I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas: they've gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the color of my mind.
Emily Bronte
Wuthering Heights

zaterdag 9 juli 2011

Honeymoon


After spending about a week at Banagher, the newly-weds travelled along the banks of the Shannon and Lough Derg to Limerick, where they took a boat – either the Erin-go-Brath or the Garryowen – to Kilkee. The Koh-i-noor steamer was then out of commission, having met with an accident near Foune.

the West End Hotel

From Kilkee on Tuesday, July 18th, 1854, Charlotte wrote to Catherine Wooler, her former teacher:

'My Dear Miss Catherine, - Your kind letter reached me in a wild and remote spot - a little watering-place on the South West Coast of Ireland' and she gave her a synopsis of her honeymoon tour in Wales and Ireland, adding: I had heard a great deal about Irish negligence & I own that till I came to Kilkee - I saw little of it. Here at our Inn - splendidly designated 'the West End Hotel' - there is a good deal to carp at, were in a carping humour - but we laugh instead of grumbling -for out of doors there is much indeed to compensate for any indoor shortcomings, so magnificent an ocean - so bold and grand a coast - I never yet saw. My husband calls me -.

Dr. Barker remarks of this letter: 'It was a very long time since Charlotte had written anything so light-hearted as this careless valediction or, indeed, enjoyed the intimacy of shared humour.

Later in the same month, Charlotte wrote again about her Kilkee experience, which had greatly impressed her, in a letter to her friend, Catherine Winkworth. In her enthusiasm for Kilkee. Charlotte gave only the briefest account possible of her honeymoon (and strangely omits all reference to Banagher):


'After a short sojourn in the capital - went to the coast - such a wild iron-bound coast - with such an ocean-view as I had not yet seen and such battling of waves with rocks as I had never imagined. 'My husband is not a poet or a poetical man - and one of my grand doubts before marriage was about 'congenial tastes' and so on.
The first morning we went out on to the cliffs and saw the Atlantic coming in all white foam, I did not know whether I should get leave or time to take the matter in my own way. I did not want to talk - but I did want to look and be silent. Having hinted a petition, licence was not refused – covered with a rug to keep o f f the spray I was allowed to sit where I chose - and he only interrupted me when he thought I crept too near the edge of the cliff.  So far he is always good in this way - and this protection which does not interfere or pretend is I believe a thousand times better than any half sort of pseudo sympathy.



vrijdag 8 juli 2011

http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/

Next July 15, at Sotheby's there will be an auction with interesting Brontë items.
Charlotte Brontë Autograph Letter Signed, to Ellen Nussey


1)  "...I know my own sentiments because I can read my own mind, but the mind of the rest of man and woman-kind, are to me sealed volumes, hieroglyphicked scrolls which I cannot easily either unseal or decipher; yet time, careful study, long acquaintance overcome most difficulties, and in your case, I think they have succeeded well in bringing to light and Construing that hidden language whose turnings, windings, inconsistencies, and obscurities, so frequently baffle the researches of the honest observer of human Nature..."

2)  The very rare first edition (issued with her sister's novel Agnes Grey) in near fine condition of Emily Brontë's classic romantic work, consistently among the three best-selling novels in the English language. Almost universally rejected by uncomprehending reviewers upon publication (sales were not even of an order to justify any publisher's payment to either Emily or Anne Brontë)
Read more on http://bronteblog.blogspot.com/

donderdag 7 juli 2011

Honeymoon.

Charlotte and Arthur travelled along the banks of the Shannon and Lough Derg to Limerick.

Limerick



Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region.
Lough Derg (from Irish: Loch Deirgeirt meaning "loch of the red eye") is the third-largest lake (or lough) in Ireland (after Lough Neagh and Lough Corrib) and the second-largest in the Republic of Ireland.


Interesting pictures of famous Bronte places

On http://www.fotolibra.com/gallery/166397/bronte-birthplace-thornton-bradford/like/ you see interesting pictures of famous Bronte places, like Haworth mainstreet, the Parsonage, the moors, Thornton the Bronte birthplace and more.

On www.haworth-village.org.uk/brontes/thornton/thornton you see interesting pictures of the inside ( the rooms) of the birthplace at Thornton.

woensdag 6 juli 2011

Background of Arthur Bell Nicholls

Tully Farm

Arthur Bell Nicholls was, according to the inscription on his headstone in Banagher churchyard, born in 1818, though other sources give the date as 1819. His birth place was Tully Farm, Killead, in the townland of Tully, Co. Antrim. Now it is a comfortable two storied house with a slated roof and all modern conveniences, looking out across the fields to Lough Neagh and the Sperrin mountains beyond. It is still a working farm, hut very different from the days when he was a child, running around in a very crowded family.

