HAWORTH - The Brontes & me

Haworth is close-ish to our campsite and one of the reasons I chose this location for our holiday. It is most famous as the home of the Bronte sisters,Charlotte, Emily & Anne & their brother Branwell, and of course their father Patrick who was the Reverend from 1820. The sisters were born between 1816 and 1820, and grew up in this tiny village in the Yorkshire moors. All this you may already know.

In April 1814 my Great great great grandparents James Whitaker and Betty Shackleton were married in Haworth. They settled nearby and brought up their family. Many children, I have 11 recorded, one of whom was my 2 x great grandfather Michael Whitaker. He was born in Haworth in 1826. He was also christened in Haworth on 16 May 1826. I believe he would have been christened by the Reverend Patrick Bronte. I'm pretty pleased with this connection and my family history detection so far. That's the bit you probably didn't know.

There is more. The sad bit. Many of Michael's siblings didn't survive beyond childhood. This grave, the closest one in the photo contains the remains of his sister Priscilla (1821 age 1) brothers William, Jonathan & Thomas (1824,1827 & 1829 aged 1, 9 & 2) and also their mother Betty, 1850 aged 58. Jon and I had discovered this grave on a visit in 2010 & I can't tell you how excited I was. This time Mollie & Henry cleared it and I copied it out exactly as it is written.

Knowing we were visiting Haworth today I had spent a bit of time last night writing out a time line of the Brontes & Whitakers. I now know that the girls were born at the same time as my Whitaker ancestors and most certainly would have know each other. I'm sure of it. Sadly, Patrick would have buried all of the children and Betty, as he was the Rev at the time. They must have been a church going family and I'm sure the families (along with many others) will have been aware of each other. Don't you?

We have had a lovely day in this most quaint, picturesque, important village. Mollie & Henry had little knowledge of the Brontes before today, unaware of their importance in the literary world. They had little interest in that or their family history. Today changed that a little for them, and brought the past to life. It has been hugely thought provoking. If Betty, mother to 11 children of which at least 4 she outlived, had never lived (the, no doubt, very hard life she lived), then I wouldn't be at Haworth today - I wouldn't exist!

Today's blip is for Mum, Manda, Daniel, Mollie, Henry, Cameron, Iona, Hayden, Louise, Jemma, Jack, Kevin, Jamie, Leah, Jake, plus my NZ cousins Graham, Philip, Karen & their offspring and my Australian cousins Linda and Steven and their children and grandchildren. You are all connected to this place, and descend from Betty.