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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

#otd 1848 Branwell Bronte died, aged 31, of consumption. Within 8 months his sisters Emily and Anne would also succumb to it. Here is Branwell's sketch of him being summoned by death.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Haworth church and parsonage both looked very different in the 1840s to how they look now, as does Bronte country as a whole.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Spectacular scenes at the opening of the Bronte Parsonage Museum #otd 1928. What a queue, and cloche hats aplenty.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Emily Bronte was born in Thornton, Bradford #otd 1818. In my opinion she wrote the greatest book of them all: Wuthering Heights. Family friend Ellen Nussey later wrote of Emily: "the first 50 years of this century produced no woman of greater or more incontestable genius."

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

#otd 1854, at 8am, Charlotte Bronte married her father's assistant curate Arthur Bell Nicholls. After the ceremony they left for their honeymoon in Wales and Ireland. Charlotte had a very happy, but all too short, marriage.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

#otd 1850 Charlotte Bronte sat for this portrait by George Richmond, the leading society artist of the day. It was a measure of how far she had come in the year and a half since the publication of Jane Eyre.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

#otd 1849 the great Anne Bronte died in Scarborough, sister Charlotte by her side, aged just 29. She was a kind, gentle, brilliant woman, and deserves to be ranked alongside elder sisters Charlotte and Emily Bronte as one of the very top rank of English novelists.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

#otd 1777 a son was born to Alice and Hugh Prunty in Drumballyroney, Co Down and named after the patron saint whose feast day it was. As Patrick Bronte he became father of the most famous literary siblings of all time.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

There's only one way to celebrate Pancake Day - yes it's time for the p-Annecake again with the Anne Bronte pancake I made! #PancakeDay

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

This is J. H. Thompson's posthumous portrait of Charlotte Bronte. Thompson had never met Charlotte although he had been a friend of her brother Branwell Bronte.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Anne Bronte was born #otd 1820 in Thornton, Bradford. A very kind, very intelligent woman her novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall grow in reputation year by year, and are as revolutionary and relevant today as they ever were. Happy 206th birthday Anne Bronte!

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

#otd 1846 Charlotte Bronte wrote to Ellen Nussey complaining about the weather. She cannot remember such a series of North-Pole days which have left England feeling like the Arctic. A little warmer today, thankfully.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

#otd 1854 Charlotte Bronte Nicholls (as she now styles herself) and her husband Arthur have walked to what is now called the Bronte Waterfall. Melting snow has made it a "perfect torrent."

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

A very special first edition of The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte's brilliant, searing novel of abuse and courage which still resonates today. This belonged to Anne Bronte herself and was gifted to her friend Ellen Nussey.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

"Pink Roses", one of many beautiful paintings of flowers by Charlotte Bronte.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

This image of the Bronte parsonage and church in Haworth featured in the first edition of Elizabeth Gaskell's "The Life Of Charlotte Bronte"

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

A rather unique mourning ring - this one contains the interwoven hairof Charlotte Bronte and her father the Reverend Patrick Bronte.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

A rather atmospheric photo I took of the Bronte Parsonage on a cold, foggy night in Haworth.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

A very special item went to auction in Nottingham today - lace cuffs once worn by Charlotte Bronte! I didn't get them unfortunately, they went for 400 above estimate but still a Bronte bargain at £700.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

So many literary pilgrims now walk this lane leading to the Bronte Parsonage Museum, following a path well trodden by Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

Happy Yorkshire Day from the Queens of Yorkshire! I'm proud to hail from this great county the Bronte sisters called home, from historic York to vibrant Leeds, from the bleakly beautiful moors of the west and north to the coastal resorts of the east, Yorkshire has it all!

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

This cup is 207 years old; it was made to commemorate the christening of Emily Bronte who was born on 30th July 1818.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

#otd 1826 Patrick Bronte bought 12 toy soldiers for his son Branwell. Branwell shared them with his sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne and they soon started making stories about them. From this spark, the great Bronte writing came. In 1829 Charlotte Bronte gave this account:

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

#otd 1854 Charlotte Bronte spends her last night as a single woman. In the morning she will get married in this beautiful wedding bonnet, which villagers said made her look like a snowdrop.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

"No domestic demon – he was just a man moving in a mist, who lost his way", said by Francis Grundy of his friend Branwell Bronte born #otd 1817. A talented, troubled man he had a huge influence on the Bronte sisters and their world.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

A beautiful Dulac illustration to Charlotte Bronte's "Shirley". I love this book because the two heroines, Shirley and Caroline, are based on Charlotte's sisters Emily and Anne who both died during the novel's composition.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

