Branwell Brontë

Branwell Brontë was born on June 26, 1817, in Thornton, near Bradford, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Branwell and his siblings were all born in a house (now known as the Brontë Birthplace) on Market Street, in Thornton. Haworth Haworth was on the edge of the moors, and was considered one of the worst places in the country to live because of its poor sanitation. The Parsonage overlooked the cemetery, which at the time was so overcrowded that the village's water supply had been contaminated by seepage. In 1850, Benjamin Babbage's health report outlined serious problems, such as open sewers, offal from the slaughterhouse standing for months in the streets, poor waste disposal and damp and unhygienic living conditions. It is widely believed that these conditions contributed to the health problems encountered by the Brontë siblings. As an Irish immigrant, Patrick faced prejudice in Haworth. The Irish were perceived at the time to be feckless, drunk and poor, and Patrick, with his large family and modest income, was the target of gossip and speculation. and they did not mix with local children, keeping very much to themselves. Death of Maria Brontë In 1821, Maria Branwell Brontë fell ill, and in September she died after a long illness, believed to have been uterine cancer. Maria's sister Elizabeth Branwell had moved in with the family to help care for the children, the eldest of whom was seven years old, the youngest not yet two. After Maria's death, Elizabeth Branwell stayed on to help, and eventually agreed to live at the Parsonage permanently. The children were subsequently cared for by their aunt, and by the house servant, Tabby Ackroyd. Education Although four of his five sisters were sent to Cowan Bridge boarding school, Branwell was educated at home.Mr. Brontë's friends advised him to send his son to school; but, remembering both the strength of will of his own youth and his mode of employing it, he believed that Branwell was better at home, and that he himself could teach him well, as he had told others before.In 1825, just before Branwell's eighth birthday, his two eldest sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, were sent home ill from Cowan Bridge School following an outbreak of typhus. Both girls died shortly afterwards of tuberculosis, possibly exacerbated by the poor conditions at the school. Their loss affected the whole family deeply, and Charlotte and Emily were sent home to continue their education at the Parsonage. Patrick, himself a poet, had an extensive library, which he made available to his children, and subscribed to several newspapers and publications. Even as a young boy Branwell read extensively, and was especially fond of the "Noctes Ambrosianae", literary dialogues published in ''Blackwood's Magazine''. In 1829–30, Patrick Brontë engaged John Bradley, an artist from neighbouring Keighley, as drawing-master for the children. Bradley was an artist of some local repute, rather than a professional instructor, but he may have fostered Branwell's enthusiasm for art and architecture. Bradley emigrated to America in 1831, and Branwell continued his studies under the portrait painter William Robinson. == Juvenilia ==

From 1826, Branwell and his siblings began to create a series of increasingly complex fantasy role-playing games and plays featuring the "Young Men", or "the Twelves"; characters based on a set of wooden soldiers Branwell had received from his father. These plays evolved into an intricate saga set in a fictionalised version of West Africa called the Glass Town Confederacy. Branwell both collaborated and competed with his sister Charlotte to expand this imaginary world, which they named Angria. Christine Alexander, a Brontë juvenilia historian at the University of New South Wales, wrote: == Aspirations ==

Unlike his sisters, who were expected to seek employment as governesses or teachers, Branwell was not prepared for a specific career, On the death of James Hogg, a ''Blackwood's'' writer, the 18-year-old Branwell boldly wrote to the magazine suggesting himself as a replacement: I have perhaps spoken too openly respecting the extent of my powers, But I did so because I determined to say what I beleived [sic]; I know that I am not one of the wretched writers of the day … He [Hogg] and others like him gave your Magazine the peculiar character which made it famous. As these men die it will decay unless thier [sic] places be supplied by others like them. Now Sir, to you I appear writing with conceited assurance, but I am not – for I know myself so far as to beleive [sic] in my own originality; and on that ground I desire of you admittance into your ranks … Why, you have lost an able writer in James Hogg and God grant you may gain one in Patrick Branwell BrontëBetween 1835 and 1842, Branwell wrote a total of six times to the magazine, sending poems and offering his services. His letters were left unanswered. In 1835, Branwell wrote a letter to the Royal Academy of Arts seeking to be admitted. Earlier biographers report a move to London to study painting, which was quickly cut short following Branwell’s spending of his allowance on drink. Other biographers speculate that he was too intimidated to present himself at the Academy. More recent scholarship suggests that Branwell did not send the letter, or even make the trip to London. According to Francis Leyland, Branwell's friend and a future biographer of the family, his first job was as a junior master at a Halifax school. Branwell also worked as a portrait painter in Bradford in 1838 and 1839, where he met a clique of other artists who drank at the George Hotel, and he became a popular figure. Though some of his paintings show talent for comedic and serious styles, other portraits lack life,and he was unable to earn a living through his painting. Branwell returned to Haworth, in debt, in 1839. ==Adulthood==

