| 1820 January 17 |
Anne born in Thornton, near Bradford, Yorkshire. The last of six children
born to the Rev. Patrick and Maria Brontë (The Brontë siblings
in order of birth: Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, Anne). |
 |
| 1820 March 25 |
Anne baptised in the 'Old Bell Chapel' at Thornton by the family's
friend the Reverend William Morgan. Two other family friends, Elizabeth
Firth and Fanny Outhwaite become Anne's godmothers. |
|
| 1820 mid-April |
The Brontë family move into the Parsonage at Haworth. |
|
| 1821 January 29 |
Maria Brontë (Anne's mother) suddenly becomes seriously ill. She
is later diagnosed as suffering from cancer. |
|
| 1821 May |
Elizabeth Branwell ('Aunt Branwell') arrives in Haworth to nurse her
dying sister, Maria, and care for the family. Subsequently, she spends
the rest of her life there raising the Brontë children. |
|
| 1821 September 15 |
Anne's mother, Maria Brontë, dies of cancer (believed to be of
the uterus), aged 38: buried in a vault beneath Haworth church. This ultimately
becomes the Brontë family vault. |
|
| 1824 late |
The 54 year old Tabitha Aykroyd ("Tabby") employed as servant
at the Parsonage. She is to take over from Nancy and Sarah Garrs, both
of whom have worked for the Brontës since the Thornton days, but have
recently left. |
|
| 1825 May 6 |
Anne's eldest sister, Maria, dies of consumption (tuberculosis) (aged
11), having been sent home ill from Cowan Bridge School on February 14:
buried in the family vault beneath Haworth church. |
|
| 1825 June 15 |
Anne's sister, Elizabeth, dies of consumption (aged 10), having left
Cowan Bridge School ill on May 31: buried in the family vault beneath Haworth
church. |
|
| 1828 August 29 |
Anne's earliest extant drawing - shows a church surrounded by trees. |
|
| 1829 - 1830 |
The Brontë children receive art lessons from John Bradley of Keighley. |
|
| 1831 January 17 |
Charlotte goes, as a pupil, to Margaret Wooler's school at Roe Head,
Mirfield, near Dewsbury (approx.18 miles south-east of Haworth). While
there, meets fellow pupils Mary Taylor and Ellen Nussey who subsequently
become her life-long friends. |
|
| 1831 |
Around this time, the eleven year old Anne, and twelve/thirteen year
old Emily break away from Charlotte and Branwell in the creation and development
of Angria (a fictional world founded by the Brontë children), and
establish their own fantasy world of Gondal. |
|
| 1832 May |
Charlotte leaves Roe Head School: returns to Haworth to teach her sisters. |
|
| 1833 July |
Ellen Nussey pays her first visit to the Haworth Parsonage: is liked
by, and becomes good friends with the entire Brontë family. Towards
the end of her two week stay, the children club together their pocket money
to secure a trip to Bolton Abbey. |
|
| 1834 |
Throughout this year, Anne, Emily and Branwell, have piano lessons
at the Parsonage from Abraham Sunderland, the Keighley parish organist.
They practice on a cottage piano that Patrick has purchased earlier in
the year for this purpose (this piano is now on display in the Brontë
Parsonage Museum). |
|
| 1834 November 24 |
(Monday) Emily and Anne write their first extant diary paper. It is
jointly produced, though written mostly in Emily's hand, and includes the
earliest mention of Gondal. (see 'The Anne and Emily
Diaries' - accessed from 'Main
Page'.) |
|
| 1835 July 29 |
Charlotte leaves Haworth to become a teacher at Roe Head School. Emily
accompanies her as a pupil. |
|
| 1835 late-October |
After Emily has become ill due to acute home-sickness, she returns
to Haworth, and is replaced at Roe Head School by Anne. |
|
| 1836 December 14 |
Anne is presented with a 'good conduct' prize at Roe Head School. |
|
| 1836 December |
Anne's earliest extant poem. A 'Gondal' poem titled 'Verses By Lady
Geralda', and written at Haworth during her Christmas holidays from Roe
Head. |
|
| 1837 June 26 |
(Monday evening) Emily and Anne write their second extant diary paper.
