The Brontë Society replies to the critical voices

The Brontë Society replies to the critical voices

'Remembering Branwell'

 

South Square is a visual arts and heritage resource centre based within a Grade II listed building in Thornton, Bradford, West Yorkshire. The square also incorporates artists' studios, community space, fine art framer, craft shop and a cafe. It is home to South Square Gallery, a grassroots exhibition space committed to providing a professional and supportive resource for artists and emerging curators. Thornton Antiquarian Society's archive of local history material will shortly be relocated to the centre as part of the Stone Heritage Project/ southsquarecentre

'Remembering Branwell' event takes place on Sunday 14th September 2014 at 11.30am, South Square Gallery, Thornton BD13 3LD. The event will preview the film 'A Humble Station' written and narrated by Simon Zonenblick with a discussion and a buffet (£5) For further details call 01274-830788

Nine years of BrontëBlog

Bronteblog celebrates its 9 year anniversary.

From the Bronteblog: In September 2005 we decided to take a look at what and how the Brontës were doing in popular culture. Nine years later we can confidently say that they turned out to be doing fantastically well. We have said this before but we never cease to be amazed by the projects, inspiration and commentary they generate constantly. This blog publishes an average of two posts a day--not every day is filled with news of a new discovery, a new exhibition, a new book or a new adaptation, but at the very least each and every day the Brontës are mentioned by someone somewhere in the world, perhaps miles away from the world the Brontës knew and certainly decades after they died. Which, if you really stop to think about it, is amazing.

This nine years have been a labour of love but we can't boast of really having done it on our own: at some point or another we have had the help of individual readers and writers, authors, publishing houses, the Brontë Society itself. And there's always of course the readers and subscribers of this blog: here on Blogger and elsewhere in unexpected places back in 2005 such as Facebook or Twitter. We would like to offer a heartfelt thank you to anyone who has ever stopped and read one of our posts with interest.

Bronte Society embroiled in row over future of Haworth museum

ThE Brontë Society is in turmoil following calls from members to save the Parsonage Museum from “underachievement”. A group of members has called for the Haworth museum to be split from the society to help secure its financial future. Campaigners also want the society’s current leadership to step down to make way for members willing to modernise the group. The campaigners, led by TV producer John Thirlwell and retired deputy headteacher Janice Lee, this week secured the 50 members’ signatures they need to force an extraordinary meeting to discuss the issue. Mr Thirlwell and Mrs Lee last week sent a letter to fellow members detailing a number of allegations about the conduct of the council and calling to elect a new council of trustees. They also called for a rapid appointment to the vacant post of executive director. Ann Sumner stepped down in June, with the Brontë Society praising her “enthusiastic contribution” during her 16 months in the role.
Mr Thirlwell is concerned about the dramatic drop in Brontë Society membership in recent years, and falling attendances at the museum. He added: “We’re aware the museum is underachieving. I don’t have a lot of faith in the council. I don’t think it is keeping the membership informed.
“We must immediately put into action steps to get the structure of the Brontë Society built properly, so the museum is run by a separate trust.” Mr Thirlwell said such a separation would give the Brontë Parsonage Museum a better chance of attracting grants because it could prove it worked for the ‘public good’ rather than simply being a members’ society. A spokesman for the Brontë Society Council said: “Trustees welcome feedback from members and take their concerns very seriously. “The council is working hard with an experienced and accomplished leadership team to ensure the business planning of the Brontë Parsonage Museum is on a secure footing, and the work of the society, including preparations for forthcoming bicentenaries, which include plans for an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, Pierpont Morgan Library in New York and a service at Westminster Abbey, goes forward.” keighleynews

Top Withens

Wuthering Hikes
facebook/Top Withens

Through the garden gate. — bij Top Withens

 

 

It was three stories high

 

 From:  nortonconyers

 

“It was three stories high, of proportions not vast, though considerable: a gentleman’s manor-house, not a nobleman’s seat: battlements round the top gave it a picturesque look. Its grey front stood out well from the background of a rookery, whose cawing tenants were now on the wing: they flew over the lawn and grounds to alight in a great meadow, from which these were separated by a sunk fence, and where an array of mighty old thorn trees, strong, knotty, and broad as oaks, at once explained the etymology of the mansion’s designation.”¹

 

In Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, the title character, a plain yet quietly passionate governess arrives at Thornfield Hall expecting to educate a young naive mind. It is soon clear, however, that her simple expectations are no match for the arrogance and immorality of her employer, Mr. Rochester. Jane is immediately engulfed in the mysteries and temptations that collide in the vast gloomy manor. Screaming winds plague her windows, strange happenings occur in the middle of the night, and up a dreary staircase, Jane discovers the secret of her employer and object of his passion. A profound secret which ultimately consumes Thornfield Hall.