Returning to Haworth, Branwell began to envisage employment as a tutor.Later, on 1 April 1841, he was promoted to the post of clerk in charge at Luddendenfoot railway station in West Yorkshire, Some of Branwell's friends later claimed that he had boasted to them about Charlotte's success, and had claimed that he himself was the author of Wuthering Heights. ==Death==

On 24 September 1848, Branwell died at Haworth parsonage, most likely due to tuberculosis aggravated by delirium tremens, alcoholism, and opium addiction, although his death certificate notes "chronic bronchitis-marasmus" as the cause. On 28 September 1848, he was interred in the family vault.I do not weep from a sense of bereavement, but for the wreck of talent, the ruin of promise, the untimely dreary extinction of what might have been a burning and shining light. Til the last hour comes we never know how much we can forgive, pity, regret. All his vices were and are nothing now.Emily Brontë died of tuberculosis on 19 December of that year and Anne Brontë died on 29 May 1849 in the coastal resort of Scarborough. Charlotte, the last living sister, married the Reverend Arthur Bell Nichols, curate of Haworth, in 1854 and died in March 1855, due to complications from pregnancy. ==Cultural references==

Polly Teale wrote a 2005 play entitled Brontë about the three sisters, in which Branwell was portrayed as a drunk and jealous brother, soured by the growing successes of his sisters. Blake Morrison wrote the play We are Three Sisters (2011), a re-working of Chekhov's Three Sisters based on the lives of the Brontë sisters and featuring Branwell and Mrs Robinson, which premiered in Halifax on 9 September before touring. The British novelist Robert Edric wrote Sanctuary (2014), a novel chronicling Branwell's final months, during which family secrets are revealed and he learns about the publication of his sisters' books. Branwell is referenced by the character "Mr Mybug" in Stella Gibbons's 1932 comic novel Cold Comfort Farm. In a parody of the "Hampstead intellectual" scene of the time of the book's creation, the Mr Mybug character boasts of working on a biography of Branwell Brontë, his thesis being that Branwell was in fact the real author of the books ascribed to his sisters. In Tim Powers's novel My Brother’s Keeper (2023), Branwell is a major character, along with his sister Emily as the protagonist, as well as, to a lesser extent, the rest of the Brontë family. Portrayals In the 1946 film Devotion, Branwell was portrayed by Arthur Kennedy. In the 1973 Yorkshire Television series The Brontës of Haworth, written by Christopher Fry, Branwell was played by Michael Kitchen. In the film The Brontë Sisters (Les Sœurs Brontë, 1979) he was portrayed by Pascal Greggory. Branwell was portrayed by Adam Nagaitis in To Walk Invisible (2016), a BBC drama about the Brontë family. In the film Emily (2022) he was portrayed by Fionn Whitehead. == Works ==

Poems • "Lines Spoken by a Lawyer on the Occasion of the Transfer of This Magazine" • "On Caroline" • "Thorp Green" • "Remember Me" • "Sir Henry Tunstall" • "Penmaenmawr" • "Real Rest" • "Letter from a Father on Earth to His Child in Her Grave" • "The End of All" Juvenilia (written with his sisters) • Battell Book • The Glass Town • The Revenge A Tragedy • Ode on the Celebration of the Great African Games • Letters from an Englishman (1830–1832) • Life of Warner Howard Warner • Tales of Angria (written 1838–1839 – a collection of childhood and young adult writings including five short novels) ==References==