The Brontes
The Brontes of Haworth
Here is a short history of the Bronte family using parish and national records to show what you could find whilst tracing your family history. I have combined the records with information found on the Bronte Society website: https://www.bronte.org.uk.
The Marriage of Patrick Bronte and Maria Branwell (1812)
Patrick Bronte married Maria Branwell on the 29th December 1812 in Guiseley, Yorkshire at St Oswald's church. The Reverend Patrick Bronte was from Birstall parish and was Minister of Hartshead-cum-Clifton. Maria Branwell was a spinster living in the Guiseley parish. They both signed the marriage register and the witnesses were John Fennell and Elizabeth Raston. John Fennell was Maria Branwell's uncle.
Patrick and Maria went on to have 6 children: Maria (1814), Elizabeth (1815), Charlotte (1816), Patrick Branwell -known as Branwell (1817), Emily Jane (1818) and Anne (1820). The two eldest children were born at Hartshead and the remaining children were born in Thornton, near Bradford, Yorkshire. Below is Branwell's baptism record. He was baptised on the 23rd July 1817 at Thornton. His father's profession is given as Minister and the clergyman who baptised him was John Fennell, his great uncle.
Patrick Branwell Bronte's baptism 1817
In 1820 the Bronte family moved to Howarth, near Keighley. They lived in the parsonage but it was not to be a happy home. Mrs Bronte died there a year later and the 2 eldest daughters, Maria & Elizabeth, died in 1825; Branwell and Emily both died in 1848 and Charlotte in 1855. Patrick Bronte survived all his children (Anne died in Scarborough in 1849), living at the Parsonage until he died in 1861 at the age of 84.
Haworth Parsonage 1841 Census.
Above is the 1841 Census for the Bronte household. Patrick Bronte is 60 years old and a clergyman who was born in Ireland. Patrick was born in 1777 but adult ages were often 'rounded' up or down to the nearest 10 on the 1841 Census. The next person on the record is Elizabeth Branwell, also 60, of Independent means and from Cornwall. This is Reverend Bronte's sister-in-law, who came up to Haworth to look after the children after his wife, Maria, died. Also living at the house were Emily Jane , aged 20 (who would have been 22 at the time) and Ann, who is recorded as being 19 (despite being born in 1820) and working as a governess, along with Martha Brown, a female servant aged 15. Martha was the daughter of the sexton, John Brown, who was a good friend of Patrick Bronte and had worked for the family from the age of 11. Charlotte and Branwell were not with the family on the Census as they were both working away from home and lived at their work residences.
Neither Branwell or Emily would appear on the 1851 Census as both died at the parsonage in 1848: Branwell on the 24th September and Emily on the 19th December. Anne died the year after, while visiting Scarborough, on a trip to improve her frail health. All three had been suffering from tuberculosis.
Emily Bronte's burial record.
Emily Bronte was buried on December 22nd at Haworth. The curate who performed the ceremony was Arthur Bell Nicholls, who had taken up his first ever post as Curate at Haworth in 1845, working alongside Patrick Bronte. He would become more involved with the family when he married Emily's sister, Charlotte, in 1854.
GRO Index of Anne Bronte's death.
1851 Census Haworth
By the 1851 Census Charlotte was the only one of the Bronte children still living. Her father, Patrick, is now 74 and gives his profession as: "Incumbent or perpetual curate of Howarth, Bradford, Yorks" and despite being a published author, 34 year old Charlotte's profession is recorded as 'none', which probably reflects the attitude to women writers in those times. Martha Brown is still living with the family and is joined by another servant, Tabitha Ackroyd, who had previously lived at the Parsonage (from 1824-1839) and had returned in 1842 to help out. We can see that Tabitha is in her 80's and according to Charlotte was considered to be 'part of the family'. She is thought to be the inspiration for Nelly Dean in Wuthering Heights. The other person on the census is Ellen Nussey, Charlotte's closest friend, who she had met 20 years before at Roe Head School, Mirfield.
Charlotte Bronte's marriage record 1854
Charlotte Bronte married Arthur Bell Nicholls at Haworth church on 29 June 1854. Arthur was of full age and the son of William Nicholls, a farmer. The marriage register records Nicholls' profession as a clerk and his address as Kirk Smeaton. He had moved to be curate of Kirk Smeaton after his initial marriage proposal to Charlotte had not been successful and Charlotte's father had made life unbearable after that. Eventually, Patrick Bronte relented and the couple were married. The marriage record also has Patrick Bronte's profession as clerk. Once again, Charlotte's profession is not given, even though by now she was the published author of 3 books: Jane Eyre (1847), Shirley ( 1849) and Villette (1853). The witnesses were Margaret Wooler , who had been the headmistress at Roe Head School and Charlotte's childhood friend, Ellen Nussey.
1861 Census Haworth
The 1861 Census was the last one to feature Patrick Bronte. It was taken 2 months before his death. Patrick is now 84 years old and his profession as "A.B St John's College, Cambridge, Perpetual Curate of Haworth". The A.B stands for Bachelor of Arts (now referred to as B.A). His daughter, Charlotte, had died in 1855, but his son-in-law, Arthur Bell Nicholls, still lives at the parsonage. Nicholls is 43, a widower, from Ireland. His profession is recorded as " Curate of Haworth, A.B, Trinity college, Dublin". Martha Brown is now 32 and still living with the family, now as housekeeper. Her sister, Eliza, aged 29, is also living in the house as a housemaid.
Reverend Patrick Bronte died on 7th June 1861 and was buried in Haworth with his family on 12th June.
Patrick Bronte burial 1861
