Elizabeth Branwell

Elizabeth Branwell (1776 in Penzance, Cornwall – 29 October 1842 in Haworth, Yorkshire) was the aunt of the literary sisters Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, and Anne Brontë.

Called 'Aunt Branwell', she helped raise the Brontë children after her sister, Maria Branwell, died in 1821. She managed the household until her own death in 1842.

Elizabeth Branwell was one of twelve children born to the Cornish couple Thomas Branwell and Anne Carne in Penzance, Cornwall. The family was very successful in the import and export trade while her father owned a brewery, an inn and the largest grocers' emporium in the town. The close-knit family was broken up by the death of Thomas Branwell in 1808 and of his wife the next year. Maria Branwell moved north to Yorkshire where she met her husband, Patrick Brontë, while Elizabeth most likely moved in with her married sister, Charlotte. This sister was the namesake of Maria's daughter, Charlotte Brontë. Not much is known of Elizabeth's remaining time in Penzance, but she was a member of polite society and she had a private income of £50 which would have allowed her to live comfortably.

Elizabeth Branwell visited Maria in 1815 in Hartshead, Yorkshire where Patrick was curate. She would have then met her nieces Maria and Elizabeth, the later of which was her namesake. Elizabeth helped her sister's family move to Thornton, Yorkshire where Patrick was offered a larger living. She stayed on with the family for a year and helped with Maria's confinement with Charlotte, born in 1816. Elizabeth Branwell returned to Penzance soon after the family settled in at Thornton. In the summer of 1821 she would be called back to Maria's side, this time in Haworth, Yorkshire, where her sister was suffering from ovarian cancer. Maria died on 15 September 1821, after a long agony. Elizabeth decided to stay on temporarily to help take care of Maria and Patrick's six children.

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