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 Brontë her elder sister, Miss Branwell, undertook to manage Brontë's household. She disliked the rough climate and surroundings of Haworth, and in later years seldom left her bedroom even for meals. She seems to have been a prim old maid, with whom the children were always reserved. From the time of their mother's illness they were left very much to themselves. They showed extraordinary precocity of talent; they had few friends, saw little of their father or neighbours, and used to walk out alone upon the moors. The eldest, Maria, would shut herself up with a newspaper and study parliamentary debates in the intervals of her care of the younger children. Her father said that he could converse with her on any topics of the day, though she died at the age of eleven; and the whole family, cut off from childish companionship, learnt to take a keen interest in the topics discussed by their elders. A school for clergymen's daughters had been founded in 1823 at Cowan's Bridge, between Leeds and Kendal, chiefly through the exertions of the Rev. William Carus Wilson. Parents were to pay only 14l. a year, the necessary balance being provided by subscription. It was opened with only sixteen pupils, and fifty-three had been admitted when Charlotte left the school (, Vindication). Brontë sent Maria and Elizabeth to this school in July 1824; Charlotte and Emily followed in September.

The school arrangements were at first defective; frugality led to roughness, and the food was badly cooked. A low fever broke out in the spring of 1825. The Brontës escaped; but Maria and Elizabeth soon afterwards became seriously ill, and were taken home only to die, Maria on 6 May 1825 in her twelfth year, and Elizabeth on 15 June in her eleventh year. The vivid picture of this part of her life in the opening scenes of 'Jane Eyre' (where 'Helen Burns' stands for Maria Brontë) represents the impression made upon Charlotte Brontë. She did not anticipate the obvious identification, and therefore did not hold herself bound to strict accuracy. That the account would be exaggerated if taken as an historical document may be fairly inferred from a 'Vindication of the Clergy Daughters' School,' published by the Rev. H. Shepheard in 1859. Some mismanagement at starting was not surprising; reforms were speedily introduced; and fellow-pupils of the Brontës speak warmly of Mr. Wilson and even of Miss Scatcherd's representative, as well as of the school. The diet and lodging could hardly have been rougher than that of Haworth; but the deaths of Maria and Elizabeth succeeding some severe treatment naturally impressed the sensitive imagination of their sister. Charlotte and Emily returned to the school after the summer holidays, but were removed on account of their health before the winter.

The family were now gathered at Haworth. Miss Branwell gave the girls lessons in her bedroom, while Charlotte acted as the childish guardian of her younger sisters. Branwell was chiefly taught by his father, making friends for himself in the village. There was a grammar school at Haworth, where the children may have had some lessons. An elderly woman called 'Tabby' began at this time a service of thirty years with the Brontës, and looked after the children. They were, however, thrown much upon their own resources, and amused themselves by writing. Charlotte made a 'catalogue of her books' written between April 1829 and August 1830. They filled twenty-two volumes of from sixty to a hundred pages of minute handwriting, a facsimile from which is given in Mrs. Gaskell's biography. They consist of stories and childish 'magazines.' The extracts given by Mrs. Gaskell show remarkable indications of imaginative power, while it also appears that the children had imbibed from their father strong tory prejudices and a devoted admiration for the Duke of Wellington. A poem of Charlotte's, written before 1833, given by Mrs. Gaskell, shows especial promise. The education was of course unsystematic. When Charlotte was again sent to school in January 1831, she was remarkably forward in some respects and equally backward in others.

The school was kept by Miss Wooler, at Roehead, between Leeds and Huddersfield. The number of pupils varied from seven to ten, and Charlotte became strongly attached to her teachers and to some of her schoolfellows. One of the latter, Miss Ellen Nussey ('E.' in Mrs. Gaskell's biography), was a lifelong friend and correspondent. Two sisters, Mary and Martha Taylor, who lived at Gomersal, are the Rose and Jessie Yorke of 'Shirley,' where the whole Taylor family is vividly portrayed. Miss Nussey was the original of Caroline Helston in the same novel. Stories told by Miss Wooler of the days of the Luddites suggested other incidents, while a Mr. Cartwright, owner of a neighbouring factory, is represented by Robert Moore.

In 1832 Charlotte left Roehead, keeping up a correspondence with Miss Nussey. She read the standard books, of which her father had a respectable collection, and her remarks are such as might be expected from a clever girl in a secluded parsonage. The question of providing for the family was beginning