Brontës (194 page)

37.
PB to John Milligan, 9Oct 1838: MS BS 187, BPM [
LRPB
, 117]. Milligan was apprenticed to the Keighley surgeon Mr Mitchell, when he won a prize presented in 1831 by the Keighley Mechanics' Institute for an essay on ‘Cleanliness, Temperance and Moral Improvement, as conducive to happiness':
LM
, 9Apr 1831 p.3. One of the first to recognize the appalling state of sanitary conditions in large towns he instigated an investigation into Keighley's public health and won the gold medal of the Medical Society of London for his essay ‘On the Influence of Civilisation on Health and Disease':
BO
, 7 Aug 1845 p.7; 25 Mar 1847 p.8; 22 Feb 1849 p.8.

38.
PB to James Clarke Franks, 10 Jan 1839: MS BS 188 pp.1–2, BPM [
LRPB
, 118].

39.
BO
, 24 Jan 1839 p.2. Heap was only 49; he died the same day as his youngest daughter, Anna Maria, aged 7, and they had a joint funeral:
LI
, 19 Jan 1839 p.8. Like Patrick, Heap had been a sizar at St John's College, Cambridge, though he matriculated in 1814, 8 years after Patrick left: Venn, iii, 310.

40.
LI
, 14 Feb 1839 p.2. It was even announced that after the death of ‘the present incumbent' of Haworth, it was expected that the chapelry would be sub-divided into 2separate district parishes, Haworth-cum-Stanbury and Oxenhope-cum-Near Oxenhope:
LM
, 6 Apr 1839 p.5; 21 Feb 1839 p.2;
HG
, 23 Feb 1839 p.3. Wilson shared the hard-line attitude towards church rates and dues of the eventual appointee, Dr Scoresby, dismissing ‘poor Heap' as ‘a cipher … in all his doings': William Carus Wilson to Dr Scoresby, 11 May 1840: MS in unsorted bundle, 1840, Whitby.

41.
CB to EN, 24 Aug [1838]: MS HM 24415 p.4, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 181].

42.
Ibid., pp.1–2[
LCB
, i, 180].

43.
CB to EN, 20 Jan 1839: MS BS 40.5 pp.1–2, 3, BPM [
LCB
, i, 184].

44.
Ibid., p.2[
LCB
, i, 184].

45.
CB, [Henry Hastings], 24 Feb–26 Mar 1839: MS in Widener Coll, Harvard [WG
FN
, 177–270]. The second volume of this ms is missing; only the first and third are
preserved at Harvard. There is no evidence for Gérin's repeated assertion (ibid., 173–5) that Hastings is a portrait of a debauched Branwell now being loyally supported by his loving sister.

46.
PBB, [Angria and the Angrians V(c)], 15 Dec 1838–Apr 1839: MS MA 2696 R-V, PM [Neufeldt, iii, 246ff, esp 246–59]. Several sections appear to be missing from this ms though each chapter is obviously part of the same story. Those relating Hastings' assas-sination attempt were all written before 21 February and therefore just predate Charlotte's third volume which is concerned with its aftermath.

47.
CB, [Henry Hastings], 24 Feb–26 Mar 1839: MS in Widener Coll, Harvard [Glen, 239, 207]. Elizabeth Hastings' name may have been suggested to Charlotte by a tablet erected in 1745 in Mirfield Church where she attended Revd Edward Carter's services. The plaque, which is still on the wall of the old church's ruined tower, records a list of ‘Pious and Charitable Benefactors' including Lady Elizabeth Hastings (1682–1739), a well-known north-ern philanthropist who founded scholarships to Bradford Grammar School and Queen's College, Oxford: she left £2 for a monthly sacrament at Mirfield.

48.
Ibid., 263.

49.
Ibid., 287–8.

50.
Ibid., 288.

51.
Ibid., 304–5.

52.
Henry Nussey, Journal, 26 Feb 1839: MS Egerton 3268A p.62, BL [
LCB
, i, 186 n.1].

53.
CB to EN, 12 Mar 1839: MS Gr. E2 p.2, BPM [
LCB
, i, 187]. Nussey, like many cler-gymen, supplemented his income by taking pupils.

54.
CB to EN, 26 Sept 1836: MS Bon 161 p.3, BPM [
LCB
, i, 152].

55.
CB to EN, 12 Mar 1839: MS Gr. E2 p.2, BPM [
LCB
, i, 187].

56.
CB to Henry Nussey, 5 Mar 1839: MS in private hands [
LCB
, i, 185]. I am grateful to William Self for permission to quote from this ms and to Margaret Smith for allowing me to use her transcript.

57.
CB to EN, 12 Mar 1839: MS Gr. E2 p.3, BPM [
LCB
, i, 187].

58.
Henry Nussey, Journal, 9 Mar 1839: MS Egerton 3268A p.64v, BL [
LCB
, i, 186 n.1]. Like his fictional counterpart, Nussey also had plans to be a missionary which Charlotte rather unkindly mocked: CB to EN, [?late June 1843]: MS MA 2696 R-V pp.2–3, PM [
LCB
, i, 325].

