Charlotte Brontë was the eldest daughter of the Brontë family.
Born at Thornton on 21st April 1816, when Rev Patrick Brontë was at the Bell Chapel there.
She was named after her mother's second sister Charlotte Branwell.
She enrolled at Cowan Bridge school [August 1824]. Her experiences at Cowan Bridge were to inspire much of Jane Eyre: she based Lowood School on Cowan Bridge, and the Rev Brocklehurst was based on Carus Wilson. Because of their illness, Charlotte and Emily returned home from Cowan Bridge on 1st June 1825.
From January 1831, she spent two years as a pupil at Roe Head school – see Rev Thomas Atkinson. It was here that she met her life-long friends, Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor, who were also pupils at the school. She won the school prize for Emulation rewarded
She was short-sighted. This affected her performance at school.
In 1834, she exhibited 2 of her pencil drawings at the Leeds Exhibition.
In 1834, she wrote her first surviving story:
There once was a little girl and her name was Ane
In December 1837, Charlotte and Anne returned home when Anne became ill. Charlotte quarrelled with Miss Wooler and resigned her position
In 1839, she and Ellen Nussey spent a holiday in Bridlington. In 1839, she worked for 3 months as governess with the Sidgwick family.
In March 1841, she started work as governess to the children of John White. She resigned in December 1841
In 1842, with a view to establishing their own school, she went with Emily to study languages at the Pensionnat Heger in Brussels. M. Heger wrote to Rev Brontë offering Charlotte a post as teacher at the Pensionnat Heger at a salary of £16 per annum – with deductions from this for laundry and for German lessons. In January 1843, she returned to Brussels as teacher.
In January 1844, she left Brussels and returned to Haworth for good.
She wrote her early works under the pen-name Currer Bell.
She had The Professor rejected by Messrs Smith & Elder, while Emily's Wuthering Heights and Anne's Agnes Grey were published in 1848.
She received £1500 for the copyright of her first 3 novels.
In 1848-49, she stayed at Kirklees Hall and used the house as a model for Nunwood in her novel Shirley, and the name Nunnely was used for Hartshead.
In November 1849, she went to London and stayed with George Smith. She met Thackeray and Harriet Martineau. The Bells' real identity became known when she revealed the truth of their novels' authorship in 1849 after Emily and Anne had died.
In 1851, she became seriously ill with mercury poisoning caused by pills she had been taking for a liver complaint.
In June 1851, she attended a performance by Charles Dickens's band of amateur actors in the Hanover Rooms, London. She may have gone backstage to meet him. Afterwards, she said that she did not like him
She consulted T. P. Browne around this time.
In January 1852, she was ill and unable to take solid food or to bend. In June 1852, she spent a few days at Filey to recuperate. She made a trip to Scarborough and spotted the mistakes on Anne's gravestone.
In January 1853, she made her last visit to London.
On 6th December 1853, shortly after George Smith's engagement, she wrote to W. S. Williams indicating that she wished to end her relationship with the firm Smith, Elder & Company.
In April 1854, Rev Brontë gave his consent to the engagement of Charlotte and Mr Nicholls. Rev Brontë was reluctant because he felt that Charlotte was not strong enough to bear children.
On 29th June 1854, she married Rev Arthur Bell Nicholls. Miss Margaret Wooler gave the bride away after the Rev Brontë had refused. Ellen Nussey was bridesmaid. The ceremony was performed by Rev Sutcliffe Sowden. Rev Brontë refused to attend the wedding ceremony.
They couple left for the honeymoon on the following day. Travelling via Conwy and Holyhead to Dublin, Cork, Killarney, Tralee – see Gap of Dunloe – and Hill House, Banagher, the couple spent their honeymoon in Ireland before returning to live at the Parsonage.
In 1854, during a visit to Gawthorpe Hall, she caught a cold. In November 1854, she and Arthur went for a walk to the waterfall, and she caught a further chill in the heavy rain.
As her father had feared, Charlotte was found to be pregnant in January 1855.
She died at Haworth of consumption and hyperemesis gravidarum complications in the early stages of pregnancy.
On the death certificate, Dr Amos Ingham recorded tuberculosis.
The baby also died and was buried with Charlotte at Haworth church on 4th April 1855.
Her juvenilia works included
Her major works include:
See St Ives, Bingley
Page Ref: MMB418
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