Patrick Brontë

Patrick Brontë (/ˈbrɒnti/, commonly /-teɪ/; born Patrick Brunty; 17 March 1777 – 7 June 1861) was an Irish Anglican clergyman and author who spent most of his adult life in England. One of ten children from a very poor family, he managed to secure a scholarship to study theology at St John's College, Cambridge, and went on to take holy orders. In 1811 he published a collection of poetry, Cottage Poems. He continued to write and publish throughout his life. In 1812 he married Maria Branwell, and they had six children, including the writers Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, and Branwell Brontë, their only son.

In 1820, the family moved to Haworth, where Patrick had been offered the role of perpetual curate. In 1821, Maria Branwell died, leaving Patrick to care for six children under eight. After the deaths of his two eldest daughters, Maria and Elizabeth, who had fallen ill at boarding school, Patrick looked after his children at home, with the help of his late wife's sister, Elizabeth Branwell, and the house servants.

Patrick was an abolitionist and a keen advocate for social reform. He died in 1861, aged eighty-four, having outlived all of his children.