The Brontë Sisters

Have you ever wondered what ferns have to do with the Brontë sisters? It turns out, quite a lot!   In this Victober episode, we’re exploring the strange and wonderful Victorian obsession with ferns, a craze known as pteridomania. From the fashion for collecting and displaying ferns to their connections with fairy folklore, these humble plants became quite the Victorian phenomenon.   We’ll look at...

In this episode, I’m going back to  The Brontës of Haworth , the 1973 Yorkshire Television drama that brought the lives of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, their family, and the world of Haworth Parsonage to television screens. Filmed partly in Haworth, this fascinating piece of television history features a wonderful cast, including Michael Kitchen as Branwell Brontë and Alfred Burke as Patrick...

Why did Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall cause such a stir when it was published?   In this episode, we take a closer look at Anne Brontë’s second novel, a remarkably bold story about marriage, motherhood, alcoholism, infidelity, independence, and a woman making the extraordinary decision to leave her husband.   But how much of the story came from Anne’s own experiences?   We explore Anne...

How many copies of  Wuthering Heights  does one person actually need? Apparently, quite a few! In this episode, I’m sharing some of my favourite editions of Emily Brontë’s  Wuthering Heights , from my very battered travelling copy and my scribbled-in research copy to beautiful old editions I’ve rescued from charity shops. Because, let's be honest, book lovers always have an excuse for buying a...

When we talk about the Brontë sisters, we usually think of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. But what about Maria and Elizabeth Brontë, the two sisters who died long before their younger siblings became some of the most famous writers in English literature? In this episode, we uncover the heartbreaking story of the two eldest Brontë children and explore the short lives of Maria and Elizabeth, whose stor...

In this episode, I’m taking you along with me on a slightly different kind of Brontë adventure as I head to Richmond in North Yorkshire to give a talk about Branwell Brontë. What is it really like to step away from talking to a camera and stand in front of a room full of people? From the nerves beforehand to preparing my flashcards and PowerPoint, and facing the dreaded question-and-answer session...

In this episode, we investigate one of the most intriguing paintings associated with Charlotte Brontë. Attributed to the Victorian artist Abraham Solomon, this little-known work raises far more questions than it answers. Did Charlotte really sit for the artist? Did she ever know the painting existed? And what documentary evidence survives to support its fascinating story?   Following the trail thr...

In this episode, I'm inviting you to join me for something a little different as we take a relaxed browse through part of my Brontë book collection. After moving house, I unpacked a box of books and found myself rediscovering old favourites, revisiting trusted reference books, and coming across a few titles that had been patiently waiting on my to-be-read pile. Before I knew it, I was sitting...

In this episode, we uncover the forgotten story of Nancy Garrs, the young nursemaid who helped care for the Brontë children long before they became some of England's most celebrated writers. While names like Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë are known around the world, Nancy's remarkable contribution to their early lives has been largely overlooked. We follow Nancy's story from Thornto...

In this episode, we step inside the Brontë diaries, or more accurately, the surviving diary papers and journal fragments left behind by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë. These are not polished memoirs or carefully written accounts of their lives, but scattered pages that have survived the passage of time, offering us rare and deeply personal glimpses into their everyday world.   From Emily and An...

Who was Aunt Branwell, and why do we hear so little about her? In this episode, I take a closer look at Elizabeth Branwell, the woman who left her home in Penzance, Cornwall, and came to Yorkshire to help her sister's family during a time of crisis. What was intended as a temporary visit became a commitment that lasted more than twenty years. Often remembered simply as "Aunt Branwell&quot...

n this episode, we take a closer look at the practical reality of money in the Brontë household and ask what it actually cost to live in Victorian England. Have you ever wondered how much a week’s food or basic household supplies would have cost the Brontës in Haworth? We explore Patrick Brontë’s income as a clergyman and how the family managed their day to day expenses, from essentials like flour...

In this episode, we step inside the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth and explore what daily life looked like for Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë during the 1840s. From the rhythm of their mornings to the demands of household tasks, we uncover how ordinary routines shaped an extraordinary creative environment. We look at how the sisters balanced writing with the practical realities of life in a Yorksh...

In this episode, we explore how closely death sat alongside everyday life in Haworth during the Brontës’ time. From the churchyard visible from the Parsonage windows to the family vault beneath St Michael and All Angels Church, mortality was never hidden from view, but part of the landscape they grew up within. We look at how Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë encountered loss throughout their live...

In this episode, we step into early nineteenth century West Yorkshire, a time of huge industrial change when new machinery was transforming textile work and long established cottage industries were beginning to disappear. Communities across places like Haworth and Huddersfield were feeling the strain, with rising poverty, falling wages, and deep uncertainty about the future. Out of this tension ca...

In this episode, we step into the world of tea in the 1840s and explore what a simple cup would have meant for the Brontë family in Haworth. From the long and often dangerous journeys tea took to reach Britain, to its cost and value in everyday life, we uncover just how significant this household staple really was. I’m well known for my love of tea, the smell, the taste, the look, and the whole co...