Branwell Brontë

Abstract

It can reasonably be assumed that, when their fourth child was born on 26 June 1817, the Brontës were delighted to have a son. He was christened Patrick Branwell after his parents. At home he was ‘Branwell’; outside he was called Patrick. High hopes were held for ‘Little Bany’, as he called himself at an early age. He scarcely remembered his mother, who died when he was four. For three years his eldest sister Maria was dear to him; he remembered her long afterwards, and how his aunt held him up to look at her, as she lay coffined with flowers above her head. The loss of Elizabeth shortly afterwards meant that he turned to Charlotte for companionship, though he was a great favourite with his aunt.