Like the first, it is jointly produced, though written mostly in Emily's
hand. Anne would be taking her summer holidays from Roe Head School at
this time. (see 'The Anne and Emily Diaries'.) |
|
| 1837 Nov/Dec |
Anne suffers a life-threatening illness (at Roe Head). At the same
time, she also undergoes a religious crisis, and, at her request, is visited,
several times, by the Moravian minister, James La Trobe. |
|
| 1837 December |
Anne leaves Roe Head School due to the seriousness of her illness. |
|
| 1838 May |
Branwell sets up his own portrait studio in Bradford, lodging with
Mr. and Mrs. Kirby. |
|
| 1838 September |
Emily becomes a teacher at Miss Patchett's school at Law Hill (near
Halifax - approx.15 miles south of Haworth). |
|
| 1838 December |
Charlotte leaves Miss Wooler's school for good (formerly at Roe Head,
but the school has since moved, approximately three miles, to Healds House
at Dewsbury Moor - near Dewsbury). |
|
| 1839 March |
Emily abandons her post at Law Hill, and returns to Haworth. Charlotte
had described Emily's duties at Law Hill as 'hard
labour from six in the morning to eleven at night' and 'slavery'.
This daunting regime, coupled with Emily's acute home-sickness led to her
health breaking down - just as it had done at Roe Head four years earlier. |
|
| 1839 April 8 |
Anne (now aged 19) moves into Blake Hall, Mirfield (approx. 20 miles
south-east of Haworth), to commence her first employment as a governess
with the Ingham family. |
|
| 1839 mid-May |
Branwell abandons his portrait studio in Bradford after running into
debt: he returns to Haworth. |
|
| 1839 May |
Charlotte goes as temporary governess to the Sidgwick family at Stonegappe
(near Skipton - approx. 8 miles north of Haworth). |
|
| 1839 July 19 |
Charlotte leaves Stonegappe and returns to Haworth. |
|
| 1839 August |
William Weightman arrives in Haworth to become assistant curate to
Patrick Brontë. |
|
| 1839 September |
Charlotte takes a holiday with Ellen Nussey. They spend three weeks
at Easton, then one week at the nearby seaside resort of Bridlington (then
sometimes referred to as Burlington). |
|
| 1839 December |
Anne leaves her governess post with the Inghams, and returns to Haworth.
(The reason for her leaving is not known; however, while there, she experienced
great difficulty in controlling and educating the undisciplined and 'monstrous'
children: for this reason it is generally assumed that she was dismissed:
indeed, Anne herself implies this in her later novel, Agnes Grey.) |
|
| 1839 December 31 |
Branwell leaves home to begin his new employment as tutor to the two
Postlethwaite boys at Broughton-in-Furness (Lake District - approx. 85
miles north-west of Haworth). |
|
| 1840 early |
Throughout the early part of this year Anne has much contact with William
Weightman. It is during this period she is reputed to have fallen in love
with him; however, there is no evidence to show that any relationship between
them occurred. |
|
| 1840 |
Martha Brown comes to live at the Parsonage, gradually replacing Tabby
as servant. |
|
| 1840 May 8 |
Anne goes as governess to the Robinsons at Thorp Green Hall, Little
Ouseburn, near York (approx. 40 miles north-east of Haworth). |
|
| 1840 June |
Branwell is dismissed by the Postlethwaites: he returns to Haworth.
The reason for his dismissal is somewhat obscure: some stories tell that
he made one of their servant girls pregnant. Even if this is correct, the
fate of the baby is unknown: some information sources suggest that it died.
