Anne Brontë was born in 1820 near Bradford, the youngest of the Brontë sisters – Charlotte, Emily and Anne – who were well known for their literary talents. While working as a governess for the Robinson family from 1840 to 1845, she accompanied the family on their long summer holidays to Scarborough.
While in Scarborough, Anne stayed with the Robinsons at Wood’s Lodgings on St Nicholas Cliff, now the site of the Grand Hotel, and attended services with them at Christ Church on Vernon Road. She followed her interest in geology by collecting semi-precious stones, and very likely visiting the Rotunda Museum.
When she was diagnosed with tuberculosis in January 1849, Anne was advised by a doctor that a ‘change of air’ would be helpful, despite her weak condition. She immediately thought of the healthy and revitalising reputation of Scarborough. Despite her sister Charlotte’s concerns, Anne, Charlotte and their friend Ellen Nussey headed to the coast. They arrived on a Friday, staying once again at Wood’s Lodgings. They bought tickets for the Spa and spent time walking in the fresh air. However, Anne died on Sunday at Wood’s Lodgings, aged only twenty-nine.
Unlike the rest of her family, Anne was not buried in Haworth. Her funeral was held at Christ Church while St Mary’s was being renovated, but she was buried in St Mary’s churchyard overlooking the sea. Charlotte later wrote: ‘I wanted her to die where she would be happiest. She loved Scarbro’. She had also wanted to spare her father another funeral; her brother Branwell had died in September 1848 and her sister Emily in December. Anne’s gravestone contained a number of errors that Charlotte noticed when she visited it for the first time three years later. The major error – her age at death – was not corrected until 2011, when the Brontë Society installed a new plinth below the original gravestone.
Her two novels – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey (written under her pen name of Acton Bell) – contain locations inspired by Anne’s time spent in Scarborough. Some of the names of characters in her books also seem to have been taken from fellow visitors to or residents of Scarborough.
