In the Footsteps of the Brontës

A biography of the Brontë sisters published in 1914 by an author who spent years living near their Haworth home.

Mrs Ellis H. Chadwick (Author)

9781108034166, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 October 2011

604 pages, 40 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 3.4 cm, 0.76 kg

A few years after Esther Alice Chadwick (fl. 1882–1928) - who wrote under the name Mrs Ellis H. Chadwick - had read a copy of Elizabeth Gaskell's Life of Charlotte Brontë, she moved to a house near the Haworth vicarage where the Brontë family had lived. As a result, Chadwick was able to speak to many people who had known the family, and in 1914 she published this extensive biography of the family. Beginning with the Irish ancestry of the three famous sisters, Charlotte (1816–55), Emily (1818–48) and Anne (1820–49), she traces their short but eventful lives. Chadwick examines their early years and the influence of their father, Patrick, his work in the ministry and the family's time at Haworth. Later chapters are devoted to the sisters' education and their literary output, seeking to understand their extraordinary creativity amid the difficult circumstances of their life.

Preface
1. The Brontë Irish ancestry, 1777–1802
2. Patrick Brontë's training for the ministry. Cambridge, 1802–5
3. The Rev. Patrick Brontë at Hartshead, 1811–15
4. The Rev. Patrick Brontë at Thornton, 1815–20
5. Haworth, 1820–4
6. Cowan Bridge, July, 1824–June, 1825
7. Haworth, 1825–31
8. Dewsbury, 1831–2
9. Haworth, Roe Head and Dewsbury Moor, 1832–8
10. Emily Brontë at Law Hill, Southowram, 1836–9
11. Charlotte Brontë's offers of marriage, 1839
12. Branwell Brontë and the curates at Haworth, 1839–42
13. Anne Brontë
14. Rawdon, March–December 1841
15. London, 1842–8
16. Brussels, January–November 1842
17. M. and Madame Heger
18. The Brontës' experience at the Pensionnat
19. Charlotte Brontë's second year at Brussels
20. Why Charlotte Brontë left Brussels so abruptly
21. The attempt to earn a livelihood, 1844–5
22. The publishing venture, 1845–6
23. The first Brontë novels, 1845–7
24. Wuthering Heights
25. Charlotte and Anne Brontë's visit to London. Death of Branwell and Emily Brontë
26. Shirley, 1848–9
27. Death of Anne Brontë, 1849
28. Charlotte Brontë's visits to London, 1849–50
29. Charlotte Brontë's first and second visit to the English Lakes, 1850
30. Charlotte Brontë's sixth visit to London, 1851
31. Rev. A. B. Nicholls
32. Charlotte Brontë's engagement, marriage, and death
33. Memorials
Works by the Brontës
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF]