Branwell Bronte V

 Branwell's return to Haworth coincided with his sisters starting to write for publication.  While they were involved in writing their great novels  He was miserably drinking and complaining about how unhappy he was.  The family were sympathetic to an extent.  They believed that Mrs Robinson had seduced him and that he was the victim of her selfishness.  

He got into debt, continued drinking and taking opium and once set his bed on fire, which caused old Mr Bronte to have to take him into his own room at night.  Branwell seems to have recieved small amounts of money from Mrs Robinson via servants, so its possible that there had been some kind of affair and she was afraid of his talking about it.  However, when Mr Robinson died, she did not as he claimed she would come to him and marry him.   Branwell then claimed that Mrs Robinson would lose all her money if she married him.  This was not true- the will did stipulate that she would lose a certain amount if she remarried, but there was no mention of Branwell in the Will and it was a normal stipulation that a widow would lose her income if she married again.  

Branwell's behaviour was very distressing to his family who tried to excuse him for his affair.  Mr Bronte believed that his son was an innocent who had been seduced by a sophisticated and wicked older woman... However it was upsetting to them to have to put up with his drunkenness, his moaning and his getting into debt.  The three girls went on with their writing, keeping it a secret from their brother so as not to upset him with the reminders that he had been considered the family genius who had writing ability.  Branwell did try his hand at a novel, in the last years of his life.. but it was not very readable and he did not write all that much.  He read some of it to one of his friends, and it had a bible quoting servant in it.. which led to rumours that he had written Wuthering Heights  or at least helped Emily with it.. because Wuthering Heights also had Joseph, a villainous old Yorkshire servant who quoted the Bible...

As Branwell drank more, his health declined.  Eventually in 1848 he became ill with TB which was very common at the time due to poor hygiene and a lack of understanding of how the disease was passed on.  He died somewhat repentant of his earlier atheism and selfish behaviour and his family in spite of his faults were heart broken.  Emily caught a cold at his funeral, which also turned into TB and died soon afterwards.....  

Branwell Bronte part IV

 Branwell's job at the Robinsons initially seemed like a stroke of luck.  He had had a tutoring job before, but it had not lasted long... His work on the railways had come to an embarrassing end and his painting career had not been successful.

Anne was reasonably happy in her post as governess with the family.  They liked her and she got on well with the girls.  

Mrs Robinson's husband was not in good health, and she herself was possibly a little bored with married life and motherhood.  Its hard to be certain what happened, but it seemed as if Branwell got involved with her, either as a flirtation or affair...  He wrote boastful stories to his friends that his "mistress was too fond of him".. but he was inclined to boast and exaggerate.. It may well be that it was a flirtation which he took too seriously, and that Mrs Robinson just enjoyed a little amusement but had no real feelings for him... and certainly had no intentions of risking her marriage... She referred to her husband in a private book as "her angel Edmund" so she was probably happy enough with him... 

At any event, Mr. Robinson dismissed Branwell and he returned to Haworth in disgrace... The family were shocked at his losing his job with a threat of scandal.   Branwell was already a drinker and possibly a user of opium, and now in depression he began to drink and drug himself all the more.  He bemoaned losing his beloved, at times and at other times claimed that Mrs. Robinson was madly in love with him and that she would marry him, if her husband were to die....

Branwell Bronte Part III

 Branwell's job on the railways did not last long.  He became bored with it and went off drinking too often and was dismissed when money went missing from the accounts.  It was probably due to Branwell's leaving the porter in charge, but he lost his job and had to chalk up another failure.  His sisters had been less spoiled and stuck out difficult jobs as governesses for as long as they could.  

Branwell continued to write and had been trying to get a job on Blackwoods Magazine but his letters asking for work were couched in a boastful arrogant style and he never got a reply. He was shy like all the family but tended to hide this by drinking and boasting and exaggerating... which put many people off.  

After the failure of the railways job, Anne got him a post at her employers, the Robinsons.. She was the governess there and he became tutor to the family's son, Edmund.  He was a reasonable success at the job;  Edmund was not very clever, but Branwell succeeded in making himself agreeable to the family, and particularly to the mother, Lydia Robinson, who was 17 years his senior. 

Branwell Bronte Part II

 Branwell considered studying at the Art School in London, but does not seem to have gone there.   He wanted to pursue painting as a career however and he moved away from Haworth, to set up as a painter.   He met several other young working artists and made friends, but his work didn't go so well.  He had always enjoyed drinking and talking, and had been a lively visitor to the local pub in Haworth.  Now he drank more and didn't complete that many paintings... 

His sisters had gone to school and were now pursuing work as teachers or governesses, while writing in their spare time.   Branwell was not so self disciplined.. He wrote and did translations, and enjoyed a social life but he didn't work as hard as he might.  The family began to worry that he might not be the brilliant success that they had originally hoped... and that they would have to support themselves without help from their brother.  

