Secret selves of the Brontës

A series of striking new paintings by artist Victoria Brookland will be exhibited shortly at the Parsonage, which has been developing a reputation for bold projects with visual artists, most recently Turner-prize nominee Cornelia Parker, as part of its much praised contemporary arts programme.

Secret Self, the new exhibition, features fourteen works by the Leicester based artist, who has used dresses in the museum’s collection as her inspiration, transforming them into powerful evocations of the Brontës’ enduring mystery.

What I found most moving and unsettling about the dresses was the way they evoked thoughts of melancholy and absence, of a great depth of silence and yearning. It seemed to suggest the unspoken aspects of womens’ lives - feelings too acute to be written, voices not heard. Not just the Brontës’ voices - but all womens’. I was struck by the realisation that despite being the most examined and analysed women writers in history the Brontës still retained absolutely their mystery, the secret of their deepest selves died with them - albeit with a wealth of tantalising clues left behind. (Victoria Brookland)

Items of Brontë clothing are amongst the most powerful and popular exhibits in the Brontë Parsonage Museum, and these paintings use images of dresses from the museum’s collection to powerfully evoke the mystery surrounding the Brontës’ unrevealed lives. They accentuate how much there is that we do not know about the Brontës, that we cannot define or contain them. (Andrew McCarthy, Deputy Director, Brontë Parsonage Museum)

The exhibition is part of a programme of events that has recently included a visit to Haworth by the Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, an event at the National Portrait Gallery with artist Cornelia Parker and an exhibition of giant photographs produced through a collaboration between local photographic artist, Simon Warner, and a group of visually impaired youngsters from Bradford.

The Secret Self exhibition opens on Sunday 1 July and runs to Sunday 30 September. Admission is included in the normal museum admission charge.

Brontë event in Milan

Franca Gollini Tiezzi writes:

An enthusiastic group of members of the Italian section of the Brontë Society gathered at the British Council in Milan on 26 May 2007 to meet Angela Crow, who introduced her latest book Miss Branwell’s companion.

It was a great honour to have Angela with us and to be introduced to her work, which was presented for the first time to an audience. Her talk was very interesting and let us know more about Maria Branwell, the Brontes’ mother, a clever and sensitive woman.

At the end of the lecture Angela signed copies of her book and then we had a lovely English tea party offered by the British Council.

Thank you, dear Angela, for your clever, involving talk and for your friendship. We hope you will come back to Italy soon!

Youngest member?

Paul Daniggelis writes:

Rachel Angela Daniggelis, 8 weeks old, has confided in me her desire to become an Angrian when she comes of age (4 years).

Until then, her Brontë library consists of this new volume* beautifully written and illustrated by Mary Haig, Region 10, US Brontë Society Representative. It is a gift to Miss Daniggelis from US Brontë Society Representative Theresa Connors, to whom we give our thanks.

*now available at the Parsonage shop

June Weekend - 4

Helen MacEwan writes -

Coming back to reality (and the office) after a weekend in Haworth, I think I know something of what the Brontë siblings must have felt on returning to their teaching duties after a holiday at the Parsonage, exchanging literary enthusiasms on moorland walks!

It is of course not just the organised events, good as they are, that make the Brontë Society's June AGM weekends so memorable and bring members back year after year. It is the combination of the setting - Haworth and the rolling moors around, with long summer days to walk on them - and the opportunity to meet lots of other members. It may not be the best weekend of the year for communing in solitude with the spirits of Charlotte or Emily, but no-one who welcomes the chance to talk over Brontë passions with like-minded enthusiasts on café terraces in Main Street, in the lounge bar of the Old White Lion or while striding over the moors, should miss the June AGM.

Brontë Society members are such a varied lot, coming from such a range of ages, nationalities, occupations and backgrounds. Some grew up in the area, others run overseas branches of the Society at the other side of the world, in America or Australia. Some were brought to the Parsonage by creative projects requiring research (I met a choreographer who has created a ballet about the Brontës and a playwright who's written a play about them). Each member has his or her specific interest or story to tell. There's the lady who has a Brontë room in her house, and the member who's amassed a collection of around 500 Brontë-related books over the years. I spoke to couples who had met through the Society and people who'd formed some of their best friendships with other members.