There has even been a case, recently, of someone claiming to be a descendant
of Branwell. |
|
| 1840 July |
(For most of July, and possibly into the first week of August) Anne
accompanies the Robinsons on their annual holiday to Scarborough. This
is her first visit to the resort. They stay at the prestigious Wood's Lodgings
on St. Nicholas Cliff, which sits at the centre of the bay, and boasts
spectacular views of the castle and South Bay. On July 25, she produces
her only extant drawing believed to have been created while she was at
Scarborough (the drawing is titled 'What You Please' - see 'The
Art of Anne Brontë' - from 'Main
Page'). (This 'first' [1840] visit has not been fully confirmed.) |
|
| 1840 August 31 |
Branwell employed as Assistant Clerk at Sowerby Bridge railway station
(approx.15 miles south of Haworth). |
|
| 1841 March |
Charlotte goes as governess to the Whites of Upperwood House, Rawdon,
near Bradford (approx. 14 miles east of Haworth). |
|
| 1841 April 1 |
Branwell transferred to Luddenden Foot as Clerk in Charge of the station
(a few miles north-west of Sowerby Bridge). |
|
| 1841 June 5 |
Branwell has some of his poems published in the Halifax Guardian,
making him the first of the Brontë siblings to achieve publication. |
|
| 1841 June/July |
Charlotte, Emily and Anne begin discussing, in earnest, plans to start
a school of their own, having toyed with the idea for several years. |
|
| 1841 June 29 |
(Until August 3 - dates approx.) Anne spends about five weeks at Scarborough
with the Robinsons, staying, once again, in Wood's Lodgings. While there,
on July 30, she writes her 'four-yearly' diary paper. On the same day,
Emily writes her corresponding one at home - in Haworth (see 'The
Anne and Emily Diaries'). |
|
| 1841 December |
Charlotte leaves her post as governess to the White family, and returns
to Haworth. |
|
| 1842 January |
When returning home for her Christmas holidays, Anne informs the Robinsons
that she wishes to terminate her employment with them. She wants to stay
at home, taking the place of Emily, who will soon be leaving, with Charlotte,
to attend a school in Brussels. However, Anne has made herself so indispensable
at Thorp Green that the Robinsons plead with her to return, which she ultimately
decides to do. |
|
| 1842 February 15 |
Charlotte and Emily arrive at the Pensionnat Heger School in Brussels.
En route, they had a short stay in London, lodging at the 'Chapter Coffee
House' on Paternoster Row (behind St. Paul's Cathedral). |
|
| 1842 March 31 |
Branwell is dismissed by the railways. His understudy is caught 'fiddling'
the books, and, as Clerk in Charge, Branwell is held responsible. |
|
| 1842 July 4 |
(Until August 15 - dates approx.) Anne spends around six weeks at Scarborough
with the Robinsons - staying at No: 15, The Cliff (Wood's Lodgings). Her
former employers, the Inghams, are also in residence at Wood's Lodgings. |
|
| 1842 September 6 |
After a short illness William Weightman, at the age of 28, dies of
cholera: he is buried beneath the floor of Haworth church. |
|
| 1842 October 29 |
Aunt (Elizabeth) Branwell (who raised the Brontë children) dies,
aged 66. Leaves £350 legacy for each of her nieces. The cause of
death was 'an internal obstruction of her bowel',
which reduced her 'to helpless agony'. |
|
| 1842 November 3 |
Anne returns to Haworth for her aunt's funeral. |
|
| 1842 November 8 |
Charlotte and Emily return from Brussels due to 'Aunt Branwell's' death. |
|
