"Branwell Brontë was given that name because it was his mother's maiden name."

As I am sure you know, Branwell was the brother of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, but Gareth's comment made me more curious about the people in that famous family about whom we hear much less, such as their mother, Maria.

And the more I learn, the more tragedy I discover.

Maria Branwell was born in Penzance, Cornwall, in 1783, but lost both parents within a year of each other.

In 1812, she decided to go and stay with her Aunt Jane in Yorkshire who had married a chap called John Fennell, headmaster of Woodhouse Grove School in Appleby Bridge near Bradford.

Maria hadn't planned to move there permanently but soon after arriving met her Uncle John's friend, Irish clergyman Patrick Brontë.

According to the sources I've read, the pair fell instantly in love, and married in December 1812.

By then, Maria was 29 and Patrick 35, which was considered a bit long in the tooth to be newly wed, but the pair seemed very happy and their first child, Maria, was born in 1814, swiftly followed by their second, Elizabeth, the following year.

Charlotte came along in 1816, followed by Patrick Branwell in 1817.

He was given his mother's maiden name as a middle name, but it was the one by which he was

known.

Maria gave birth to two more children, Emily in 1818, and finally Anne in 1820.

Unfortunately, in January 1821 when Anne had just turned one, Maria began to feel unwell.

She became gravely ill, and died in the September, likely from some form of cancer.

Four years later in 1825, the two eldest children, Maria, aged 11, and Elizabeth, aged 10, also died.

Poor Patrick Brontë was destined to outlive his whole family, with Branwell and Emily dying in 1848, Anne in 1849, and finally Charlotte in 1855.

The Brontë children were all very intelligent and, as we know, excellent writers.

Most would assume their literary prowess was inherited from their learned father, but in fact their mother was talented in that department too, as Charlotte discovered when her father gave her some letters that Maria had written to him during their courtship, 40 years earlier.

"It was strange now to peruse, for the first time, the records of a mind whence my own sprang," she wrote, "And most strange, and at once sad and sweet, to find that mind of a truly fine, pure, and elevated order…There is a rectitude, a refinement, a constancy, a modesty, a sense, a gentleness about them indescribable I wish she had lived and that I had known her." (Sarah Walker)

   

Another favourite orphan-finds-family literary classic, is Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Jane Eyre’.

The book opens with an incident where five-year-old Jane Eyre is locked in the ‘Red Room’ – for defending herself against her cruel cousin, John. The next day she was shipped off to a workhouse where she is maltreated and lost the only friend who ever cared about her to the ‘plague’.

Upon reaching her maturity, Jane departs the workhouse to work as a governess to Adele, the young ward of Mr Rochester at Thornfield Hall.

Just when it seems lady luck has smiled upon our heroine, a tragedy occurs that rips Jane from her beloved and into the path of strangers, who may or not have connections to her long-lost family.

Throughout the novel, the reader is impressed by Jane’s quiet strength, resilience and ability to take control of her life, no matter the harsh realities thrown at her. (Chinelo Chikelu)

11. Hathersage

Located on the eastern edge of Hope Valley, Hathersage also has some ace literary connections. Charlotte Brontë was a frequent visitor and is said to have been inspired by Hathersage. The village's striking Tudor tower house is supposedly based on Mr Rochester’s home's Thornfield Hall. (Ria Ghei)

   

The Huntington Library (San Marino, CA) presents a new exhibition that includes a letter by Charlotte Brontë to Ellen Nussey (not sure if more Brontë items):

Stories from the Library: From Brontë to Butler

Huntington Art Gallery, Large Library

Sat., Dec. 13, 2025–Mon., June 15, 2026

Get a behind-the-scenes look at two centuries of the everyday lives of women writers through ephemera, letters, and journals.

“From Brontë to Butler” draws on personal writings and objects to reveal the private lives and creative processes of women writers from the early 1800s to today. 

Anchored by Charlotte Brontë and Octavia E. Butler as chronological bookends, the exhibition brings together journals, letters, photographs, and personal items that bridge time, geography, and social context. Whether exploring family and marriage, work and gender roles, or the city of Los Angeles itself, the exhibition reveals common threads that connect individual experiences across generations.  

   

Third Space Theatre Company’s iteration of Polly Teal’s [sic] Brontë is an entirely charming production that marks the end of another successful term of student theatre under the lights of the Assembly Rooms Theatre.  At its core, a number of excellent performances elevate the play into resounding success. [...]

Immediately striking is the beautifully designed stage that is fully fleshed out to create the Brontë’s home. All the wooden furniture is perfectly fitting; the back wall is filled with books and hung with pictures all to build up this domestic affair. Brightening this set is some lovely lighting, designed by Cassia Thurston, that is varied in both scope and colour, rising to the challenge of spotlighting characters entering down past the audience a number of times. Similarly, I thought the sound design, designed by Oliver Fitzgerald, backed up the more emotional moments very well, although I thought there needed to be a more noticeable fade for the end of effects so that music didn’t end quite so abruptly. Additionally, I really liked the costume design by Ellie Kinch as the three sisters are decorated in period-accurate dresses and three different colours to give them visually distinct appearances. 

However, the key to this performance’s success is undoubtedly the strength of the acting, which is consistently good across a cast of just seven actors. The dynamic between all three Brontë sisters is brilliant, with the most time given to fleshing out the bubbling tensions between Charlotte (Peony Reece) and Emily (Martha Buttle). The two play off each other very well with their frequent clashes constantly raising tensions and building the drama. I also enjoyed Jake O’Donnell’s performance as the domineering, and quite frankly scary, father figure who tries to keep the three girls in line; he is totally in control of his dynamic range the whole way through to establish authority. Similarly, Matthew Lo delivers wonderfully in his trio of roles, delivering an unexpectedly hilarious turn in the play’s climax. Nevertheless, the most committed performance comes in the form of Branwell Brontë, played by Jack Guilfoyle, who embodies this utterly detestable character before his downfall in the second half. 

I also thought there were a number of great directorial choices, under the watchful eye of Grace Graham, that contributed to the creation of this spectacle. Throughout the play, different characters suddenly switch into fictional characters from within the Brontë’s books and deliver lines in perfect unison with the sisters. The use of the three sisters as narrators at varying moments also works well, seamlessly switching from sister to narrator and back again. However, even if you are familiar with the Brontës’ fiction, it’s sometimes a little confusing when a character switches from a historical figure into a fictional one from their writing – although I think this is more a pitfall of the original script. I’d have also liked to see a little more consistency over accents, as the cast doesn’t seem unified over one specific accent choice. 

Nevertheless, the play builds towards a dramatic ending that pulls on the audience’s heartstrings as characters die – as in real life –  suddenly and unexpectedly. Branwell’s death scene in particular features a really touching choice that sees the sisters mourning at the front of the stage, as he acts out childhood fantasies on a chair in the middle of the stage, recalling the first half’s initial domestic bliss that has subsequently been shattered. 

Overall, the play is a resounding success through its balancing over excellent performances all-round with suitable directing choices that bring the Brontë sisters’ story entirely to life. The consistent standard set throughout all facets of the production really exemplifies what makes student theatre so brilliant in Durham. (Ralph Hargreaves)

   

An exhibition in Dallas with oil paintings inspired by Jane Eyre 2011:

Michelle Rawlings´

Dec.06.2025 - Jan.03.2026

James Cope Gallery,  4885 Alpha Road, Suite 120, Farmers Branch, Dallas