Killead was reckoned to have been a relatively prosperous place, with neat well kept houses, lime washed, and some thatched. It would appear however that by 1892, although the land was in good heart, the house had become neglected and was in a state of disrepair. At that time it was one and a half storeys and thatched, with a stable at one end and a byre at the other. Above the stable was a large room heated by the warmth rising from the animals beneath. The wooden floor of this room had traces of corn husks and chaff showing that at one time it was used for storing grain. There had been a large flagged kitchen, and at the rear of the house was found a circular horse walk for churning butter. When it was sold by George Nicholls there were ninety six acres; all good land.

It is not to say that William Nicholls, Arthur's father had the same amount of land. He is described as a 'small farmer' so others in the family may have added to the farm after his death. William remains a shadowy figure. We know that his family came over from Scotland around 1620 and were of Presbyterian stock. He settled in Killead, and married Margaret Bell of nearby Glenavy. She also was of Scottish descent, but of the Established Church. Before his wife died at the early age of forty four Margaret bore at least eleven children.

Margaret Bell had a sister Eliza and a brother John. However, it was her other brother, Alan, who played the most important role in her short life. He met a young girl called Harriet Lucinda Adamson and they married in Dublin on 5th April 1820. Harriet was eighteen at the time of her marriage. Born in York Street Dublin, she was of an old distinguished family with Danish origins. She lived in a large house where her parents entertained lavishly, inviting interesting and sociably acceptable people to their home.

Soon after they were married Dr. Alan Bell took his bride to live in Banagher where he took up his headmastership of the Royal School. Their new home was called Cuba House.

When Arthur was seven and his brother Alan nine, they had a visit from their aunt and uncle who had travelled up to Tully from Banagher. They offered to take the two boys back with them, bring them up as their own, educate them and give them a good start in life. It was a great opportunity for them, hut a hard decision for their parents to make. However, the Nicholls' house was bursting at the seams with children, and the only outlook for the boys would be the grinding life of farming. Their parents let them go. It must have been a bittersweet parting, for as far as is known they never saw their parents again, although the families kept in touch.

The two boys were extremely lucky to become members of this particular family, where they were lovingly accepted by one and all, enjoying a happy and carefree life with all the advantages of money and position. In Cuba House the boys were well and happy. They both proved to be good scholars and wanted for nothing. By now their aunt and uncle may have adopted them, but they were certainly treated as part of the family. Two years after their arrival in Banagher, their mother Margaret died.

http://www.lisburn.com/books/historical society

dublin map

Charlotte must suddenly have realised that she had married a real 'gentleman'

Charlotte must suddenly have realised that she had married a real 'gentleman' in every sense of the word. On all sides she heard great reports of him. One of the servants told her she had got 'one of the best gentlemen in the country'. In her letters home she wrote,

'I was very much pleased with all I saw, but I was also greatly surprised to find so much English order and repose in the family habits and arrangements. I had heard a great deal about Irish negligence.'

Describing Mrs. Bell, Arthur's aunt... 'with her English manners — like an English or Scottish matron, quiet, kind and well bred',

Charlotte began to revise her former opinion of her husband and his family.

dinsdag 5 juli 2011

Tourism is of crucial importance to the district

From The Bronte blog “Tourism is of crucial importance to the district – Bradford has some of the most wonderful attractions,” says tourism manager with Bradford Council Tricia Tillotson. “We have four hotpsots – Haworth, Ilkley, Saltaire and Bradford itself.” [...]

The Brontes, Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, Ilkley’s Cow and Calf Rocks, White Wells, Bradford’s National Media Museum, Cartwright Hall, Little Germany, Saltaire village, Salts Mill – being a snapshot of the many places that pull in visitors.

Haworth attracts many Japanese tourists, explains Tricia.

“Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights form part of the school curriculum in Japan, so it is the ambition of many people to visit Haworth and the moors.” [...]

A special ‘visit Bronte country’ website will be launched later in the year. (Helen Mead)

the Telegraph and Argus

Banagher


Small town in present-day County Offaly, where Arthur Bell Nicholls lived with his uncle the Rev. Alan Bell and his family from the age of seven. Charlotte went there on her honeymoon and was impressed by Cuba House, which had served as the family home, with nearby the school of which the Rev. Bell was head. Charlotte was openly surprised at the state in which the family lived (“like a gentleman’s country-seat” – to MW, 10 July 1854). Banagher was hardly more than a main street (in which Arthur was photographed in old age): it contains the church of St Paul’s, where Arthur was buried, and Hill House, where he lived with his second wife Mary Anna, née Bell. In the early 1840s Trollope lived here, working as a surveyor’s clerk in the Post Office.


history Banagher

http://banagher.co.tv/

The Bells of Banagher

The large family of Bells enjoyed a fine social life in Banagher, with dancing and boating trips on the River Shannon. Charlotte admired their cheerful and pleasant lifestyle and was made to feel very welcome at Cuba Court by Arthur's Aunt Bell. Charlotte had the good fortune to visit the splendid mansion (now in ruins) in its heyday in 1854.

Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls had been born in Northern Ireland (as had Charlotte's own father) but he was orphaned early and with his brother brought up and educated by his uncle, Dr. Alan Bell, at the Royal School housed in Cuba Court, Banagher. The school turned out several distinguished men, including Sir William Wilde, father of the famous playwright Oscar Wilde (Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde) of Dublin.

Most of the Bell males were scholars at Trinity College in Dublin, as was Arthur. Arthur's brother managed the Birr Canal. The Bells were all well-respected and known for their excellent sense of humor and their "way with dogs."
ancestry surnames.bell

Cuba Court, Banagher


Arthur's brother and cousins escorted the the newly-weds from Dublin to Banagher.While on honeymoon Charlotte wrote in her journal what she thought of Cuba Court……..

"I cannot help feeling singulary interested in all about the house. In this house Mr. Nicholls was brought up by his uncle Dr.Bell.

It is very large and looks extremely like a gentleman's country-house. Within, most of the rooms are lofty and spacious and some, the drawing room, dining room, etc.-handsomely and commodiously furnished. The passages look desolate and bare. Our bedroom, a great room on the ground-floor would have looked gloomy when we were shewn into it but for the turf-fire that was burning in the wide old chimney."

In the first week Mrs. Bell kindly nursed Charlotte back to health.

http://www.strynaghs.ie/charlotte_bronte.html

kleurrijkbrontesisters/charlotte-bronte-and-her-association.html

irishmidlandsancestry./bronte charlotte

Ireland/Banagher/Pictures/

history Banagher Literary-Associations/Page1.html

/holidayplanner/ RoutePlanner Banagher

The house was unroofed in 1946 and this hastened its demise. Pope Hennessy described Cuba Court in 1971: "Like so many of Ireland's great houses, Cuba Court is now being slowly but deliberately demolished. The lime trees have long since been hacked down."  In spite of this, it was described as "a superb ruin that could tell the history of Ascendancy Ireland", as late as 1979. It was eventually acquired by a local businessman and demolished in the 1980s. Craig describes the loss of Cuba Court as "particularly to be lamented". A development of four houses was built on the site at Cuba Avenue in 2003. An archaeological survey revealed nothing of significance.

maandag 4 juli 2011

04-07-1854 Charlotte and Arthur visited Dublin, Trinity College


On 04-07-1854 morning the pair started for Holyhead, and then took boat for Dublin, staying long enough in that city to see the sights. Charlotte's cold had come worse so the two days they spent in Dublin were restricted to driving around the city. Trinity College would be one of the first places visited, for it was Mr. Nicholls' Alma Mater, and it was from Trinity College that he took up his appointment as curate of Haworth. Arthur took pride in showing his bride the library, museum and chapel.

 1905, some years after Charlotte and Arthur visited Dublin (Trinity College), but it gives a good idea how it looked like.
Click on it, to make it larger.

 The Library




In Dublin they were joined by his brother, manager of the Grand Canal from their hometown, Banagher, a cousin, who was studying at the university and another cousin, ""a pretty lady-like girl with gentle English manners""

website of Trinity College

The Parlour

The Parlour

Parsonage

Parsonage

Charlotte Bronte

Presently the door opened, and in came a superannuated mastiff, followed by an old gentleman very like Miss Bronte, who shook hands with us, and then went to call his daughter. A long interval, during which we coaxed the old dog, and looked at a picture of Miss Bronte, by Richmond, the solitary ornament of the room, looking strangely out of place on the bare walls, and at the books on the little shelves, most of them evidently the gift of the authors since Miss Bronte's celebrity. Presently she came in, and welcomed us very kindly, and took me upstairs to take off my bonnet, and herself brought me water and towels. The uncarpeted stone stairs and floors, the old drawers propped on wood, were all scrupulously clean and neat. When we went into the parlour again, we began talking very comfortably, when the door opened and Mr. Bronte looked in; seeing his daughter there, I suppose he thought it was all right, and he retreated to his study on the opposite side of the passage; presently emerging again to bring W---- a country newspaper. This was his last appearance till we went. Miss Bronte spoke with the greatest warmth of Miss Martineau, and of the good she had gained from her. Well! we talked about various things; the character of the people, - about her solitude, etc., till she left the room to help about dinner, I suppose, for she did not return for an age. The old dog had vanished; a fat curly-haired dog honoured us with his company for some time, but finally manifested a wish to get out, so we were left alone. At last she returned, followed by the maid and dinner, which made us all more comfortable; and we had some very pleasant conversation, in the midst of which time passed quicker than we supposed, for at last W---- found that it was half-past three, and we had fourteen or fifteen miles before us. So we hurried off, having obtained from her a promise to pay us a visit in the spring... ------------------- "She cannot see well, and does little beside knitting. The way she weakened her eyesight was this: When she was sixteen or seventeen, she wanted much to draw; and she copied nimini-pimini copper-plate engravings out of annuals, ('stippling,' don't the artists call it?) every little point put in, till at the end of six months she had produced an exquisitely faithful copy of the engraving. She wanted to learn to express her ideas by drawing. After she had tried to draw stories, and not succeeded, she took the better mode of writing; but in so small a hand, that it is almost impossible to decipher what she wrote at this time.

