Oakhope Hall and the Hartley family are entirely fictional; however, Oakhope Hall is based on a real location, Oakworth House, built for textile manufacturer Sir Isaac Holden between 1864 and 1874, the grounds of which did contain an eccentric network of man-made tunnels, grottos and caves. You can still see the remains of these amazing follies if you visit Holden Park today, though sadly the house was lost to fire in 1907. If you’d like to see images of this amazing house and others (including High Sunderland Hall), I recommend Kate Lycett’s Lost Houses of the South Pennines.

Crossed Keys Orphanage in Halifax is fictional, though the perils and conditions endured by orphans at this time are well documented.

The Barraclough family was a real family of clockmakers local to Haworth, and there is in fact a John Barraclough clock in the Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth. One of three brothers, John’s son Zerubabbel became one of the most celebrated clockmakers in the area. Zerubabbel never married, but he did live with his mother and housekeeper, who was actually called Martha. We do not know the nature of their relationship.

As for prejudice against Irish people fleeing the potato famine, and indeed the Brontë family itself, this was sadly commonplace. In 1860, novelist Charles Kingsley (author of The Water Babies) referred to the Irish people he saw on a trip to Ireland as “human chimpanzees,” and the press regularly portrayed the Irish as parasitic freeloaders who were lazy and stupid. In 1837, after Branwell intervened at a local hustings where his father was being shouted down by an enraged crowd, the locals burned an effigy of him holding a potato in one hand and a herring in the other, a reference to his Irish origins. Though, in a bid to improve his chances of progression in England, Patrick changed the family name from Prunty to Brontë, prejudice and intolerance meant that their Irish roots were never entirely forgotten.

Bella Ellis

May 2020

Acknowledgements

It is impossible to write a Brontë Sisters Mystery novel without the help, knowledge and insight of a great many people who are so generous with their time and expertise.

Thank you to all the staff at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, particularly Ann Dinsdale, who has been so encouraging and kind. And to Steve Wood, Haworth historian and author extraordinaire, who helped me, particularly with matters pertaining to the crypt and the schoolroom. And to Dr. Jian Choe, whose paper “The Brontës and Christmas” was so useful in helping to create the right atmosphere in The Diabolical Bones. And to all my fellow Brontë geeks, but particularly to Graham Watson, who is a wonderful source of knowledge. I’ve been lucky enough to make some great friends in Haworth, including the wondrous Diane Park, whose enthusiasm and energy is always welcome.