The only son of the Reverend Patrick Brontë, Branwell was once dubbed ‘the family genius,’ but did not rise to fame like his sisters – in fact, quite the opposite. His artistic career and subsequent job opportunities all failed.
Commemorating the 200th anniversary of his birth, a talk by Dr Claire O’Callaghan will explore what went wrong for this troubled young man, who died a year after the publication of Jane Eyre, ‘without knowing that his sister had published a word’.
Claire lives in Ruddington and lectures in Victorian literature at Brunel University, London. She is currently writing a book about the Brontës.
The event takes place in the Chapel at the Framework Knitters Museum on Chapel Street, on Friday 19 May at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £5 and are available from the Museum, or phone Kathy on 0115 984 5375.