#otd 1861 Patrick Bronte died in Haworth, where he'd been curate for over 40 years. Patrick outlived his wife and all six of his children, but his three youngest daughters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte, ensure that his name lives on forever.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Beautiful Holy Trinity church in Little Ouseburn near York. This is the church Anne Bronte attended whilst governess at nearby Thorp Green Hall, its vicar was the hall's owner Edmund Robinson although he never carried out a Sunday service there. Photos courtesy of Mark Davis.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 31/05/2025

After the death of Anne Bronte, Charlotte, the last surviving Bronte sibling, wrote the very heartfelt and moving poem "On The Death Of Anne Bronte":

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

If she had lived longer her writing would have shook the world. As it is, we have two novels of genius from this kind, thoughtful, brilliant woman. Remembering Anne Bronte who died aged 29 #otd 1849

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Inside and outside St Gudula's in Brussels, the cathedral in which Charlotte Bronte, and her creation Lucy Snowe, went to confession.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

I had such a great time talking to the Brussels Bronte Group yesterday about the Brontes and faith. A large, knowledgeable audience, one woman had travelled from Ukraine and two had flown in from the USA!

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

#otd 1825 Maria Bronte, eldest Bronte sibling, died of consumption caught at school. She was 11 years old. This is the only writing of Maria's we have, on a needlecase she'd given to her schoolfriend Margaret Dixon.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

A Friday throwback (if that's a thing) to Charlotte Bronte's appearance on the London Underground:

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

In my new video I look at the question many people ask: why did the Bronte sisters die so young? youtu.be/dDXU42wzoyw

youtu.be

Why Did The Brontes Die So Young?

YouTube video by The House Of Bronte

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

From the wonderful BBC documentary The Bronte Business here is Haworth in 1977 and a meeting of the Bronte Society board in the same year. Much has changed since then, much will change in the future, but the sisters' novels and lives will still be what brings people to Haworth.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

All dog owners know the love they give, and the bond that grows between you. I think Anne Bronte captures it well in this sketch of herself and her spaniel Flossy.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Charlotte Bronte's birthday yesterday was sandwiched between the birthdays of two people central to her life. Her best friend Ellen Nussey was born on 20th April 1817 and long time Bronte servant, and later friend to Charlotte, Martha Brown was born #otd 1828.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 21/04/2025

In Thornton, Bradford this day in 1816 a third daughter was born to parish priest Patrick and wife Maria. Small, frail, she would light a candle, pick up a quill and change the world. A kind, complex woman, a powerful genius, happy 209th birthday to the great Charlotte Bronte.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

"Our Lady Of Greif" (sic), a suitable image for Good Friday by Branwell Bronte.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

I'm very excited to be heading to Brussels next month to give a talk on the Bronte sisters in the city where Charlotte and Emily Bronte were schooled. In "Doubt, Defiance and Devotion" I'll look at what faith and religion meant to the Brontes, and how it inspired their work.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

Top Withens, the Bronte falls and seat, and Haworth moors are incredibly evocative. Time stands still when you're there. Will it be the same when more than 60 wind turbines dot those moors?

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

#otd 1854 Arthur Bell Nicholls, a year and a half after his first proposal was rejected, proposed again to Charlotte Bronte, and this time she accepted!

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Two literary locks. The bracelet at the front is made from Charlotte Bronte's hair, that at the back from Anne Bronte's hair.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Breaking News: Another treasure has been discovered beneath the Haworth Parsonage floorboards! It's a daguerreotype, a glass photograph, depicting a woman standing in front of the parsonage. It's already claimed that this is Charlotte Bronte - what do you think?

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

The great Charlotte Bronte passed away #otd 1855, aged 38. She was pregnant, and her passing meant the end of the Bronte line. A kind yet fiery and fiercely loyal woman, a genius, there will never be another Charlotte Bronte.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

On the eve of Mother's Day here in the UK I'd like to pay tribute to Maria Branwell, mother of the Brontes, and Elizabeth Branwell her sister who became almost a second mother to the Brontes after Maria's early death. Their love & support paved the way for those amazing novels.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Forget laptops and word processors, some of the greatest novels of all time were written by candlelight using technology such as this! This quill belonged to Charlotte Bronte, perhaps it was used to write Jane Eyre?

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

In my latest short video I've enlisted the help of my rescue dog Matisse as we look at the Bronte dogs: www.youtube.com/shorts/Sk-P9...

youtube.com

The Bronte Dogs #bronte #history #dog #doglover

YouTube video by The House Of Bronte

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

A portrait of the young Patrick Bronte, born yesterday 1777 - even then sporting the 'Wellington' scarf he habitually wore in later life.

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