59.
PBB, [Angria and the Angrians V(d)], 21–23 Feb 1839 [Neufeldt, iii, 259–70]. This chapter follows one begun on 4 February but there is no indication whether this was written in Haworth or Bradford.

60.
R. Bentley (ed.),
Q. Horatius Flaccus
…
opera
(Amsterdam, 1728): HAOBP:bb208 pp.112, 143, BPM. See below, p.388.

61.
PBB to J.H. Thompson, 17 May 1839: MS BS 136 p.1, BPM [Leyland, i, 176].

62.
Leyland, ii, 175; White,
Directory of the
…
West Riding of Yorkshire
(1843), 459. The list ranged from eminent artists such as Wilson Anderson to ‘house-and sign-painters' but many portrait painters, including the Brontës' tutor John Bradley (A&S, 23), did this as a side-line.

63.
LM
, 1 Sept 1838 pp.4, 5; 27 Oct 1838 p.4;
LI
, 1Sept 1838 pp.5, 8.

64.
See, for example, A. Mary F. Robinson,
Emily Brontë
(London, 1883), 64; WG
PBB
, 146, 150; Du Maurier, 80, 90; WG
FN
, 173–5.

65.
PBB to J.H. Thompson, 24 Aug 1839: MS BS 137 p.2, BPM [
L&L
, i, 187].

66.
Ibid.; PBB to J.H. Thompson, 17 May 1839: MS BS 136 pp.1–2, BPM [Leyland, i, 176–7].

67.
Anthony Trollope,
An Autobiography
(Oxford, 1980 repr. 1987), 50–1.

68.
PBB to J.H. Thompson, 24 Aug 1839: MS BS 137 pp.2–3, BPM [
L&L
, i, 187] where Branwell refers to ‘our poor Master' and Thompson's kindness to his widow. Branwell's letter of 17 May 1839 (see above n.66) is addressed to Thompson as ‘Artist Care of Mr Aglen Carver & Gilder'; by August, when he wrote again, Thompson was living in the George Hotel: Leyland, i, 202.

69.
Ibid., 203–4. For Leyland's obituary, which chronicles his later decline, see
HG
, 10 May 1851 p.8.

70.
Leyland, i, 187–8; John James,
The History of Bradford and its Parish
(London, 1866).

71.
PBB to J.H. Thompson, 24 Aug 1839: MS BS 137 p.2, BPM [
L&L
, i, 187].

72.
WG
PBB
, 142 quoting Margaret Hartley.

73.
Leyland, i, 178–9, quoting a Bradford friend, describes Branwell as ‘a quiet, unas-suming young man, retiring, and diffident, seeming rather of a passive nature, and delicate constitution, than otherwise'.

74.
EJB, ‘The night was Dark yet winter breathed', 12 Jan 1839: MS Bon 127 p.9, BPM [Roper, 73–4]. There is no extant poem thereafter till EJB, ‘What winter floods, what showers of spring', 27 Mar 1839: MS in Berg [Roper, 75]. From the middle of April Emily was back in full poetic flow indicating that she was home again.

75.
ECG,
Life
, 131.

76.
CB to Henry Nussey, 5 Mar 1839: MS in private hands [
LCB
, i, 185–6].

77.
CB to EN, 12 Mar 1839: MS Gr. E2 p.2, BPM [
LCB
, i, 187].

78.
CB to EN, 15 Apr 1839: MS HM 24416 pp.1–2, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 189].

79.
AB,
Agnes Grey
, 9.

80.
Susan Brooke, ‘Anne Brontë at Blake Hall',
BST
:13:68:250. Blake Hall, parts of which dated back to the 17th century, was demolished in 1954: its site is commemorated by several road names within a modern housing estate.

81.
J.T.M. Nussey, ‘Notes on the Background of Three Incidents in the Lives of the Brontës',
BST
:15:79:333–4; EN to C.K. Shorter, 22 Apr 1896: MS in bound volume of miscellaneous EN letters, Shorter Collection, no.6, Brotherton. Ellen says of Mrs Ingham, ‘A sister was a pupil of Miss W[ooler's]. Formerly they were friends of ours & very kind to me when at school before Mr Ingham married – a family connection existed on his mother's side. Mrs I was an amiable conventional woman – her sister Harriet clever – but refractory, was a pupil in C's time of teacher'. For Ellis Cunliffe Lister's election to Parliament see
LM
, 22 July 1827 p.1.

82.
Brooke, ‘Anne Brontë at Blake Hall',
BST
:13:68:241; CB to EN, 15 Apr 1839: MS HM 24416 pp.1–2, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 189].

83.
Ibid., pp.1–2. No other source indicates Anne suffered from any kind of stammer or hesitation of speech.

84.
AB,
Agnes Grey
, 34–6;Brooke, ‘Anne Brontë at Blake Hall',
BST
:13:68:247.

85.
CB to EN, 15 Apr 1839: MS HM 24416 pp.2–3, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 189].

86.
CB to EJB, 8 June 1839: MS n.l. [
LCB
, i, 190–2]. The temporary nature of the situation is here suggested by Charlotte's hoping that Miss Hoby, the Sidgwicks' usual governess, would return after the family had been to Swarcliffe. For the Sidgwicks, see K. Geoffrey Rowley,
Old Skipton
(Clapham, 1969), 46–50.