After a while, Branwell gave up the painting business, and went to work as a clerk on the railways.  It was a bit of a comedown for someone who had hoped to be a scholar or artist but at first it seemed like a job with prospects.... 

Branwell Bronte Part I

 Branwell Bronte was the only son of the Bronte family, and had an unhappy life, never fulfilling his early promise.  He was born in Yorkshire, to Patrick Bronte and his Cornish wife, Maria Branwell....

He was born in 1817, and the family moved to Haworth when he was a small child... his mother died a few years later, leaving 5 girls and the only son.  Branwell's sisters were sent to school, to get an education but Patrick decided to tutor Branwell  himself.  He had been a teacher and had educated himself in Ireland.  His son was a clever boy and Patrick was able to teach him the classics and usual subjects for a boy of his class.  Patrick hoped that his son would be able to get a good job and help his sisters, but he knew that the girls might have to go out as governesses so it was important for them to get a good basic education.

Branwell showed talent for doing translations, writing poetry and painting and his father was not sure what job to train him for.  He and Charlotte and Emily and Anne wrote stories and poems about their imaginary worlds, Angria and Gondal..  They sometimes acted out plays, at home and "printed" their books in little magazines, hand written to look like typeface. 

Branwell was rather spoiled, being the only boy and being the one that the girls were hoping would be a brilliant success. 

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Gillian Bradshaw

 Gillian Bradshaw is a popular novelist... who has been writing since around 1980.  I came across her first works, an Arthurian Trilogy, which was set in Dark Age Britain.  The three novels cover the development of an Arthurian Kingdom... and the arrival of Gwalchmai, Arthur's nephew, from the Orkney Islands... The final work, In Winter's Shadow is narrated by Gwynhwyfar, (Guenevere) who relates her romance with Bedwyr and the fall of Camelot....

Gillian was born in the USA and reared partly in Chile.. She studied Classics and accumulated a store of knowledge about the ancient world.  Many of her novels after the Arthurian work were set in Classical Rome and Greece and Britain. One follows the life of Archimedes, engineer, mathematician and physicist. 

She also writes about women in the classical world.. who take on male roles such as learning about doctoring. Another novel is based on the idea that Caesarion, the son of Cleopatra, survived  (when he was meant to be executed) and manages to lead a new life....

She married a British physicist and lives in the UK... and has written several science fiction novels.. using her knowledge of scientific research. 

One of her best novels is "Island of Ghosts" which is set in Roman Britain...It is based on the arrival of some Sarmatian soldiers who have been defeated by the Romans and offered exile in Britain..which was at the very edge of the Roman Empire (hence the title Island of Ghosts as they were all in effect "dead" to their former life)

The hero of the book is  Ariantes, their leader, who learns about life in Britain, learns about Roman skills such as literacy, and settles down breeding horses... with a British wife.... The Sarmatian soldiers who were skilled in fighting and breeding horses, may well be one of the events that inspired the story of King Arthur and his knights....This connexion may be a reason for Bradshaw deciding to write a story based on their coming to Britain. 

She has also written novels set in Puritan London... but my favourite is "Island of Ghosts"....

Maugham III

 Maugham travelled a good deal, which gave him material for his writing.. but he remained a rather shy man.  However he enjoyed society life...

As a young man, although he had had sexual affairs with men, he also had relationships with women.  During World War One, he had a relationship with Syrie Wellcome, a society belle who also had her own  business as an interior designer... She was famous for using white.. which was very expensive... but she catered to the very rich and famous.  She and Maugham had a child, a daughter called Mary Elizabeth, but after the birth of the baby, Wellcome sued for divorce and then Maugham married Syrie.

Their marriage was not very happy and within a few years they divorced. Maugham grew critical of his ex wife, and estranged from his daughter.  He had 2 long term male lovers who were his companions and he lived a luxurious life in the South of France, making a fortune from his books and stories, some of which were televised or filmed. 

Maugham Part II

 Maugham was a very prolific writer, and while some of his novels didn't sell as well as the first one.. he also wrote comedy plays mostly set in "Society" which did very well.  He travelled and got material for his writings when living abroad.  However one of his most famous works was "Of Human Bondage" which was partly autobiographical....

The hero, like Maugham, is shy and awkward.. and he has an unhappy childhood.  Philip has a club foot, gets teased by other boys and is reared by his uncle, who like Maugham's uncle, is cold and strict.  Philip then falls madly in love with a lower class girl.. a waitress called Mildred.  She is hard hearted and selfish but Philip is obsessed with her, even though he knows that she is using him... She runs off with another man, who refuses to marry her.. and comes back later when she is down and out.  Philip eventually gets over his feelings for her, but he has sunk from middle class status to poverty.  His club foot is the equivalent of Maugham's stammer...

The book has always been popular, and is probably his best known and best work.  

In 1914 when war broke out, Maugham was too old to serve but he worked in the Medical service... A couple of years into the war, he was recruited by the British intelligence services.  He travelled to Russia on intelligence missions and he later used the material he had accrued as the basis of his "Ashenden" stories. 

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