The 2007 AGM weekend followed the usual pattern. By Friday evening the Haworth Bed and Breakfasts were bursting at the seams. The meat of the weekend was on Saturday, with a morning lecture, a garden tea party, the AGM itself, and a discussion on "Brontë lives" by the biographers Juliet Barker, Lyndall Gordon, Rebecca Fraser and Edward Chitham (biographer of Anne). Barker, Gordon and Fraser told the audience why they had believed that new lives of the Brontës were necessary. They had all wanted to demolish myths and stereotypes created by previous biographers, starting with Mrs Gaskell. Juliet Barker, who had approached her subjects as a historian rather than an English literature expert and chosen to write about the whole family instead of an individual member of it, had in particular set out to correct the stereotypes of Patrick, Branwell and of course Haworth itself.

The programme on Sunday was lighter: readings in the morning and an afternoon walk on the moors, followed by a film. Interestingly for Selina Busch and myself, as representatives of the Brussels group, the readings this year included a substantial Belgian component: one of Emily's Belgian essays and William Crimsworth's first impressions of Belgium in The Professor.

The 2008 AGM will be held over the weekend of 7 - 8 June.

Below, tea at Ashmount -

June Weekend 3

Thanks, Selina, for this picture of the four members of the biographers panel on the Saturday evening. From the left we have Lyndal Gordon, Edward Chitham, Justine Picardie, Rebecca Fraser and Juliet Barker.

June Weekend 2

Selina Busch writes:

For those who weren’t there, here are my recollections of the Brontë Society AGM I attended last weekend.

I had been looking forward to it so very much, not having been there last year; I have attended several AGM events in previous years and come to know and love so many friendly people. It was mainly because of the people I wanted to go back to Haworth, and to my beloved England.

When the bus from Keighley slowly approached the Haworth valley, and I saw the village appear on the horizon, I knew I would soon be at my favourite place; my ‘home from home’.

I felt terribly excited and happy to be back again, having last seen it two years ago; but at the same time, it was all so familiar, it seemed I had seen the pleasant rolling hills and walked the cobbled Main Street only the day before…

Friday kicked off at 2.00 pm with an interesting and entertaining talk by Victoria Glendinning, called Writers and their Houses. She discussed how the research of biographers and the curiosity of us readers makes us want to know all about the private lives, including the homes, of our favourite writers. Since the unromantic reality frequently fails to satisfy our curiosity and preconceptions, we hope to get closer to the creative origin of the fictional world of the writer by visiting their homes, now often turned into museums or owned by the National Trust. She dwelt in particular on the special atmosphere of the Brontë Parsonage, how small it is, and on Haworth.

In the evening, the AGM weekend saw its first Book Auction. A private collection, by Brontë society member Arthur B. Walker who died last year, was being auctioned and anyone who was interested could bid for books. My M. Heger, Brian Speak, with whom I did readings from Villette when he came over to Brussels in April, bought a lot of items; he told me he collects Brontë books. I only bought two, but I’m very pleased with my purchases. (Emily Brontë, by Winifred Gerin and The Brontës and their Background: Romance and Reality, by Tom Winnifrith)

The following day saw the usual Saturday programme of a lecture, church service, tea at Ashmount and the AGM. The lecture this year was given by Scottish professor Douglas Gifford, and was called: Border cousins: James Hogg and Emily Brontë.

James Hogg made his reputation in 1824 with his popular novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (a gothic novel about religious mania with a psychopathic hero). Gifford explored the thesis that Emily, who would surely have read his work, took inspiration from characters of folklore, such as the ‘Brownie’, for the creation of Heathcliff.

This year is the 150th anniversary of Mrs. Gaskell’s Life of Charlotte Brontë, and during the annual service in the Parish Church, we were treated to an excellent address by Patsy Stoneman about the enormous impact of this ‘novel-like’ biography, and some readings of the book by Jean Bull. Afterwards we had a pleasant afternoon tea at Ashmount, made even more agreeable by the lovely weather we had been blessed with all weekend, and the setting of the beautiful garden. Time passed by very quickly, as it always does on this busy day, and we had to rush off to the AGM, which started at 4.30. It was, on the whole, business as usual, but some eyebrows were raised with regard to the Society's continuing financial deficit and the new development plans, with seemed to cause concern to some members.

