's brother, and Arthur's cousin. It seemed to be more of a marriage of convenience, a friendship than anything else. There were no children of the marriage. Arthur died in 1906 at the age of eighty eight and Mary Ann in 1915 aged eighty five. They are both buried across the road from Hill House in the Churchyard of St. Paul's. Arthur's aunt, Mary Anna's mother, lived to the great age of 101, dying in 1902, a wonderful old lady. Arthur never recovered from Charlotte's death. He loved her to the end of his long life. He and Patrick Brontë were very different personalities, but it is curious to see how much they had in common, and of course Charlotte will always link them together.

From: lisburn.com/books/historical_society 

A lot of Photographs of Banagher, including the grave of Arthur Bell Nicolls:  http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/banagher

Arthur Bell Nicholls and his family

 

Arthur Bell Nicholls, photographed on his honeymoon in Ireland. 1854

biografie arthur bell nicolls




biography arthur bell nicholls

Background of Arthur Bell Nicholls

Tully Farm

Arthur Bell Nicholls was, according to the inscription on his headstone in Banagher churchyard, born in 1818, though other sources give the date as 1819. His birth place was Tully Farm, Killead, in the townland of Tully, Co. Antrim. Now it is a comfortable two storied house with a slated roof and all modern conveniences, looking out across the fields to Lough Neagh and the Sperrin mountains beyond. It is still a working farm, hut very different from the days when he was a child, running around in a very crowded family.

Killead was reckoned to have been a relatively prosperous place, with neat well kept houses, lime washed, and some thatched. It would appear however that by 1892, although the land was in good heart, the house had become neglected and was in a state of disrepair. At that time it was one and a half storeys and thatched, with a stable at one end and a byre at the other. Above the stable was a large room heated by the warmth rising from the animals beneath. The wooden floor of this room had traces of corn husks and chaff showing that at one time it was used for storing grain. There had been a large flagged kitchen, and at the rear of the house was found a circular horse walk for churning butter. When it was sold by George Nicholls there were ninety six acres; all good land.

It is not to say that William Nicholls, Arthur's father had the same amount of land. He is described as a 'small farmer' so others in the family may have added to the farm after his death. William remains a shadowy figure. We know that his family came over from Scotland around 1620 and were of Presbyterian stock. He settled in Killead, and married Margaret Bell of nearby Glenavy. She also was of Scottish descent, but of the Established Church. Before his wife died at the early age of forty four Margaret bore at least eleven children.

Margaret Bell had a sister Eliza and a brother John. However, it was her other brother, Alan, who played the most important role in her short life. He met a young girl called Harriet Lucinda Adamson and they married in Dublin on 5th April 1820. Harriet was eighteen at the time of her marriage. Born in York Street Dublin, she was of an old distinguished family with Danish origins. She lived in a large house where her parents entertained lavishly, inviting interesting and sociably acceptable people to their home.

Soon after they were married Dr. Alan Bell took his bride to live in Banagher where he took up his headmastership of the Royal School. Their new home was called Cuba House.

When Arthur was seven and his brother Alan nine, they had a visit from their aunt and uncle who had travelled up to Tully from Banagher. They offered to take the two boys back with them, bring them up as their own, educate them and give them a good start in life. It was a great opportunity for them, hut a hard decision for their parents to make. However, the Nicholls' house was bursting at the seams with children, and the only outlook for the boys would be the grinding life of farming. Their parents let them go. It must have been a bittersweet parting, for as far as is known they never saw their parents again, although the families kept in touch.

The two boys were extremely lucky to become members of this particular family, where they were lovingly accepted by one and all, enjoying a happy and carefree life with all the advantages of money and position. In Cuba House the boys were well and happy. They both proved to be good scholars and wanted for nothing. By now their aunt and uncle may have adopted them, but they were certainly treated as part of the family. Two years after their arrival in Banagher, their mother Margaret died.

http://www.lisburn.com/books/historical society

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