On this day in Yorkshire – 4th August 1928- The Bronte Parsonage Museum is opened in Haworth

Interest in the Bronte’ family started as soon as “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights” were both published in 1847 and 1848 respectively. Through the 1850’s, tourists would visit Haworth to try and catch a glimpse of Charlotte Bronte or their father and the surrounding countryside, which had inspired their works. Public intrigue into this unique Yorkshire family grew even more after their deaths too. In 1861 much of the house’s contents were auctioned off and memorabilia sold by family and friends.

The Bronte literary society was set up in 1893 and became one of the oldest of its kind in the world. Its first job was to try and collect their memorabilia to house into a smaller museum, which for many years was housed above the Yorkshire Penny bank in Haworth.

In 1928, the parsonage was bought by local mill owner, Sir James Roberts who knew the family as a child, and gave it to the Bronte’ Society. The collection was moved in and opened to the public on 4th August 1928. Nowadays the parsonage principle Yorkshire tourist attraction, with visitors from around the world flocking to see the place where these famous novels were written.

*featured image credit: DS Pugh geograph wikipedia creative commons