I had been looking forward all day to the evening programme, which I anticipated would be the highlight of the weekend. At 7.30 we were gathering in the West Lane Baptist church once again (all the comfy chairs were quickly occupied!) for a panel discussion chaired by Justine Picardie, featuring some big names in the Brontë biography world: Lyndall Gordon, Edward Chitham, Rebecca Fraser and Juliet Barker, no less, were all present at the table.

These great biographers, whose works I have read, discussed their first recollection of reading Mrs. Gaskell’s Life. We heard what new grounds, left untouched by Mrs. Gaskell, they wanted to explore, and what impact this important biography had and continues to have on subsequent biographers. The question time after the discussion ended with the very good question “What would have happened if Mrs Gaskell had NOT written the Life, and who did the panel think might have written the first biography of Charlotte Brontë?” They all had their own interesting and daring ideas, which set us thinking in our turn. The whole evening had been full of exhilarating and thought-provoking ideas and views. As far as I was concerned the talk could have been allowed to go on even longer. Open forum discussions have proved to be very popular in recent years, and this was no exception. There can’t be enough of this kind of events, where individual members have the opportunity to voice their own thoughts about the Brontës.

Afterwards, I somewhat nervously approach Juliet Barker, introduced myself and told her about our new Brussels group. She said it sounded like a very good idea. I suggested she look at our website and the report on our group in the BS Annual Report....

Readings also are one of my favourite events, as the original work still speaks volumes, and on Sunday morning Angela Crow hosted readings from the Brontës, read by Ian and Catherine Emberson, Robert Barnard, Helen Newman, Richard Wilcocks and Alexandra Lesley, who helped to transport us to another world.

Sadly, this was the last event I was able to attend; I was unable to join the others on one of the walks organised in the afternoon since I had to catch my plane back to the Netherlands.

It had been a whirlwind of emotions for me, full of discussions, readings, talking to friends, listening to people, looking, exploring, thinking…

Pure exhaustion, once back home, seemed like a very fair price to pay after such a brilliant weekend!

* more on the June Weekend soon...

James Hogg (The Ettrick Shepherd) below -

Another auction

Ann Dinsdale from the Parsonage is looking carefully at the Christies catalogue for the auction in London on July 3. One of the items is a letter from Charlotte Brontë. The recent book auction in Haworth is now well and truly eclipsed.

Albin Schram appears to have been a secret collector of mythical proportions. Perhaps Emily’s lost novel will one day be found in the attic (or laundry room) of someone like him.

A conscripted Wehrmacht soldier, he escaped from a Russian POW camp in Königsberg, East Prussia, just after the end of World War Two, walked home to Vienna to join his family, became a banker, then settled down in Switzerland.

His collection also includes a letter from Napoleon to Josephine, a letter of condolence from John Donne to Lady Kingsmill the day after the death of her husband dated 1624 and one from John Calvin about a friend’s suicide dated 1545. The charming, white-haired Herr Schram was known to auctioneers simply as ‘Henry” and was famous for his stubborn bidding style.

The full story can be found at the Telegraph site - www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/04/nlets04.xml and on Bronte Blog - bronteblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/letter-by-charlotte-bront-found-in.html and on Swiss Info - www.swissinfo.org/eng/front/detail/Filing_cabinet_in_Lausanne_opens_its_secrets.html?siteSect=105&sid=7892336&cKey=1180974178000

Below – Albin Schram

June Weekend - 1

I used to go to furniture auctions, where most of the buyers and sellers were known to the auctioneer and it was dangerous to scratch your nose, because you might end up with a worm-eaten table you didn't need. The auction last Friday evening was different.

All of the Brontë-related volumes came from the library of the late Arthur D Walker, all of them had his label (with a catalogue reference) on the inside cover, and all the money raised went to the Brontë Society. Each person present was issued with a laminated piece of paper with a number on it, to be raised when a bid was made.

Most of the books went for between ten and twenty pounds - a little bit too much for some of them (who cares - all for a good cause), and some were bargains. Others, worth hundreds, were beyond the reach of anybody present - like the second edition print of Elizabeth Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë.

Of course, most of those present had a fair number of the titles at home. There was a slightly embarrassing pause when a copy of Rebecca Fraser's Charlotte Brontë came up, because at first nobody made a bid, and its author was sitting at the back. Eventually she called out an offer for ten pounds, and there was laughter. It went for twenty.

