Patrick Brontë, father of the celebrated Brontë siblings, has long been overshadowed by the gothic genius of Emily, the moral rigour of Charlotte, and the protofeminist defiance of Anne. Often reduced to the archetype of the stern Victorian patriarch, Patrick has not enjoyed the same critical attention as his daughters. Yet his own literary contributions deserve reconsideration, not as peripheral curiosities, but as integral to the intellectual and moral foundation of the Brontë family. His works reveal a mind deeply engaged with questions of faith, morality, and the struggles of everyday life. Born in County Down in 1777, Patrick rose from humble beginnings to achieve an education at Cambridge and a career in the Anglican Church. His journey was emblematic of the nineteenth-century belief in self improvement, and his writing reflects this ethos. From Winter Evening Thoughts (1810) to Cottage Poems (1811), Patrick’s works wed religious reflection to a strong awareness of social inequality. His literary voice, though distinctly different from his daughters’, resonates with an urgency to confront the moral and existential dilemmas of his age.
Winter Evening Thoughts: A Meditation on Fragility
Patrick’s first major publication, Winter Evening Thoughts, reflects his preoccupation with the precariousness of life and the moral challenges of the Napoleonic era. Written amidst the turmoil of war, the poem situates the reader in a stark winter landscape, a fitting metaphor for the trials of the human condition. The imagery is unrelenting: cold winds, barren fields, and dark skies mirror a world grappling with spiritual decay. The notable aspect of this work lies in Patrick’s skilful union of the deeply personal with the broadly universal. The suffering he describes is not abstract but deeply embodied, inviting the reader to reflect on his or her own vulnerabilities. Yet Patrick’s vision is not wholly bleak. Embedded within the desolation is a hope for renewal, a belief in the possibility of redemption through faith and perseverance. His reflections align with his role as a clergyman, yet they transcend mere religious doctrine, offering instead a deeply human meditation on resilience.
The Minister-Poet: Writing for the Marginalised
Patrick’s subsequent work, Cottage Poems, demonstrates his commitment to accessibility. In these poems, he moves away from the allegorical density of Winter Evening Thoughts, opting instead for a simpler, more conversational style. His stated aim was to reach “the unlearned and poor,” and the poems reflect his pastoral concern for those on the fringes of society. The poems explore themes of poverty, grief, and moral endurance, often focusing on the lives of rural labourers. Patrick’s depiction of these characters is neither sentimental nor patronising. Instead, he portrays them as individuals grappling with the same moral questions that preoccupy the wealthy and educated. The focus on domestic settings – humble cottages, hearths and family gatherings – highlights Patrick’s belief in the home as a site of moral and spiritual cultivation.
Grief and the Fragility of Faith
As the head of a family marked by extraordinary talent but also profound tragedy, Patrick’s later years were shaped by grief. The deaths of his wife, Maria, and six of his children, including the loss of Emily, Anne, and Branwell within a single year, left him as the sole survivor of his immediate family. This personal devastation inevitably shaped his worldview, deepening the existential concerns already present in his early works. Grief finds a quiet but powerful presence in Patrick’s writing, where it is often tempered by faith. His belief in the afterlife and the possibility of reunion with loved ones offered solace, yet his works never shy away from the pain of loss. In his poetry, one finds a tension between the promises of faith and the realities of human suffering – a tension that echoes in the works of his daughters, particularly in Emily’s Wuthering Heights (hereafter, WH) and Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (hereafter, Tenant).
Patrick’s Influence on the Brontë Legacy
It is impossible to separate Patrick Brontë’s moral and intellectual framework from the works of his daughters. His emphasis on personal responsibility, his commitment to justice, and his belief in the transformative power of faith are reflected in their novels. Charlotte’s exploration of moral growth in Jane Eyre, Emily’s depiction of passion and transgression in WH, and Anne’s critique of social constraints in Tenant all bear traces of their father’s influence. More than a literary inheritance, Patrick provided his children with an intellectual environment that valued independent thought. His decision to educate his daughters at home and his encouragement of their creative endeavours were unconventional for the time. Though often portrayed as austere, Patrick was, by contemporary standards, remarkably progressive in his approach to parenting.
Reassessing Patrick Brontë
Recent scholarship has begun to challenge the reductive view of Patrick as a rigid patriarch. Archival discoveries, including letters and manuscripts, reveal a more complex figure, one deeply engaged with the social and theological debates of his time. His writings, though rooted in religious conviction, demonstrate a willingness to question and reflect, a quality that undoubtedly shaped the intellectual character of his family. To dismiss Patrick’s literary contributions is to overlook a crucial part of the Brontë story. His output, while modest, reveals the moral and cultural preoccupations that resonate in many of the nineteenth century’s landmark novels. As we continue to celebrate the brilliance of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, it is worth pausing to consider the man who nurtured their talents and whose own voice, though quieter, is no less significant. While Patrick Brontë may not have written any literary masterpieces, his moral conviction and intellectual fearlessness laid the foundation for the brilliance his children would later achieve.
Alysha Ladha is a Doctoral Researcher at Brunel University of London. She obtained her BA in English Literature from the University of Westminster in 2012, and her MA in English Literature from Brunel University. Her PhD thesis constitutes the first sustained double-author study of the writings of Patrick (1777-1861) and Branwell Brontë (1817-48).
Notes & references
Header image: commemorative inscription for PB. The text identifies him as the Incumbent of Haworth, noting the date of his death as June 7th and his age as 84 years (from archive at Brontë Parsonage Museum)
Brontë, Patrick. The Cottage Poems. 1811.
__. The Maid of Killarney. 1818.
__. Winter Evening Thoughts. 1810.
Miller, Lucasta. The Brontë Myth. Vintage, 2001.