Merry Christmas

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“Whenever five or six English-speaking people meet round a fire on Christmas Eve, they start telling each other ghost stories,” wrote British humorist Jerome K. Jerome as part of his introduction to an anthology of Christmas ghost stories titled “Told After Supper“ in 1891. “Nothing satisfies us on Christmas Eve but to hear each other tell authentic anecdotes about specters.”
The practice of gathering around the fire on Christmas Eve to tell ghost stories was as much a part of Christmas for the Victorian English as Santa Claus is for us.
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Christmas in Victorian Times

 

Before Victoria's reign started in 1837 nobody in Britain had heard of Santa Claus or Christmas Crackers. No Christmas cards were sent and most people did not have holidays from work. The wealth and technologies generated by the industrial revolution of the Victorian era changed the face of Christmas forever.

The Gifts -At the start of Victoria's reign, children's toys tended to be handmade and hence expensive, generally restricting availability to those "rich folk" again. With factories however came mass production, which brought with it games, dolls, books and clockwork toys all at a more affordable price.

Turkey Time - Turkeys had been brought to Britain from America hundreds of years before Victorian times. When Victoria first came to the throne however, both chicken and turkey were too expensive for most people to enjoy. In northern England roast beef was the traditional fayre for Christmas dinner while in London and the south, goose was favourite. Many poor people made do with rabbit.

The Crackers - Invented by Tom Smith, a London sweet maker in 1846. The original idea was to wrap his sweets in a twist of fancy coloured paper, but this developed and sold much better when he added love notes (motto's), paper hats, small toys and made them go off BANG!

Carol Singers - Carol Singers and Musicians "The Waits" visited houses singing and playing the new popular carols;
1843 - O Come all ye Faithful
1848 - Once in Royal David's City
1851 - See Amid the Winters Snow
1868 - O Little Town of Bethlehem
1883 - Away in a Manger
A-Victorian-Christmas/

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
Oh come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
come and behold him, born the King of angels;
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
sing, all ye citizens of heaven above;
glory to God, glory in the highest:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning;
Jesus, to thee be glory given;
word of the Father, now in flesh appearing:
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

 

Author: Also known in Latin as "Adeste Fidelis," this Christmas carol is credited to an English hymnist named John Francis Wade (1711-1786). The said carol appeared in 1751 in his collection called Cantus Diversi. It also appeared on the Evening Offices of the Church in 1760. Later on, the carol was translated to English by Frederick Oakeley and William Thomas Brooke and was published on Murray's Hymnal in 1852. christmasnewyeararticles

 

Brontë biopic project for 2016

News from the Clothworkers Films Brontë biopic project for 2016, written and directed by David Anthony Thomas. The Facebook and Twitter pages announce that the casting is underway. Anne Brontë will be played by Rachel Teate:
Anne Bronte will be played by @RachelTeate of CBBC and Disney Channel's Wolfblood @movieScope #Bronte #Movie #BAFTA http://t.co/ORwX6dwWqB
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The torchlight parade, Haworth 15, December 2013

 

 

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Today marks the 165th anniversary of the death of Emily Brontë.

Emily Brontë, by all accounts then and now, died of tuberculosis—the galloping consumption, as it was then called when its progress was rapid. (Letters, 216) And consumption, in the days before antibiotics, was invariably fatal. Many, many people in Victorian England died of it. Some might linger for years. Others were gone within months of the acute onset of the illness. By coddling herself, Emily might have extended her life by a few weeks, or even by months, but she would not have regained her health. Here lies one possible explanation for Emily's steadfast refusal to see the doctors. Doctors were powerless against consumption. Not one single successful course of medical treatment for that disease existed in Emily's day. What could the doctors have done for her? They might have suggested various forms of treatment, but the final result would have been the same.

The disease was so common that Emily Brontë very likely knew this. Her father certainly did. "Anne and I cherish hope as well as we can," Charlotte writes, "... but my father shakes his head and speaks of others of our family once similarly afflicted, for whom he likewise persisted in hoping against hope, and who are now removed where hope and fear fluctuate no more." (Brontës, 572-3)

Charlotte Brontë herself firmly believed that her sister had wanted to survive, regardless of brave words spoken in public about inexorable wills and no coward souls. "It was very terrible," she wrote to her friend Ellen concerning Emily's death. "She was torn conscious, panting, reluctant though resolute out of a happy life." (Letters, 229) In her grief, Charlotte could find only one consolation: that her sister no longer suffered.