 

Norton Conyers House in North Yorkshire is widely thought to be the inspiration for the infamous Thornfield Hall in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Brontë was working as a governess when she visited Norton Conyers and heard the story of a madwomen who was hidden away from society. In 2004, a hidden staircase was discovered in the house, which seemed to have inspired Bronte in her description of the secret madwomen kept by Mr. Rochester in a dark room up a hidden staircase. Although not as large as Thornfield Hall, Norton Conyers bares many similarities such as its grey exterior and secret hideaways.

A beautiful picture on: norton-conyers-inspiration-thornfield-hall-charlotte-brontes-jane-eyre/

See also: nortonconyers

The Brontës in Brussels - A Review

The Brontës in Brussels is the perfect Brussels companion. Ideal as a guide or handbook for a trip to Brussels, but also a very interesting read from the sofa in your living room miles away from the actual places described in the book. Helen MacEwans's knowledge not only of the Brontës' stay in Brussels as well as the works derived from it (only devoirs in Emily's case but also novels, references in letters, etc in Charlotte's case) but also of the history of the quartier Isabelle, which is quite intricate, encyclopedic and always to-the-point. She meets three different points in her book: conveying a sense of the Brontës' stay in and opinions of Brussels, telling about the historical, social and geographical contexts that surrounded them when there and helping the modern Brontëite find his/her bearings in Belgium as it is today. And she manages to combine it all into an enjoyable read.
Read more; bronteblog/the-brontes-in-brussels
the-brontes-in-brussels

Bronte Society president defends leadership of literary group

THE president of the Bronte Society has rejected claims the literary group has “lost its way”.

Bonnie Greer yesterday hit back at members who have raised 50 signatures in a bid to oust the literary society’s ruling council. Ms Greer said the Society and Bronte Parsonage Museum were well run. She said: “The Society is run in a professional manner by a diverse team of skilled individuals. Business strategies are in place and outcomes are continuously monitored. “Additionally, the staff at the Museum are to be congratulated on their ongoing work and they have excellent fund raising record in a very challenging economic climate.” She said members were “understandably concerned” at the departure in June of the Society’s executive director, Ann Sumner. “I would like to reassure members that Council has not been idle since Professor Sumner left. Council has used the last couple of months to review the role of the executive director and a skilled leadership team is in place and doing a fine job at the museum.” Ms Greer rejected claims that council members were “enthusiastic amateurs”, saying they had extensive professional experience. “As a former deputy chair of the British Museum...I can assure members that the Council is in very good shape,” she said. It was “surprising” none of those criticising the Society had stood for election at the annual meeting in June, she added. yorkshirepost

Conference theme was 'The Condition of England'

Juliet Barker was our superb opening speaker, initiating proceedings at the 2014 Brontë Society
conference, which was held this year at the luxurious Scarman Conference Centre, at the University of Warwick. Our conference theme was 'The Condition of England', and Juliet addressed the Brontë children's precocious absorption with the politics of their day, considering whether that passion really carried through into their adult lives. As ever, Juliet's argument was supported with minute and exhaustive research, on this occasion culled mainly from the juvenilia. It was a bold, thought-provoking and slightly provocative stance, ideal to lead off what was widely agreed to be our 'best ever conference', packed with stimulating, original and exciting research, and introducing some new faces likely to be key Brontë scholars of the future.Novelist and critic

Bonnie Greer, the Society's President, gave a rousing and emotional speech at Saturday's dinner, urging us to remember that 'We're Brontë, and no-one else is!' And Society Chair Sally McDonald was also on hand, as ever, to greet members, presiding over proceedings with customary calm and good humour to set the tone for the whole weekend.


Also attending were, among others: bestselling Belgian novelist Jolien Janzing, whose novel De Meester (The Master), about Charlotte's relationship with M. Heger, comes out in English in 2016, and is set to become an exciting film; influential biographer and TV presenter Rebecca Fraser, who delivered a paper on 'The Woman Question and Charlotte Brontë'; internationally acclaimed Brontë scholar Professor Marianne Thormälen, from the University of Lund, Sweden, who discussed the Brontë novels as historical fiction; and rising young academics Molly Ryder, Erin Johnson, Emma Butcher, and Sara Pearson, whose erudite and carefully judged work proved there to be an exciting, creative new generation of Brontë scholars on their way up.