| 1842 November 29 |
Anne returns to Thorp Green Hall. |
|
| 1843 January |
Following her Christmas holidays, Anne takes Branwell back with her
to Thorp Green Hall having obtained him a post - taking over from her as
tutor to the now eleven years old Edmund Robinson (jnr.). |
|
| 1843 January 27 |
Charlotte returns to Brussels as both pupil and teacher. Emily remains
at home. |
|
| 1843 March |
While attending York to give evidence in a forgery case, Patrick Brontë
visits Anne and Branwell at Thorp Green. Spends several days there (there
is some conflicting information on this latter point). |
|
| 1843 June |
The Robinson girls (Anne's charges at Thorp Green) give Anne a black-white-and-tan
spaniel dog as a gift. She names it Flossy, and brings it home to Haworth
when taking her summer holidays. (This dog ultimately outlives Anne by
many years.) |
|
| 1843 July 3 |
(Until July 31 - dates approx.) Anne spends about four weeks at No:
14, The Cliff (Wood's Lodgings), Scarborough, with the Robinsons. Branwell
is also present (his first visit). |
|
| 1844 January 1 |
Charlotte leaves Brussels for good, and returns to Haworth. |
|
| 1844 January 23 |
In a letter to Ellen Nussey, Charlotte remarks, with 'a tinge of envy',
that Anne and Branwell are 'wondrously valued'
in their situations at Thorp Green. |
|
| 1844 July 8 |
(Until August 12 - dates approx.) Anne spends around five weeks at
No: 7, The Cliff (Wood's Lodgings), Scarborough, with the Robinsons (Branwell
is also present). While there, on August 2, writes her poem 'Fluctuations'
(see 'The Poems of Anne Brontë'
- from 'Main Page'). |
|
| 1844 July |
Charlotte has prospectus cards printed and distributed, advertising
'The Misses Brontës' Establishment' - the sisters' own school, which
is to be situated at the Haworth Parsonage. |
|
| 1844 November |
The Brontës' own school plan is abandoned after they fail to attract
any pupils due to the remoteness of Haworth. |
|
| 1845 |
Sometime this year Anne begins work on a piece of prose which she titles
Passages in the Life of an Individual. In her diary paper of July
31, she declares 'I have begun the third volume of
Passages in the Life of an Individual, I wish I had finished it.'
Many biographers believe this was the foundation of her first novel, Agnes
Grey. (Some suggest that Agnes Grey actually began several years
earlier with a collection of auto-biographical material she wrote under
the Gondal guise of 'Solala Vernon's Life'.) |
|
| 1845 May |
Arthur Bell Nicholls arrives in Haworth after being appointed assistant
curate to Patrick Brontë. |
|
| 1845 June |
Anne resigns her post at Thorp Green believing her work there to be
complete: it may also have something to do with the fact that she has become
aware of Branwell's 'secret' affair with their employer's wife, Lydia Robinson. |
|
| 1845 June 30 |
Anne and Emily make their 'first long journey'
together. The original plan was to visit Scarborough, but they settle for
a few days in York. |
|
| 1845 July |
Branwell is dismissed from Thorp Green Hall after his affair with Mrs.
Robinson is discovered by her husband (Branwell's employer). Edmund Robinson
(snr.) later declares 'that he had discovered his
[Branwell's] proceedings which he characterised as
bad beyond expression and charging him on pain of exposure to break off
instantly and forever all communication with every member of his family.' |
|
| 1845 July 31 |
(Thursday) Emily and Anne each write their four-yearly diary papers.