... I will not now ask why Emily was torn from us in the fulness of our attachment, rooted up in the prime of her own days, in the promise of her powers – why her existence now lies like a field of green corn trodden down – like a tree in full bearing – struck at the root; I will only say, sweet is rest after labour and calm after tempest, and repeat again and again that Emily knows that now. (Letters, 219) claredunkle 

Emily Brontë’s funeral was attended only by family members and servants – and Emily’s beloved little dog, who sat in a church pew during the funeral service, and who would then sit and howl in front of Emily’s empty room for weeks after her death. today-in-literary-history-emily-bronte

No coward soul is mine 

 

             No trembler in the world's storm troubled sphere
I see Heaven's glories shine
And Faith shines equal arming me from Fear
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vain are the thousand creeds
That move men's hearts, unutterably vain,
Worthless as withered weeds
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main

To waken doubt in one
Holding so fast by thy infinity
So surely anchored on
The steadfast rock of Immortality
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
There is not room for Death
Nor atom that his might could render void
Since Thou art Being and Breath
And what thou art may never be destroyed. (Poems, 183-184)

Joan Fontaine (1917-2013) Jane Eyre (1943)

Countless websites are reporting the death of Joan Fontaine (1917-2013) at 96. One of the key roles of her acting career was the title character in Jane Eyre 1944 as many of said websites recall.

Jane Eyre (1944) is an American film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name, released by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by William Goetz, Kenneth Macgowan, and Orson Welles (uncredited). The film stars Welles and Joan Fontaine. Elizabeth Taylor made an early, uncredited appearance.

120th Birthday Party

 
 

Members of staff in the Dining Room.
Left to right: Sue Newby, Sonia Boocock, Jan Lee, Fiona Grimshaw.

 

 

Minutes from the first Bronte Society meeting in 1893

 

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Photos from the Red House Christmas event last weekend.

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120 years ago the Brontë Society was born

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The Brontë Society is 120 years old today and though we can't thank those who first established it, we can and certainly would like to thank everyone who keeps it running today. Keeping the memory of the Brontë family alive as well as watching over their belongings and many other jobs is not as easy as one would suppose at first. The Telegraph and Argus has an article about the celebrations:

Bradford Town Hall: freshford/town_hall

 

Haworth will today be the hub of worldwide celebrations marking 120 years of the Bronte Society – believed to be the world’s oldest literary society.
Established on December 16, 1893, the group has members across the world, and celebrations are being held as far as Australia and Canada.
The society now runs the Bronte Parsonage Museum – the former home of the family and which is now one of the area’s top tourist attractions. The anniversary will be marked by a number of worldwide events in 2014.
The first meeting in 1893 took place in Bradford Town Hall and was attended by more than 50 people. Presided over by the Reverend W H Keeling, headmaster of Bradford Grammar School, the group resolved to establish a museum to contain family relics, art and literary works, as well as any historic pieces related to the family.

Read more background information: kleurrijkbrontesisters 

 

That resolution lead to the opening of the first Bronte museum at the former Yorkshire Penny Bank in Main Street, Haworth, in 1895.
When the Church of England put the family’s home up for sale in 1928, the museum was moved to where it remains to this day.
In the past year the Parsonage has undergone an extensive refurbishment, with experts painstakingly recreating the decor and features that would have filled the house when the sisters lived there.
In January, the ticket desk in the entrance hallway, will be moved to the rear shop area, allowing the hallway to be restored to its original state.

Sally McDonald, chairman of the Bronte Council, said: “Members of the Bronte Society are very proud to be celebrating their 120th anniversary this month and will be celebrating not only in Haworth but around the world.
“We see ourselves as having a unique role, being simultaneously a literary society and a charity that owns and runs a world-renowned museum. From the start members have come together to promote interest in the lives and works of the Brontes, but today activities are not limited to Haworth.

Photo:  Baroness Andrews, right, is joined during her visit to Bronte Parsonage Museum by, from left, Sally McDonald, chairman of the Bronte Society council, Christine Went, conservation officer, and Ann Dinsdale, collections manager

thetelegraphandargus//.Praise_for_Bronte_home_

 

Ann Sumner, executive director of The Bronte Society, said: “We wish all our members a very happy 120th anniversary and hope that visitors to the Parsonage on the day will celebrate with us on this very special occasion.”
A full programme of events, including lectures and discussions all over the country will be announced at an event in London on February 19. (Chris Young) bronteblog


Photo: Ann Sumner

http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/KeelingFamily.html
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TODAY IN HAWORTH

Haworth Victorian Christmas

*1-4pm Santa's Grotto at Haworth Church
*5.15pm - Haworth's famous Torchlight Procession - starts at the Christmas Tree at the bottom of Main St. Parade up the street to the top singing carols. The Holly Queen & Princesses will be in attendance. Followed by Carol Service in Haworth Church. Lights on sale all day at £2 from Changegate Fisheries, Rose & Co., Firth's Boutique, Ye Sleeping House and the tombola stall at the top of Main St. Numbers are limited an...d sold on a first-come-first-served basis. Songsheets are handed out at the start.
*Music & Entertainment throughout the day by Golcar Band, Mighty Four, Baccapella, Bradford Chorale, Pennine Chimes, Hebdon Band, Marsh Ladies Choir and Oakworth Morris Men.
*Santa Special trains The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway

Traders dressed in Victorian costume, craft fair at the Old School Rooms, independent boutiques for Christmas shopping, as well as traditional pubs and tea rooms to recharge your batteries. Come and join us!

 

A visit to the Parsonage Museum.... and the first photographes !!!!!

This article is from the weblog Helena Fairfax

Look to the beautiful photographes  of the new decorated Parsonage.

 

I am so happy Helena made these pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

On this photographe I see  the removing of the portrait of Charlotte Bronte

Instead there is hanging an example of the Charlotte-Cory exposition
 

Last week I was lucky enough to attend a writers’ workshop at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth. The workshop was run by the Scots poet Jackie Kay. Jackie Kay is the writer in residence at the Parsonage (what a brilliant job that must be!)  She is also Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle Uni, an MBE for her services to literature, and the author of several volumes of prose and poetry.  So, writing, the moors, Haworth and the Brontës – I was quite excited about the day! 

Jackie Kay talked about her research as writer in residence, and the areas which had particularly interested her. One of these was the life of the Brontë sisters’ father, Patrick Brontë. Patrick was Irish, but spent most of his adult life in England. He went to Cambridge, which was a massive achievement for the largely self-taught son of an agricultural labourer, who had been destined by his family to become a blacksmith. Jackie Kay wondered what type of man he had been, to come from such a background and be father to one of the most creative families in literature.  He survived his wife and all six of his children.

 

Another of the Haworth characters that interested Jackie was Tabitha, the family’s maid.  Jackie believes Tabitha was herself a phenomenal story teller, and would regale the children with tales that were far beyond their years. She served with the family for 31 years, and was much loved.
One of the discoveries I most enjoyed finding out about was a poignant list of the household’s goods, which Jackie came across during her research. The household goods were put up for auction after Patrick Brontë died, and include such items as “Sundry Books 5 s/3p” ; “Warming Pan 5s / ” ;  “Hair Trunk 12s/ “; and (somehow I found this the saddest): “2 silk umbrellas 10s / 6p”.
Finally, the writing exercise Jackie set us involved choosing one of the rooms in the Parsonage, plus an object we’d seen there, and maybe one of the members of the household. We also had to write down four words that summed up our main impressions of the morning. Then we had five minutes to write what we wanted.  (I’m not really explaining this as well as Jackie Kay did, but I’m sure you get my drift!)

Anyway, I decided to put a scene together involving Patrick Brontë reading to the children when they were young.  I’m also intrigued by Aunt Branwell, so she, too, appeared in my five minute writing.  Aunt Branwell was Patrick’s sister-in-law, and moved from Plymouth to Haworth to look after the family when her sister died.  According to Mrs Gaskell, Aunt Branwell ran the household with clockwork precision.  I wonder what she made of the sisters and their frenzies of creativity, and of their brother Branwell, who became addicted to alcohol and opium.
 

On this day in 1847

Emily and Anne received six published copies of their novels, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey from their publishers. haworth-village

 

Jane Eyre

 

 

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Jane Eyre quiz

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The Brontë Sisters and Their Work in Ankara

A Conference scheduled for today, December 12 completely devoted to the Brontës. In Ankara, Turkey:

12-13 December 2013 at Middle East Technical University
Ankara, Turkey
METU 2013: The Brontë Sisters and Their Work

is the theme for this year’s METU British Novelists Conference organized by the Department of Foreign Language Education in Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. The conference will explore various aspects of the work of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë. There will also be papers approaching the work of the Brontë Sisters from the perspective of media and adaptation studies. Selected papers will be published in the conference proceedings.

Programme: Read The Brontë Sisters and Their Work in Ankara