Most appreciated of all, though, was surely Brontë Society Publications Officer, our conference organiser Sarah Fermi, whose hard work throughout the last three years ensured the conference worked as a crucible for great ideas, a meeting place for great minds, and a platform for the very latest in great Brontë scholarship. This was Sarah's last conference as organiser, and applause from delegates at Saturday night's dinner reflected not only professional appreciation for a job most excellently done, but abiding affection for a much-loved friend and lifelong passionate Brontëphile.
bronte-society-conference

The path leading from over Penistone hill and towards Top Withens

The path leading from the Bronte Parsonage Museum over Penistone hill and towards Top Withens (Wuthering heights) i know this album has been posted before but i'll be adding a few more pics soon

More stunning photo's here: Facebook

 

The Brontes in Brussels.

 

Sunday, one week ago, I celebrated my birthday

Here you see some of the presents I received

 

The book of Helen MacEwan is great

 Itg gives so much information about Charlotte and Emily in Brussels

It makes me understand better geografic situation of the  Pensionnat Heger

 

Helen MacEwan has worked as a teacher of English as a foreign language and as a translator, and has lived in Brussels since 2004. She is highly active in the Brussels Brontë Group, which she founded in 2006 to bring together a group of enthusiasts, researchers, writers, and artists united by their interest in the Brontës in Brussels.

 

 

The photographe under shows a map about the place

  where later Rue d' Isabella would arise

This is a map of c 1750

 

 

Extrait d'un plan manuscrit du XVIIIe siècle - Archives de la Ville de BXL

On peut y découvrir, le Petit Béguinage, l'Hôtel Salazar, les Hospices Terarken 

et des Douze Apôtres, et puis surtout le Jardin des Arbalétriers et la Domus Isabellae 

le long de la rue d'Isabelle

Rue Isabelle is nestled behind Place Royale and can be reached through BELvue museum. The street was built in 1625 on the demand of the Infanta Isabelle to connect St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral with her palace, the Aula Magna. Rue Isabelle and the ruins of the old palace are now visible after renovation.

 

brussels.irisnet.be/culture-tourism-leisure/brussels-off-the-beaten-track/buildings

 

 

 

Cadastral plan of the early 1800's

 

 

 

thebrusselsbrontegroup

 

This photo under  is from 1850 (Charlotte is leaving Brussels in 1844)

michel-staes.e-monsite
So this is pretty much as the sisters experienced it.
  

 

The Pensionnat and the Rue d'Isabelle, late 19th century. The façade had been rebuilt in a more uniform style. In the Brontes time most of the school buildings were hidden out of sight from the street behind a row of small houses. These were subsequently  aquired by the Hegers and incorperated into the school building and the façade was remodelled.

 

-------The Brontes never saw the school in this style-----------

 

 

mysecretbrussels

 

 This photo was taken after the Brontes time. The galerie with arched windows was added in 1857

-----The Bronte sisters didn't see the Pensionnat like this------

 

This photo I never saw before, what a great photo

It found it on gutenberg/The Secret of Charlotte Brontë, by Frederika Macdonald

 

A Brussels view, with on the far right, the Pensionnat

thebrusselsbrontegroup
 

Rue d'Isabelle, 1894. Watercolour by J. Carabain. Is this the entrance to the garden?

 

The Brussels street in which the Pensionnat Heger was situated, named after the popular Infanta Isabella, daughter of Philip II of Spain, and governor of the Spanish Low Counties. An imposing staircase led up from the street to the statue of General Belliard in the splendid Rue Royale, and from the top of this staircase one looked down on the chimneys of the Rue d’Isabelle houses.

 

 

Even though the school building itself was no more extraordinary than the other schools in the neighbourhood, there was an unexpected treasure, tucked away behind the house; a delightful big garden with a line of ancient fruit trees.

 

 

This photograph shows you the three remaining 17th century houses of the then important guild of crossbowmen, who laid the foundation of the Pensionnat‘s large garden.
 