They indicate that their next diaries will be written in three years time
- on July 30 1848; however, no such diaries are known to exist. (See 'The
Anne and Emily Diaries'). |
|
| 1845 September |
Charlotte discovers one of Emily's poetry notebooks, and suggests her
poems merit publication: Emily is furious; however, this incident ultimately
leads to the compilation of a set of the three sisters' poems. |
|
| 1846 February 6 |
Charlotte sends manuscripts of poems to the publishers Aylott &
Jones in London, and declares them to be the work of the three 'Bell' brothers
(their chosen pseudonyms - or 'pen names' - Charlotte = Currer Bell, Emily
= Ellis Bell, and Anne = Acton Bell). |
|
| 1846 May |
Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell published - at the sisters'
expense. |
|
| 1846 May |
(Approx. - exact date not known) Anne completes her first novel, Agnes
Grey. |
|
| 1847 July |
Emily's Wuthering Heights, and Anne's Agnes Grey accepted
for publication by Thomas Cautley Newby in London: Charlotte's The Professor
is rejected. |
|
| 1847 July |
Around this time Anne began writing her second novel - The Tenant
of Wildfell Hall: the exact date is not known: perhaps it was in July
- with Anne being so motivated by the acceptance of Agnes Grey for
publication. Others believe she began working on it several months earlier. |
|
| 1847 October |
Charlotte's Jane Eyre published to instant acclaim. (Published
by Smith, Elder & Co. - London). |
|
| 1847 December |
Anne's first novel, Agnes Grey, is published jointly with Emily's
Wuthering Heights, after their publisher, Thomas Newby, is urged
on by the success of Jane Eyre. |
|
| 1848 May (approx) |
Anne completes her second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
It ultimately becomes regarded as Anne's answer to Wuthering Heights,
which out-shone her first novel, Agnes Grey. |
|
| 1848 June (end) |
Anne's second novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall published to
instant success. (published by Thomas Cautley Newby, London). It rapidly
out-sells Wuthering Heights. |
|
| 1848 July |
Anne's publisher, Thomas Newby, causes a stir by supporting the critics'
suspicions, and intimating that 'Wildfell Hall' is the product of
the same author who wrote Jane Eyre. Despite being distinctly told
otherwise, he informs one American publisher that to the best of his knowledge,
all the 'Bell' novels are the work of one writer. |
|
| 1848 July 7 |
Anne and Charlotte travel to London to visit their publishers in order
to prove there is more than one "Bell" author. They stay at the
'Chapter Coffee House' on Paternoster Row (behind St. Paul's Cathedral),
and return to Haworth on 11 July, after being entertained, over their four-day
period in London, by Charlotte's publisher George Smith. |
|
| 1848 July 22 |
Anne completes her now famous preface to the second edition of The
Tenant of Wildfell Hall, having spent 9 days on its composition. |
|
| 1848 mid-August |
The second edition of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (complete
with 'preface') published just 6 weeks after the first. |
|
| 1848 September 24 |
After a long period of decline, Anne's brother, Branwell, dies of chronic
bronchitis/consumption, aged 31. |
|
| 1848 September 28 |
Branwell's funeral. He is buried in the family vault beneath Haworth
church. |
|
| 1848 December 19 |
Anne's sister, Emily, dies of consumption, aged 30, after 2 months
decline. (Excepting the day she died, she constantly refused to accept
any medical treatment.) |
|
| 1848 December 22 |
Emily's funeral. She is buried in the family vault beneath Haworth
church. |
|
| 1848 December |
Following the failure of 'Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell',
Anne alone begins 'enjoying a quiet success with
her poems'. Both the Leeds Intelligencer, and Fraser's
Magazine, publish her poem 'The Narrow Way' under her pseudonym, Acton
Bell. Four months earlier, in August, Fraser's Magazine had also
published her poem 'The Three Guides'. |
|
| 1849 January 5 |
Following a period of illness since early December, Anne is examined
at the Parsonage by Dr. Teale: he reports she has consumption, and intimates
she may not have long to live. |
|
| 1849 April |
Anne makes arrangements to go to Scarborough in an attempt to effect
