At Home with the Brontes

Haworth Parsonage is the world-famous home of the Brontes. Crowds of tourists are drawn to Haworth every year to discover what inspired Anne, Charlotte and Emily. Ann Dinsdale explores their lives there, the impact of the sisters' home on their writing, and their lasting legacy. However, the Parsonage has also been home to several other families. This book begins with the early history of the house and those who lived there before the arrival of the Brontes. After Patrick Bronte's death in 1861 the Parsonage became home to four of his successors before being purchased by the Bronte Society in 1928. Thereafter, it became home to four museum custodians and their families. All of these later occupants witnessed the development of tourism in Haworth, which had begun in Mr Bronte's own lifetime, and experienced the trials and tribulations of living in a literary shrine. Using a variety of sources, mostly unpublished, Ann Dinsdale also tells their stories.

Ann Dinsdale is Collections Manager at the Bronte Parsonage Museum, Haworth. She lectures and writes on aspects of the Brontes' lives and social conditions in mid-nineteenth century Haworth. She is the author of The Brontes at Haworth (Frances Lincoln, 2006) and a contributor to the forthcoming companion to Bronte Studies to be published by Cambridge University Press. Ann lives in Haworth.