"Birthplace of the Brontë Children at Thornton." Source: Wood, facing p. 160.
Thornton was a "much more pleasant and social place" when the Rev. Brontë, his wife Maria, and their young family lived there (Barker 64). Butler Wood writes:
The village of Thornton, four miles west of Bradford, is now included within the boundary of this city. The house in which the Bronte children were born is situated in the Market Street, nearly opposite the Mechanics' Institute. It is now used as a house and shop, but during the Rev. Patrick Bronte's sojourn it served as the Vicarage. There is a tablet on the wall indicating its connection with the family. The Old Church where the Rev. Patrick Bronte officiated is now in ruins; it lies on the left of the road just before entering the village, which may be reached by tram-car from the city. [Wood 318]
The family moved to Haworth in 1820, and that is where Maria became ill and died, leaving the children motherless. Ann was only three months old then.
Image scan and text by Jacqueline Banerjee. You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer or person who scanned the image, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one. [Click on the image for larger pictures.]
Bibliography
Barker, Juliet. The Brontës. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1994.
Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn. The Life of Charlotte Brontë. New York and London: Harper & Bros., 1900. Internet Archive. Contributed by the Library of Congress. Web. 2 December 2017.
Duckett, Bob. "A Mother and her Substitutes: Maria Brontë (née Branwell), Elizabeth Branwell and Margaret Wonder." In The Brontës in Context, ed. Marianne Thormählen. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 44-52.
Wood, Butler, ed. Charlotte Brontë, 1816-1916; a centenary memorial, prepared by the Brontë society, with a foreword by Mrs. Humphry Ward and 3 maps and 28 illustrations. New York: Dutton, 1918. Internet Archive. Contributed by University of California Libraries. Web. 3 December 2017.
Wood, Butler. "A Brontë Itinerary." In Charlotte Brontë, 1816-1916; a centenary memorial, prepared by the Brontë society, ed. Wood, and with a foreword by Mrs. Humphry Ward and 3 maps and 28 illustrations. New York: Dutton, 1918. Internet Archive. Contributed by University of California Libraries. 313-25. Web. 3 December 2017.
Created 3 December 2017