  

 

This photograph shows us the corner of Rue Terarken and Rue d’Isabelle. If you go just around the corner you will be in the Rue d’Isabelle. Unfortunately this will never happen. This picture I have always found fascinating. Perhaps most for what is not in it, i.e. what is just around the corner. In what remains of the Rue Terarken you are not far away from that corner.

brusselsbronte 

 

The Pensionnat was demolished in 1910, one year after the historic Isabella quarter was torn down. Thanks to new findings in the Brussels City Archives (for instance an 1857 plan) a faithful reconstruction of the building in 1843 could be made, with thanks also to Selina Busch. Her drawings are an important contribution to that reconstruction, and could if you should wish so also be a part of the answer to your questions?dutcharchives

 

 'In the garden there was a large berceau,' wrote Charlotte Bronte the author of Villette, 'above which spread the shade of an acacia; there was a smaller, more sequestered bower, nestled in the vines which ran along a high and grey wall and gathered their tendrils in a knot of beauty; and hung their clusters in loving profusion about the favoured spot, where jasmine and ivy met and married them ... this alley, which ran parallel with the very high wall on that side of the garden, was forbidden to be entered by the pupils; it was called indeed l'Allée défendue.'

 

Le grand berceaux in the Pensionnat garden, where lessons were held

 

 

 

 

gutenberg 

  

Hotel Ravenstein, beside the Pensionnat Heger 

 

The Former de Cleves-Ravenstein Mansion also commonly known as Hotel Ravenstein is the last standing example of the aristocratic mansions built between the end of the XV century and the beginning of the XVI century. This brick and sandstone building of late Brabant Gothic style was originally part of a vast building complex, divided and partially demolished over the centuries. This mansion, restored and transformed several times, is articulated around a main courtyard. The interior still holds pieces of furniture from the XVI and the XVIII century.

 

 

architecture/belgium/

 

In a letter to Emily (2 Sep 1843) Charlotte depicts herself in the long vacation taking walks beyond the city walls of Brussels, but also “threading the streets in the neighbourhood of the Rue D’Isabelle,” reluctant to return to the loneliness of the Pensionnat. These streets were destroyed by the manic rebuilding fever of Leopold II in the early years of the twentieth century.

  

 

bruxelles/aquarelles-de-bruxelles-carabain

bruxellesanecdotique

culturamavzw

This is what remains of the Rue Terarken nowadays

From Google Earth

 

Look between the two blue doors......

 

Between those two delivery doors is the blue and white plaque dedicated to the Brontë sisters
charlottemathieson/charlotte-brontes-brussels

St. Gudule

 

 

thebrusselsbrontegroup/St. Gudule

 

 

Confessional in St. Gudule, Brussels

Louis Haghe

darvillsrareprints/Belgium

Did it look like this when Charlotte made her confession in the St. Gudule?

See more photo''s secret mission

brontesisters/rue-disabelle

Charles Dickens's Relationship with his Famous Contemporaries

Bronte’s debut novel, Jane Eyre, was an immediate popular success on publication in 1847. Dickens claimed never to have read it, but Slater believes this claim is improbable, (p.282) and Dickens’ next two novels after Jane Eyre both seem to be influenced by it. David Copperfield’s use of first-person narrative, and certain episodes, especially when David is humiliated in front of his class-mates by being made to wear a sign advertising his bad behaviour, recalls Jane Eyre. Bleak House’s Esther Summerson has also been seen as bearing certain similarities to Jane Eyre, though where Jane is headstrong and independent, Esther is placid, subservient and self-effacing. Bronte herself found Esther’s character “weak and twaddling.” (Schlicke, p.56)mark-Wallace

Both Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë, and Great Expectations, written by Charles Dickens, have many Victorian similarities. Both novels are influenced by the same three elements. The first is the gothic novel, which instilled mystery, suspense, and horror into the work. The second is the romantic poets, which gave the literature liberty, individualism, and nature. The third is the Byronic hero, which consists of the outcast or rebel who is proud and melancholy and seeks a purer life. The results when all three combined are works of literature like Jane Eyre and Great Expectations. BOTH NOVELS CONVEY THE SAME VICTORIAN IDEOLOGIES COMMON FOR THE TIME PERIOD IN, WHICH THEY WERE WRITTEN. Brontë displays many of her experiences and beliefs through the main character, Jane, in her novel. As does Dickens, he portrays his own experiences and thoughts through Pip, the main character of Great Expectations.

Dickens and Brontë use setting as an important role in the search for domesticity. Great Expectations is a circular book, with Pip finding his childhood home at the end of the story finally filled with happiness and a real family (Chesterton, 102). Pip begins the novel in his village, innocent though oppressed. Moving to London, he becomes uncommon, but also loses his natural goodness. Paying his financial debts and living abroad after losing his “great expectations,” he regains his goodness, or at least. Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations

Equipped with an edition of Bleak House and little else, Professor Slater began by pointing out that there is a complete lack of evidence that any of the Brontës ever met Dickens, and not much to say about their opinions of him, even though just about everybody in their time read his works. We can speculate, of course, and we do know that Charlotte Brontë was averse to the caricaturing style and was wary of showiness and too much self promotion: reports of all those lavish London dinner parties at the Dickens household, with pineapples studding the table, would have aroused her disapproval.
Nevertheless, significant connections have been made: few important novelists of the nineteenth century were particularly interested in children, or the way they were treated. Charles Dickens and Charlotte Brontë stand out as different here. Lowood and Dotheboys Hall spring to mind, and Wackford Squeers and Brocklehurst have often been put together (misleadingly) in the same club. The young Jane Eyre could be compared and contrasted with Esther Summerson quite profitably, and it has been argued that Bleak House was an influence on Villette. Professor Slater read a few paragraphs from Chapter 3 in which Esther remembers her childhood doll, the only 'person' she felt able to talk to. Miss Barbary, Esther's strict godmother, later revealed as her aunt, could be lined up alongside Jane's aunt. bronteparsonage

Anne Brontë made this pencil sketch at the age of eight.

Bronte Parsonage Museum

Anne Brontë made this pencil sketch of a church surrounded by trees on this day in 1828, at the age of eight.
 

 

Wuthering fights as Brontë Society accused of losing its way

IT IS one of Britain’s oldest societies of its kind, dedicated to the memory of Yorkshire’s most famous literary family.

But the Brontë Society has been plunged into turmoil amid claims it has “lost its way” after dozens of members raised serious questions about the way it is being governed. About 40 members of the literary society, which is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year, have expressed concerns and how its governance is having an impact on the world-famous Brontë Parsonage Museum, which it owns. Critics are close to getting 50 signatures to force an extraordinary general meeting in a bid to oust the ruling 
council. In a letter, members John Thirlwell and Janice Lee claimed there was an urgent need to “modernise” the society.

They want a new council to be elected with new members “to bring higher levels of professionalism and experience to the society”. The letter calls for work to be carried out to “raise the profile and reputation of the museum’s collections, programmes, and research”. It concludes: “The remaining task is to identify members with board-level experience of 
charity and company work who will stand at the EGM for election as members of the new 
council. “Without such leadership, the society will wither away, and the legacy of the Brontës will have been squandered.”

Mrs Lee told The Yorkshire Post that, in her opinion, the current council appeared to be “enthusiastic amateurs”.Mr Thirlwell claimed the running of the Parsonage Museum should be left in the hands of museum staff, putting an end to what he called the “micro-managing” by the society’s council.
He added: “The big picture is that the Brontë Society has lost its way. The museum should be run by a Trust and in a more professional way.” Mr Thirlwell claimed a 
recent consultants’ report concluded the Brontë Society was not best placed to be a fund-raiser because it was members’ club.
Members including Mr Thirlwell and Mrs Lee are still angry at the sudden departure in June of Ann Sumner, the society’s executive director, after just 16 months in the role. Questions have been asked about the circumstances of her leaving, but details have not been disclosed. Mr Thirlwell, a TV producer, said: “I, for one, would want Ann Sumner to come back.

“She had improved the relations between the village of Haworth and the Brontë Society, which has not always seen eye to eye with the village. She was very well respected in the museums field.”
Mrs Lee, who is a volunteer at the museum, added: “Ann Sumner came with a remarkable CV – she was amazing and had already started making inroads into taking the Parsonage forward.”
The Brontë Society Council confirmed it was aware a letter had been sent “expressing concerns” over the way it was governed. It said: “The letter was sent by two current members, to other members of the society, but not directly to the council. Trustees welcome feedback from members and take the concerns of members very seriously and will therefore be responding formally to all members without delay. “The council is working hard with an experienced and accomplished leadership team to ensure that the business planning of the Brontë Parsonage Museum is on a secure footing.” yorkshirepost

Emily' s christening mug

Bronte Parsonage Museum

Emily Jane Brontë was baptised on 20-08-1818. She was the only member of the family to have a middle name, and her christening mug can be seen below.