What did I buy? I was outbid for a couple of items which would have plugged gaps or replaced what I have lent out and never had returned, but I ended up with Companion to the Brontës (Barbara and Gareth Lloyd Evans), Charlotte Brontë The Evolution of Genius (Winifred Gérin) and The Brontë Sisters (Ernest Dimnet)

Earlier in the day I had listened to a lecture on writer's homes by Victoria Glendinning (pictured below) - brilliantly entertaining, with insights into her working methods. It is absolutely necessary for a biographer to travel, to soak up atmospheres and appreciate ambiances, to walk slowly around houses, to poke around in garden sheds. She was particularly eloquent about Monk's House in Rodmell, East Sussex, home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf for many years. For much of their stay it did not have gas or electricity, and a little stream ran through it from front door to back door during wet weather. It was very isolated from the metropolis, and Leonard had to go to Lewes for basic necessities like coffee.

George Bernard Shaw's house in the Hertfordshire village of Ayot St Lawrence, near Welwyn, she described as a no-nonsense rectory, the interior plain "which is fitting for such a cerebral man". Jonathan Swift's house in Dublin she described as particularly full of atmosphere, hardly changed inside since his day, but in a different landscape because all the narrow streets and old courtyards which used to surround it have disappeared. She could imagine the "hyperactive" writer running up and down the wooden stairs until he was completely exhausted.

She wondered about the necessity of some of the rearrangements and reconstructions which have been undertaken in many famous writers' houses - the National Trust has finally stemmed the flow of water through Monk's House, for example - and brought the audience back to the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

From Simon Warner

Dear Richard,

I thought it would be interesting for your bloggers to read something about the Cornelia Parker talk at the National Portrait Gallery:

There was a turnout of over 100 art-lovers for Cornelia Parker's talk at the National Portrait Gallery on 26 April. Her presentation was specifically about Brontëan Abstracts, the exhibition produced for the Parsonage last autumn. The curator of talks introduced Andrew McCarthy who gave a spirited introduction to the Parsonage and the Contemporary Arts Programme that Cornelia's project kicked off.

Following an illustrated presentation by the artist herself, she was joined by writer Deborah Levy for a conversation about the inspiration behind the work and the methods she used to pursue different aspects of Brontë mythology.

Cornelia was especially eloquent about her unfulfilled ambition to implant strands of the Brontë Sisters' hair into Nelson's (the Duke of Brontë's) hair on Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. She felt this was an art intervention whose time has perhaps not yet come. (See this blog's archive to find Cornelia's full account of this)

I was struck overall by how much work she put in to Brontëan Abstracts - not just the electron microscope investigations, but the close-up photographs of the Jane Eyre manuscript, the Plymouth interview with Phyllis Cheney which I filmed for her, and the psychics' visit to the Parsonage. There were other enquiries too that were not followed up for the exhibition, such as the forensic tests offered by West Yorkshire Police on items of Brontë linen.

It was obvious from the talk that Cornelia Parker sets great store by her Brontë work, and will ensure that it is shown more widely. This can do nothing but good for the reputation and attraction of the Parsonage Museum. The project also shows the wealth of possibilities open to other artists as the Contemporary Arts Programme moves forward.

Simon Warner

Collecting Place Images

You can go to the special weblog set up for the Collecting Place project at www.thecollectingplace.blogspot.com to see progress reports, pictures and comments. You can even offer your own contributions by emailing photos@simonwarner.co.uk

Here are some further images anyway....

The Collecting Place

"The Brontës," says the Parsonage's Deputy Director Andrew McCarthy in the foreword to the handsome Brontë Society publication which accompanies The Collecting Place, "were all intensely interested in the visual arts. As children, their imaginations were shaped not only by the written word but also by visual images."

He goes on to mention Edward and William Finden's engravings from Byron's works, the miniature woodcuts of Thomas Bewick and the apocalyptic landscapes of John Martin, all of which influenced the Brontës and helped shape the people and places that feature in their early writings.

Simon Warner, the lens-based artist (he doesn't really mind being called a photographer) whose pictures can be found in so many illustrated books and calendars with a Brontë or a Yorkshire connection, undermines all clichés..... and there are plenty when it comes to the Brontës and Yorkshire. Somehow, most of his images have a subtle freshness about them.