I asked her whether she had ever taken opium, as the description given of its effects in Villette was so exactly like what I had experienced, - vivid and exaggerated presence of objects, of which the outlines were indistinct, or lost in golden mist, etc. She replied, that she had never, to her knowledge, taken a grain of it in any shape, but that she had followed the process she always adopted when she had to describe anything which had not fallen within her own experience; she had thought intently on it for many and many a night before falling to sleep, - wondering what it was like, or how it would be, - till at length, sometimes after the progress of her story had been arrested at this one point for weeks, she wakened up in the morning with all clear before her, as if she had in reality gone through the experience, and then could describe it, word for word, as it had happened. I cannot account for this psychologically; I only am sure that it was so, because she said it. ----------------------She thought much of her duty, and had loftier and clearer notions of it than most people, and held fast to them with more success. It was done, it seems to me, with much more difficulty than people have of stronger nerves, and better fortunes. All her life was but labour and pain; and she never threw down the burden for the sake of present pleasure. I don't know what use you can make of all I have said. I have written it with the strong desire to obtain appreciation for her. Yet, what does it matter? She herself appealed to the world's judgement for her use of some of the faculties she had, - not the best, - but still the only ones she could turn to strangers' benefit. They heartily, greedily enjoyed the fruits of her labours, and then found out she was much to be blamed for possessing such faculties. Why ask for a judgement on her from such a world?" elizabeth gaskell/charlotte bronte



Poem: No coward soul is mine

No coward soul is mine,
No trembler in the worlds storm-troubled sphere:
I see Heavens glories shine,
And faith shines equal, arming me from fear.


O God within my breast.
Almighty, ever-present Deity!
Life -- that in me has rest,
As I -- Undying Life -- have power in Thee!


Vain are the thousand creeds
That move mens hearts: unutterably vain;
Worthless as withered weeds,
Or idlest froth amid the boundless main,


To waken doubt in one
Holding so fast by Thine infinity;
So surely anchored on
The steadfast Rock of immortality.


With wide-embracing love
Thy Spirit animates eternal years,
Pervades and broods above,
Changes, sustains, dissolves, creates, and rears.


Though earth and man were gone,
And suns and universes ceased to be,
And Thou wert left alone,
Every existence would exist in Thee.


There is not room for Death,
Nor atom that his might could render void:
Thou -- Thou art Being and Breath,
And what Thou art may never be destroyed.


--
Emily Bronte

Family tree

The Bronte Family

Grandparents - paternal
Hugh Brunty was born 1755 and died circa 1808. He married Eleanor McClory, known as Alice in 1776.

Grandparents - maternal
Thomas Branwell (born 1746 died 5th April 1808) was married in 1768 to Anne Carne (baptised 27th April 1744 and died 19th December 1809).

Parents
Father was Patrick Bronte, the eldest of 10 children born to Hugh Brunty and Eleanor (Alice) McClory. He was born 17th March 1777 and died on 7th June 1861. Mother was Maria Branwell, who was born on 15th April 1783 and died on 15th September 1821.

Maria had a sister, Elizabeth who was known as Aunt Branwell. She was born in 1776 and died on 29th October 1842.

Patrick Bronte married Maria Branwell on 29th December 1812.

The Bronte Children
Patrick and Maria Bronte had six children.
The first child was Maria, who was born in 1814 and died on 6th June 1825.
The second daughter, Elizabeth was born on 8th February 1815 and died shortly after Maria on 15th June 1825. Charlotte was the third daughter, born on 21st April 1816.

Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls (born 1818) on 29th June 1854. Charlotte died on 31st March 1855. Arthur lived until 2nd December 1906.

The first and only son born to Patrick and Maria was Patrick Branwell, who was born on 26th June 1817 and died on 24th September 1848.

Emily Jane, the fourth daughter was born on 30th July 1818 and died on 19th December 1848.

The sixth and last child was Anne, born on 17th January 1820 who died on 28th May 1849.

Top Withens in the snow.

Top Withens in the snow.

Blogarchief

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails