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

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

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.

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.

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!

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

#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:

#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.

"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.

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.

#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.

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.

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":

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

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

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!

#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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

#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!

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

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?

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.

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.

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?

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...

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

In my new video for #StPatricksDay we look at Patrick Bronte, born 248 years ago today: youtu.be/kImpnmpuxdI

One of my favourite old postcards - a map of Bronte country; at its heart is Thornton, where the story began for Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte. I'm very excited about the re-opening of the Bronte Birthplace later this year!

#otd 1837 20 year old Charlotte Bronte received an infamous letter from poet laureate Robert Southey telling her: "literature cannot be the business of a woman's life & it ought not to be." Here is that very letter:

On #InternationalWomensDay here are 3 women who always inspire me: Anne, Emily and Charlotte Bronte, painted in their teens by their brother Branwell. Here too is how the portrait looked when it was discovered, folded up on top of a wardrobe, in 1914:

On #WorldBookDay I have to praise this book - Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. I think it's the most underrated of all books, and deserves to be much more widely read.

Perhaps the height of my Bronte creativity - my Anne Bronte pancake for #PancakeDay 🥞

#otd 1845 Emily Bronte wrote her brilliant poem of love and loss, 'Remembrance', praised by Leavis as perhaps the finest poem of the first half of the 19th century. It opens chapter 7 of my book "Emily Bronte - A Life In 20 Poems".

I'm thrilled that my new paperback edition if Emily Bronte - A Life In 20 Poems is out right now! Available from The History Press, Amazon and all good booksellers it features all new appendices, including translations of Emily Brontë’s amazing Belgian essays.

Talking of weddings, some of the beautiful Bronte bonnets - including, top left as we look at it, Charlotte Bronte's wedding bonnet and, centre right, the bonnet Ellen Nussey wore as her bridesmaid!

Great to see that a statue of the groundbreaking Aphra Behn was unveiled in Canterbury this week! I would've loved it if a Bronte sisters statue could have been erected in Bradford to mark its special year this year (not a huge fan of the statue in Haworth Parsonage garden).

#otd 1857 Patrick Bronte carried out his final wedding at Haworth church. The bride and groom, Mr & Mrs Briggs, gave a moving account of it in 1900. Patrick was nearly blind by this time and the couple waited 3 hours for him to enter and recite the marriage service by memory.

In today's new blog post we go holidaying with the Bronte sisters: www.annebronte.org/2025/02/23/h...

I'm excited to have received my author copies of the new paperback edition of Emily Bronte: A Life In 20 Poems from @TheHistoryPress, and it's absolutely beautiful 😍 Out on 25th Feb, it has all new appendices including translations of Emily's Belgian essays!

Another re-enactment of Charlotte Bronte's wedding to Arthur Bell Nicholls took place at Haworth church in 2017. Here are some pictures I took of the big day.

Anne Bronte's final resting place in Scarborough. The headstone is nearly completely eroded now, I wish it could be refaced by a stonemason.

I love my Coalport Bronte plate showing Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte along with the moors, Haworth church and parsonage, the Rydings and Ponden Hall.