In The Collecting Place, described as 'Literary Landscape through a Camera Obscura', the results of a photographic collaboration between himself and sight-impaired young people from Bradford which is at the Parsonage until 11 June, he gets near to the old magic of photographic image-making, the sort of magic which some long-lost tribe might believe in when it sees images of its own people for the first time and believes their souls to have been captured.

The project lasted for a highly creative six days over Easter. "I think we all felt a sense not just of belonging but of contributing to this wild cultural landscape, adding another chapter to its rich visual and literary history," writes Simon Warner before presenting a full history of the camera obscura (Chinese philosopher Mo-Ti mentioned it in 500BC) and an explanation of the workings which would sound impressive issuing from the mouth of a Physics lecturer.

Simon Warner is represented in Alchemy (2006 - 7), an Arts Council England touring show in which twelve contemporary artists explore the essence of photography. His contribution Lavater - The Shadow of History takes the form of a performed magic lantern lecture with photo-chemical demonstrations.

Creative connections between past and present are at the heart of the Brontë Society's contemporary arts programme. "We aim to undermine familiarity with the Brontës and stimulate new thinking about this remarkable creative family," comments Andrew McCarthy.

This collaboration is undoubtedly remarkable and might be unique. I would like to hear of anything similar. If you can make it to Haworth in the next week or so, get to see it, because you will be impressed.

Soon - a supplementary post containing more images.

June weekend approaches

This Friday, a couple of hundred members of the Brontë Society, mainly from the UK but with delegations from overseas, will be in Haworth for an annual series of events which will last until Sunday evening, with excursions on he Monday and the Tuesday of next week.

On Friday evening, a Jazz trio will play in the Parsonage Meadow and an auction of Brontë-related books will be held by Andrew McLauchlan.

On Saturday, the Annual lecture at 11am will be given by Professor Douglas Gifford from Edinburgh, who in addition to his university work is Honorary Librarian of Walter Scott’s Library at Abbotsford and Director of the Abbotsford Library Research Project Trust. The AGM (chaired by Society President Rebecca Fraser) will be at 4.30pm, then at 7.30pm there will be a panel discussion featuring the Brontë biographers Juliet Barker, Edward Chitham, Rebecca Fraser and Lyndall Gordon, chaired by journalist and author Justine Picardie.

Sunday begins with Coffee and Cadence, with readings by Robert Barnard, Angela Crow and Richard Wilcocks, followed by walks in the afternoon. In the evening there will be a showing of the film Cold Comfort Farm.

Haworth clampers

Over the past few years, car clampers have made quite a reputation for themselves in Haworth.


I have appeared on BBC Look North in the past (three years ago) deploring the situation, and have added my voice to many others more recently:


The activities of Carstoppers have little to do with parking control and everything to do with making an excessive profit from tourists to Haworth. The company's activities, especially its aggressive working methods, have been very damaging for both local traders and for the Brontë Parsonage Museum: quite clearly some tourists are staying away because they do not want their cars clamped for trivial or ridiculous reasons.

I would like to appeal to all those viewers who have said they will stay away from Haworth to reconsider their decision. It is possible to avoid car parks owned by Ted Evans. Please try parking in the Brontë Parsonage car park, which is owned by Bradford - or perhaps walk up from the railway station. The Brontë Parsonage Museum is at the heart of a wonderful village and is well worth visiting in spite of the antics of Carstoppers.


Richard Wilcocks
Chairman of the Brontë Society

Update (2016) - here is some police advice:

It is a criminal offence to clamp/block/tow away a vehicle on private land without lawful authority. Lawful authority to immobilise or move a vehicle is restricted to a number of organisation such as the police, DVLA and local authorities.

Privately owned land includes car parks, such as those at retail parks, whether or not there a fee is payable in order to park there (not local authority run car parks).


To commit this offence a person must intend to prevent the owner/driver from moving their vehicle. Therefore, clamping your own car to prevent theft would not be an offence. No offence would be committed where a driver was prevented from leaving a car park because the vehicle's exit was blocked by a fixed barrier. 

Engaged at the Parsonage

This is from a recent press release by Diane Kay:

‘Reader I married him. [..] All my confidence is bestowed on him,
all his confidence is bestowed on me. […] To be together is for us to be free.’
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Staff at the Parsonage have seen a rush of engagements recently with earnest chaps going down on one knee at the door to the world famous home of the Brontë family in Haworth to ask for their girl's hand in marriage.

The family home of the Brontës has been a magnet for enthusiasts for many years with visitors enjoying a taste of what life was like in the 1800s for Charlotte, Emily and Anne. The romance created in their books draws courting couples from across the globe wishing to create their own piece of Brontë magic.

One such couple from Oxfordshire chose the Parsonage as the perfect setting for this important romantic gesture. Ben Heather proposed to his girlfriend of three years on the Parsonage steps and thankfully got a positive response!

Holly Simpson said yes on the couple’s third anniversary. Ben chose the Brontë home because of Holly’s interest in their novels through her studies in English, Media and Creative writing at the University of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. One of her favourites is Wuthering Heights.

Ben said, “Holly knew nothing at all about it so was very surprised. She started to cry the minute I pulled out the ring. We would like to thank everyone at the Parsonage for their hospitality and kindness, and for the wonderful gift we received on the day.

"I'm very sure we will be back in the future, as the museum will hold a special place in our hearts and memories. No date has been set for the big day as we both still live with our parents and are desperately saving up for a house first, then we will save up and sort out the big day, hopefully in a couple of years.”

Holly is currently finishing her final year at University and writing her dissertation which is on women's writing before, during and after women's emancipation and women's battle to get published. The Brontës were an inspiration.

John Joubert's song cycle

Brontë Society member Ian Emberson has told this blog that there is a new CD out which includes John Joubert's song-cycle Six Poems by Emily Brontë. The performers are : Lesley-Jane Rogers ( soprano ) and John McCabe ( piano ).

Full details as follows : John Joubert Four Song-Cycles Toccata Classics - TOCC 0045 - £13.99

Toccata Classics can be phoned at +44 (0)207 821 5020 or emailed at info@toccataclassics.com

John Joubert is pictured below

Birthplace auction

Barbara Whitehead, owner of the Brontë Birthplace in Thornton, wants it to be known that it is to be auctioned by Eddisons on 21 June. The website is at www.eddisons.com

The auction will be held on 21 June 2007 in the Banqueting Suite of the Leeds United Football Club at Elland Road in Leeds. I am told that the catalogue is still being prepared. If you want one, phone Eddisons at the Leeds office with your details: +44 113 243 0101

The guide price is 200,000 pounds

Page 99 test

Marshal Zeringue writes:
I edit a books blog that has recently run a couple of items that may be of interest to members of The Brontë Society.


The Page 99 Test invites authors to look at page 99 of their books at see if it faithfully represents the entire work. This "test" was inspired by Ford Madox Ford's observation, "Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you."


Leading scholars are also invited to apply the test to classic works.


Recently, Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre made appearances on the blog.


See Patsy Stoneman's take on Wuthering Heights at http://page99test.blogspot.com




Thank you for your attention.

'Who were the Brontës?' exhibition opens

Emma King - whose photo appears below - was primarily responsible for the new exhibition at the Parsonage which hopes to tackle some of the commonly held myths and perceptions about the lives of the Brontë family head-on when it opens to the public today for two years. It was officially opened yesterday evening by Chairman of the Brontë Society Richard Wilcocks, who described it as "excellent and very accessible".

He went on to talk briefly about the enduring mythic power of some of the characters created by the Brontës, one obvious example being the 'madwoman in the attic' created by Charlotte. This Bertha, or perhaps Antoinette, was still intriguing and influencing creative spirits like, for example, the theatre director Polly Teale, who had made her a central character in the Shared Experience play Brontë.

He chose Branwell as the member of the family who was often perceived as merely a drunk and a drug-taker who couldn't hold down a job. "He definitely had talent," said Mr Wilcocks before reading an excerpt from a poem written in Branwell's despair over the end of his secret relationship with Lydia Robinson. He then read lines which Branwell had written to be set to music, adding, "Branwell was the equivalent of the boy today who gets the wrong advice after finishing high school: I am sure he could have been a successful musician."

Visitors to the Museum will be taken on a journey of discovery and invited to interpret the evidence for themselves through the fascinating collection of objects, drawings, letters and hair samples of the Brontës, to arrive at their own conclusions to some fundamental differences between reality, fiction and established Brontë myths.

