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Nick Holland

@nickholland.bsky.social

400 followers 280 following 170 posts

Author, animal lover. Books: In Search Of Anne Bronte, Emily Bronte: A Life In 20 Poems, Crave The Rose: Anne Bronte At 200,The Real Guy Fawkes. TV: The Gunpowder Plot: Countdown To Treason, Bronte's Britain

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Nov 22

One of my favourite 19th century sporting pictures - young sisters Vanessa (at crease) and Virginia Stephen playing cricket. They became better known by their married names - Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Sep 23

A rather unique mourning ring - this one contains the interwoven hairof Charlotte Bronte and her father the Reverend Patrick Bronte.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Sep 16

A rather atmospheric photo I took of the Bronte Parsonage on a cold, foggy night in Haworth.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Sep 9

A very special item went to auction in Nottingham today - lace cuffs once worn by Charlotte Bronte! I didn't get them unfortunately, they went for 400 above estimate but still a Bronte bargain at £700.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Sep 8

So many literary pilgrims now walk this lane leading to the Bronte Parsonage Museum, following a path well trodden by Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Aug 1

Happy Yorkshire Day from the Queens of Yorkshire! I'm proud to hail from this great county the Bronte sisters called home, from historic York to vibrant Leeds, from the bleakly beautiful moors of the west and north to the coastal resorts of the east, Yorkshire has it all!

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Jul 31

This cup is 207 years old; it was made to commemorate the christening of Emily Bronte who was born on 30th July 1818.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Jul 5

#otd 1826 Patrick Bronte bought 12 toy soldiers for his son Branwell. Branwell shared them with his sisters Charlotte, Emily and Anne and they soon started making stories about them. From this spark, the great Bronte writing came. In 1829 Charlotte Bronte gave this account:

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Jun 28

#otd 1854 Charlotte Bronte spends her last night as a single woman. In the morning she will get married in this beautiful wedding bonnet, which villagers said made her look like a snowdrop.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Jun 26

"No domestic demon – he was just a man moving in a mist, who lost his way", said by Francis Grundy of his friend Branwell Bronte born #otd 1817. A talented, troubled man he had a huge influence on the Bronte sisters and their world.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Jun 23

A beautiful Dulac illustration to Charlotte Bronte's "Shirley". I love this book because the two heroines, Shirley and Caroline, are based on Charlotte's sisters Emily and Anne who both died during the novel's composition.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Jun 7

#otd 1861 Patrick Bronte died in Haworth, where he'd been curate for over 40 years. Patrick outlived his wife and all six of his children, but his three youngest daughters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte, ensure that his name lives on forever.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Jun 3

Beautiful Holy Trinity church in Little Ouseburn near York. This is the church Anne Bronte attended whilst governess at nearby Thorp Green Hall, its vicar was the hall's owner Edmund Robinson although he never carried out a Sunday service there. Photos courtesy of Mark Davis.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · May 31

After the death of Anne Bronte, Charlotte, the last surviving Bronte sibling, wrote the very heartfelt and moving poem "On The Death Of Anne Bronte":

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · May 28

If she had lived longer her writing would have shook the world. As it is, we have two novels of genius from this kind, thoughtful, brilliant woman. Remembering Anne Bronte who died aged 29 #otd 1849

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · May 14

Inside and outside St Gudula's in Brussels, the cathedral in which Charlotte Bronte, and her creation Lucy Snowe, went to confession.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · May 11

I had such a great time talking to the Brussels Bronte Group yesterday about the Brontes and faith. A large, knowledgeable audience, one woman had travelled from Ukraine and two had flown in from the USA!

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · May 6

#otd 1825 Maria Bronte, eldest Bronte sibling, died of consumption caught at school. She was 11 years old. This is the only writing of Maria's we have, on a needlecase she'd given to her schoolfriend Margaret Dixon.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · May 2

A Friday throwback (if that's a thing) to Charlotte Bronte's appearance on the London Underground:

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Apr 30

In my new video I look at the question many people ask: why did the Bronte sisters die so young? youtu.be/dDXU42wzoyw

Why Did The Brontes Die So Young?

YouTube video by The House Of Bronte

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Apr 28

From the wonderful BBC documentary The Bronte Business here is Haworth in 1977 and a meeting of the Bronte Society board in the same year. Much has changed since then, much will change in the future, but the sisters' novels and lives will still be what brings people to Haworth.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Apr 26

All dog owners know the love they give, and the bond that grows between you. I think Anne Bronte captures it well in this sketch of herself and her spaniel Flossy.

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Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Apr 22

Charlotte Bronte's birthday yesterday was sandwiched between the birthdays of two people central to her life. Her best friend Ellen Nussey was born on 20th April 1817 and long time Bronte servant, and later friend to Charlotte, Martha Brown was born #otd 1828.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Apr 21

In Thornton, Bradford this day in 1816 a third daughter was born to parish priest Patrick and wife Maria. Small, frail, she would light a candle, pick up a quill and change the world. A kind, complex woman, a powerful genius, happy 209th birthday to the great Charlotte Bronte.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Apr 18

"Our Lady Of Greif" (sic), a suitable image for Good Friday by Branwell Bronte.

Nick Holland @nickholland.bsky.social · Apr 16

I'm very excited to be heading to Brussels next month to give a talk on the Bronte sisters in the city where Charlotte and Emily Bronte were schooled. In "Doubt, Defiance and Devotion" I'll look at what faith and religion meant to the Brontes, and how it inspired their work.