87.
The marriage took place on 10 Jan 1827 at Keighley Parish Church: Bishop's Transcripts, Keighley (3), 1824–38: Microfilm, Keighley. Anon.,
Keighley Past and Present
(London, 1858), 101 describes Knowle House as ‘the only one superior mansion to greet the eye of the traveller as he entered the town'; now a funeral parlour it retains little of its former grandeur.

88.
In June Mrs Collins told Emily that Mrs Sidgwick intended to keep Charlotte permanently, so she clearly knew all about the appointment: CB to EJB, 8June 1839: MS n.l. [
LCB
, i, 191].

89.
Rowley,
Old Skipton
, 47–8; CB to EJB, 8June 1839: MS n.l. [
LCB
, i, 190].

90.
'DRW',
Christ Church Lothersdale 1838–1888: A Short History
(Leeds, 1988), 1. Mr Sidgwick had been the prime mover in building the new church in Lothersdale which opened in October 1838: Edward Carter was the first incumbent. His children were Ellen (4), Edward (3) and Susan (1). By 1841 they had moved to their new home at Oakcliffe in the village, had another daughter Catherine and employed 2 servant girls: Ibid.; Census Returns for Lothersdale, 1841: Microfilm, Skipton.

91.
CB to EJB, 8June 1839: MS n.l. [
LCB
, i, 191].

92.
Ibid., 190–1. Charlotte addressed the letter to ‘Dearest Lavinia', probably a joking reference to the ‘lovely young Lavinia', a ‘Recluse amid the close-embowering woods' in James Thomson's poem
The Seasons
(1730), ‘Autumn', ll.177–310.

93.
CB to EN, [30 June 1839]: MS 2696 R-V pp.1–3, PM [
LCB
, i, 193].

94.
Shorter, ‘New Light on the Brontës',
BST
:1:8:19. Mrs Sidgwick's 5th child, Edward, was born on 18 August 1839, only a few weeks after Charlotte's departure.

95.
Ibid.; A.C. Benson,
The Life of Edward White Benson, sometime Archbishop of Canterbury
(London, 1900), i, 12.

96.
ECG,
Life
, 136; CB to EN, [30 June 1839]: MS 2696 R-V p.3, PM [
LCB
, i, 194].

97.
ECG,
Life
, 136.

98.
CB to EJB, 8June 1839: MS n.l. [
LCB
, i, 191].

99.
CB to EN, [26 July 1839]: MS HM 24417 p.2, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 196];
LI
, 27 July 1839 p.5.

100.
CB to EN, [26 July 1839]: MS HM 24417 p.1, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 195–6].

101.
CB to EN, [4 Aug 1839]: MS HM 24418 p.1, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 197].

102.
Leyland, i, 238–40. The friend is simply referred to as ‘Mr M—' so he could have been either Hartley or Michael Merrall. Branwell's portrait of him was painted at the parsonage in several sittings: though untraced, it is described in ibid., 239–40: see also A&S no.261 ‘Mr M—'.

103.
CB to EN, [4Aug 1839]: MS HM 24418 p.2, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 197].

104.
Ibid., pp.2–3 [
LCB
, i, 197–8]. Charlotte calls him ‘Mr Price',
L&L
, ii, 184, 197 and Shorter, ‘New Light on the Brontës',
BST
:1:8:16 ‘Mr Bryce'. In fact he was David Pryce from County Wicklow, a fee-paying student at Trinity College, Dublin, who had graduated the previous summer: G.D. Burtchaell and T.U. Sadleir (eds.),
Alumni Dublinenses
(Dublin, 1935), 684.

105.
CB to EN, [4Aug 1839]: MS HM 24418 p.4, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 198]; CB to EN, [24 Jan 1840]: MS MA 2696 R-V p.2, PM [
LCB
, i, 210].

106.
CB to EN, 14 Aug 1839: MS BS 42 pp.1–2, BPM [
LCB
, i, 199]; CB to EN, 14 Aug 1839: MS BS 42 pp.1–2, BPM [
LCB
, i, 200].

107.
EN, Reminiscences: MS p.27, KSC [
LCB
, i, 605].

108.
Ibid., pp.29–30 [
LCB
, i, 605–6].

109.
CB to EN, 24 Oct 1839: MS HM 24419 p.2, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 202].

110.
CB to Henry Nussey, 28 Oct 1839: MS BS 43 p.3, BPM [
LCB
, i, 204]. Nussey's first sight of the sea, ‘emblem of eternity' as he called it, provoked only the phlegmatic comment that it was one of the finest sights mortal eyes could behold, ‘yet was not surprised at it, as it appeared much as I imagined it would': Henry Nussey, Journal, 17 July 1832: MS Egerton 3268A, BL.