The lives of the Brontës have inspired many hundreds of biographies, novels, films and plays and Curator of the exhibition, Emma King, believes many of the stereotypical ideas of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë are at least partially or wholly untrue. She said, “The popular story says that the Brontës lived a remote, rural life. It describes three sisters who lived in poverty with a distant father and unfriendly aunt. Their brother drank away the family money, forcing them to work. Yet before their tragic, early deaths they each wrote novels that would become famous around the world – the story is an attractive one, but not entirely true. This exhibition hopes to challenge some of these perceptions."

One of the earliest documented writings about the lives of the Brontës came from Charlotte Brontë’s first biographer, Elizabeth Gaskell, whose manuscript of The Life of Charlotte Brontë, published some 150 years ago, is on display at the Museum until June 2007. Gaskell made the
most of the tragic aspects of Charlotte’s life and her unkind portraits of Charlotte’s father and brother have been accepted as fact. Even 150 years ago, the book was met with libel action and threats of legal action. Mrs. Gaskell vowed never to write another biography, complaining that the book had landed her “in the hornet’s nest”.

The thoughtless critics, who spoke of the sad and gloomy views of life presented by the Brontës in their tales, should know how such work was wrung out of them by the living recollection of the long agony they suffered – Elizabeth Gaskell.

Hopefully, the exhibition will encourage visitors of all ages to decipher for themselves what is the real truth about this unique family with the help of some 21st century technology. New scientific research by The University of Bradford has recently thrown new light on a small part of the Brontë story. Dr. Andrew Wilson, an archaeological scientist at the University, carried out tests on Brontë hair from the museum’s collection for a recent ground-breaking Cornelia Parker exhibition at the Parsonage.

He discovered that the Brontës ate a healthy and balanced diet which was better than that for people living in the East End of London at the same time. The research disproves the myth that their father, Patrick, restricted his children’s
food.

The exhibition is free on admission to the Museum.


Diane Kay

A talk in Milan

Brussels events

Over the weekend of 21-22 April the newly-formed Brussels Brontë Group organised a day of events to coincide with Charlotte Brontë's birthday, for which we were joined by a small group from the Society's London and South-East group led by Margaret McCarthy.

Our members Eric Ruijssenaars, Selina Busch and Maureen Peeck O'Toole (all in the Netherlands) helped to organise similar events for the Society's 1993 and 2003 trips to Brussels.

This time we were guided round the Brontë places by Derek Blyth, a British writer living in Brussels who has written some of the main guide books on the city (his Brussels for Pleasure - 13 walks through the historic city includes a Brontë walk) and is fascinated by some of the unanswered questions about the Brontë places.

The weekend marked an interesting departure from previous Brontë Society events in Brussels. Although the 1993 and 2003 trips were able to benefit from Eric Ruijssenaars' findings on the Pensionnat Heger and Isabelle quarter, this was the first event organised by members actually living in Brussels who could offer our visitors an insider's view and insights.

To his main Brontë walk centred on the site of the Pensionnat, Derek Blyth added a second one, a mystery tour devised especially for our visitors. As soon they arrived we were all whisked off by him to see some spots with lesser-known or speculative Brontë connections, such as the building in front of which Derek thinks Lucy Snowe may have fainted after her visit to the cathedral.

Next day, after lunch on the roof terrace restaurant of the Museum of Musical Instruments with its fabulous view of Place Royale, so often crossed by Charlotte Brontë, and a visit to Chapelle Royale where she worshipped, came the Brontë walk proper. The territory for this one was more familiar but some novel features were incorporated: readings from Villette and from letters by an obliging "Charlotte" in the group, visual aids (old street views, pictures Charlotte saw in exhibitions during her stay), and, again, Derek Blyth's own theories about some of the routes taken by Lucy/Charlotte.

Concentrating in fascinating detail on what is geographically a smallish area, in two hours we covered a lot of ground in terms of the history of Brussels and the background to the Brontës' visit: not only where their English friends lived but the wider British community of the time and its amenities in and around Place Royale, for example.

After a "birthday" tea party and a dinner, the day was rounded off by some Brontë activities: a quiz and readings from Villette by Selina Busch and Brian Speak, introduced by Maureen Peeck.

It was wonderful to have Margaret McCarthy's group with us for this event. We are planning to make this April Brontë weekend an annual event and would love to invite more groups of members to join us in between the big excursions organised by the Society. Is anyone interested for next year?

Helen MacEwan

Below: Reading Villette in a Brussels restaurant and the whole group in front of the Cathedral.