Correspondents in the letters of Branwell Brontë: Grundy and Brown
The letters of Branwell Brontë
Branwell Brontë’s Life and Letters: 1842-1848
Artwork of Branwell Brontë’s letters: 'Resurgam'
Artwork of Branwell Brontë’s letters: 'Alas! poor Caunt!'
Artwork of Branwell Brontë’s letters: 'Our Lady of Grief'
Artwork of Branwell Brontë’s letters: 'Paradise and Purgatory'
Artwork of Branwell Brontë’s letters: 'Patrick Reid "turned off"' and 'The Rescue of the Punchbowl'
Correspondents in the letters of Branwell Brontë: Leyland
Correspondents in the letters of Branwell Brontë: Grundy and Brown
Letter 1: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 15 May 1842 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/01)
Letter 2: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 29 June 1842 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/02)
Letter 3: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 12 July 1842 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/03)
Letter 4: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 10 August 1842 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/04)
Letter 5: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 22 July 1843 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/05)
Letter 6: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 4 August 1845 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/06)
Letter 7: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 19 August 1845 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/07)
Letter 8: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 10 September 1845 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/08)
Letter 9: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 25 November 1845 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/09)
Letter 10: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 28 April 1846 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/10)
Letter 11: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, June 1846 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/11)
Letter 12: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, c. June - July 1846 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/12)
Letter 13: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 2 July 1846 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/13)
Letter 14: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, October 1846 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/14)
Letter 15: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, c.1847 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/15)
Letter 16: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, c. January 1847 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/16)
'Northangerland' pen and ink sketch (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/17)
Letter 18: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 24 January 1847 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/18)
Letter 19: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, 16 July 1847 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/19)
Letter 20: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, c.1848 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/20)
Letter 21: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Joseph Bentley Leyland, January 1848 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/21)
Letter 22: Letter from Branwell Brontë to an unknown correspondent, 22 May 1846 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/22)
Letter 23: Letter from Branwell Brontë to Francis Henry Grundy, c. 1848 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/23)
Letter 24: Letter from Branwell Brontë to John Brown, c. 1848 (BC MS 19c Brontë/02/01/24)
Bibliography and relevant literature
Letter 23: Francis Grundy (b. 1822?)
A friend of Branwell Brontë's from his time at Luddenden Foot station; Grundy was a railway engineer who lodged in Halifax with a nephew of railway engineer George Stephenson. He was the son of a minister and allegedly participated in Branwell's excesses.
Grundy kept in touch with Branwell during his long decline. He asked Branwell to meet him in Skipton in the summer of 1846, and went to Haworth to see him, shockingly altered, in his last days.
Grundy's book Pictures of the Past (1879) gives a lively if inaccurate account of Brontë, quoting misdated and often garbled extracts from his letters.
Letter 24: John Brown (1804-1855)
John Brown was the Haworth sexton and stonemason. He was Branwell Brontë's friend and confidant despite the disparity in their ages and social standing. Brown was 16 when the Brontës arrived in Haworth and almost 14 years older than Branwell.
Brown was an experienced stonemason who worked on a number of memorials and other commissions with the sculptor Joseph Leyland.
In July 1845, Brontë was sent under Brown's care to Liverpool to give the family relief from Brontë's binge drinking following the 'affair' with Lydia Robinson. They took a steamer trip along the Welsh coast, where Brontë sketched Penmaenmawr mountain from the sea, later writing a poem inspired by it.
Brown is said to have been well read, yet sharing in much of Brontë's unruly behaviour, aiding and abetting his worst habits.