a recovery from consumption. She plans on using the £200 legacy left
her by her godmother, Fanny Outhwaite; and writes (letter of April 5),
asking her friend, Ellen Nussey, if she will accompany her to the resort. |
|
| 1849 May 1 |
Charlotte warns Ellen not to be shocked on seeing Anne when they go
to Scarborough. She reports: 'She is very much emaciated,
-- far more than when you were with us; her arms are no thicker than a
little child's. The least exertion brings a shortness of breath. She goes
out a little every day, but we creep rather than walk'. |
|
| 1849 May 24 |
(Thursday) Anne sets off, accompanied by Charlotte and Ellen Nussey,
on, what turns out to be, her final trip to Scarborough. En route, they
spend a day and a night in York; where they do some shopping, and at Anne's
request, visit York Minster. |
|
| 1849 May 25 |
(Friday) In the early afternoon, Anne, Charlotte and Ellen arrive,
by train, in Scarborough. They treat themselves to Dandelion Coffee and
buy season tickets allowing unlimited access to the Spa and Cliff Bridge
(now the Spa Bridge). |
|
| 1849 May 26 |
(Saturday) In the morning, at her own insistence, Anne attends the
nearby swimming baths alone, but collapses with exhaustion outside her
lodgings on her return. In the afternoon she drives herself, for one hour,
in a donkey cart on the South Sands. |
|
| 1849 May 27 |
(Sunday) In the afternoon, Anne chaperones Charlotte and Ellen along
the Cliff Bridge (now the Spa Bridge). Later, overcome with exhaustion,
she sits on a seat near the beach while her companions walk further. By
the evening she realises there is no hope left and that she has not long
to live: she discusses with Charlotte the propriety of returning to Haworth. |
|
| 1849 May 28 |
(Whit Monday) At around two o'clock in the afternoon, in Wood's Lodgings,
Scarborough, Anne dies of consumption: she is aged 29. |
|
| 1849 May 30 |
(Wednesday) Anne's funeral is conducted at Christ Church, Vernon Place
(now Vernon Road): she is buried beneath the castle walls in St. Mary's
Churchyard, Scarborough. |
|
| 1849 May 31 |
(Thursday) Charlotte and Ellen visit Scarborough castle; passing, en
route, the 'venerable old church'
(St. Mary's) and Anne's grave, and climbing the 'Castle
Hill' that Anne had described in her novel, Agnes Grey. |
|
| 1849 June 6 (or 7) |
Charlotte and Ellen move down the coast to spend a period of around
10 days in Filey, before moving on to Bridlington for a few more days.
Charlotte returns to Haworth on 20 June. |
|
| 1850 December 10 |
Charlotte's 'edited' edition of Wuthering Heights and Agnes
Grey, complete with her 'Biographical Notice' about her sisters, is
published (it also includes a selection of Anne and Emily's previously
unpublished poems - again, heavily edited by Challotte). She makes it known
to her publishers that she does not want Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell
Hall to be re-published. They respect her wishes. |
|
| 1852 June 4 |
Charlotte pays her first and only visit to Anne's grave since the funeral.
She discovers five errors on the gravestone and orders it to be re-faced.
It still carries one error today - stating Anne died age 28. |
|
| 1854 June 29 |
Charlotte marries her father's curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls. They spend
their honeymoon in Ireland. |
|
| 1855 March 31 |
Charlotte dies in the early stages of pregnancy. Her death
is believed to have been caused by dehydration resulting from excessive
vomiting - the medical term is 'Hyperemesis Gravidarun'. She was aged 38. |
|
| 1855 April 4 |
Charlotte's funeral. She is buried in the family vault beneath Haworth
church. |
|
| 1857 March 25 |
The first of many Brontë biographies is born. Charlotte's friend
and author, Mrs. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, publishes The Life of Charlotte
Brontë. |
|
| 1861 June 7 |
Anne's father, Patrick Brontë, dies aged 84, having outlived his
entire family: he is buried in the family vault beneath Haworth church. |
|
| 1893 December 16 |
The Brontë Society founded at a meeting in Bradford Town Hall. |
|
| 1897 November 26 |
Ellen Nussey, the Brontë sisters' life long friend, dies, aged
80. |
|
| 1928 August 4 |
Haworth Parsonage presented to the Brontë
Society, and becomes the 'Brontë Parsonage Museum'. |
|
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