The Brontës: Wild Genius on the Moors: The Story of a Literary Family

by Juliet Barker

From the softness of the Cornish climate and the comfortable, close-knit social world of Penzance, Maria travelled over 400 miles to the comparative austerity and friendlessness of a boys’ boarding school in the heart of a depressed and restless industrial West Riding. Though she soon became close friends with her cousin, Jane Branwell Fennell, who was eight years her junior, she must have felt the change in her circumstances and the loss of her family life. No doubt, therefore, she was more disposed to be receptive towards the courtship of the young minister of Hartshead than she might otherwise have been. The fact that Patrick enjoyed the confidence and esteem of her aunt and uncle, too, allowed him to be admitted into an intimate friendship with a speed which would otherwise have flouted social convention. Another important factor in Patrick’s favour was that he was also the best friend of William Morgan, who was now actively courting her cousin Jane. It was natural for the two clergymen to visit the two cousins and the inevitable pairing off led to an engagement within only a few months. Patrick lovingly preserved the series of letters written to him by Maria at this period; his side of the correspondence is unfortunately lost, but hers provides a unique and touching insight into the growing intimacy and affection between them. It is worth quoting extensively from them for this reason alone, but there is an added poignancy in that these letters, written during her enga...