Dewsbury Brontë Festival

Imelda and David Marsden, life members of the Brontë Society, have written to us announcing what is a very interesting event taking place next Friday, 25th September in Dewsbury celebrating the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Patrick Brontë in Dewsbury.

London Brontë Society member Val Wiseman who is a well know Jazz vocalist was voted best female Jazz singer in 2008. Is to perform at the Dewsbury Minster on Friday 25th September 2009 at 7.30pm, and launch a musical tribute to Rev Patrick Brontë and his famous family. Keeping the Flame Alive is a unique and moving and entertaining tribute to the Brontës Lives and work. Words and Lyrics sourced from Brontë Novels and Poems. This musical tribute presentation as brought history and literature alive in equal measure. Val as given the themes in the tribute a sharp modern relevance.

This show is must not to be missed both by Brontë enthuasts and for those who enjoy music, this is the first showing in Yorkshire, Bronte descendants form Rev Patrick Brontë brothers and sister to be present at the Dewsbury minster.

The CD KEEPING the FLAME Alive is on sale at the Brontë Parsonage museum shop and is also going to be in the Red House museum shop in Gomersal this as a Brontë connection. Charlotte Brontë visited and stayed there with her school friends family the Taylors.

More information about the CD can be found in this previous post of ours.

But this is not the only event related to the celebrations:

The Brontë Connection
20 and 27 September 2009 - 7:30 PM
Dramatic readings and commentspresented by Dewsbury Arts Group members.

Brontë Treasure Hunt
Monday 21st September 2009 until Monday 5th October 2009, 9:00AM - 5:00PM
Solve the Brontë puzzle by finding the answers hidden in Dewsbury Town Centre shops.
Dewsbury Town Centre
Pick up your Treasure Hunt Clue Sheet from Dewsbury Minster, Dewsbury Library and local shops. Prize for the winner drawn from the correct entries.

The Life and Times of Patrick Brontë in Dewsbury
Saturday 26th September 2009 until Saturday 17th October 2009, 9:30AM - 3:00PM
An exhibition exploring the life, work and impact of Patrick Bronte in Dewsbury
Patrick Bronte
In 1809, Patrick Brontë arrived in Dewsbury as Curate of the Parish Church. This informative exhibition explores Patrick's life, work and impact on the town at a pivotal time in Dewsbury's industrial life and heritage. Features Parish registers, costumes, displays and recorded stories.
Note: Refectory open until 2.30pm for meals and refreshments. [Church Services: Sun: 10.30am & 6.30pm. Weds: 12 noon]

Brontë Connections? - Family History Day
Saturday 26th September 2009, 9:00AM - 12:00PM
Do you have Brontë connections? The Huddersfield & District Family History Society will be at the Library to give help and advice on how to research your family tree and will also be exploring early 19th century records of Dewsbury when Patrick Brontë lived and preached in the Town.

Special Market - Costumed Traders
Saturday 26th September 2009, 9:00AM - 5:00PM
Dewsbury Market, with its fabulous Victorian Market Hall and the largest and most renowned open market in Yorkshire, was voted the Best Market in the UK in 2007. Traders join in the Town's Brontë celebrations by dressing in period costume.

An evening with Dr Juliet Barker
Saturday 26th September 2009, 7:30PM
An evening with the internationally renowned historian and distinguished biographer of the Brontes.

Brontë Walk
Sunday 27th September 2009, 2:30PM
This guided stroll around the town explores the Dewsbury of Patrick Brontë's era. The walk concludes with a special guided tour of the Brontë connections at Dewsbury Minster. Refreshments available. The walk lasts approximately one hour.

The Huddersfield Examiner has additional information:

BRONTE lovers from all over the world will be descending on Dewsbury this month to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Patrick Bronte’s arrival in the town.
The father of the famous Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Ann, came to Dewsbury in 1809 and spent two eventful years here as curate at Dewsbury Parish Church, now renamed Dewsbury Minster.
An exhibition depicting Patrick’s life is to be held in the church, and many other events are being organised by a special committee set up a year ago to plan the Bronte Festival. (...)
Renowned Bronte expert, Dr Juliet Barker, who wrote the widely acclaimed book, The Brontes will be visiting the town to talk on the life of Patrick and his family, and celebrated jazz singer Val Wiseman, will be paying a moving tribute to him in song.
Dewsbury Arts Group have organised a presentation on Patrick’s life in the town which they will be performing on two nights in Dewsbury Arts Centre.
Market traders will be wearing Victorian dress to mark the occasion, and historic walks around the town have been planned.
The organising committee, chaired by Mr Denis Ripley, are keen to tell the world Dewsbury played a far more significant role in the lives of the Bronte family than historians have ever given it credit for.
Mr Ripley said: “People may associate the Brontes with Haworth, but many believe the Bronte story started in Dewsbury.
“If Patrick hadn’t come to Dewsbury when he did, the Bronte family as we know it, may never have existed.”
There are many fascinating stories to tell about Patrick’s stay in Dewsbury and the effect he had in the town, including diving into the River Calder to save a drowning boy and tackling a thug who tried to disrupt a Whitsuntide
Another interesting Dewsbury connection to the Bronte story is the fact that it was a Dewsbury man, William Walsh Yates, editor of the Dewsbury Reporter for many years, who first proposed the formation of a Bronte Society and a Bronte Museum.
Mr Ripley added: “The first annual meeting of the Bronte Society was held in Dewsbury Town Hall, and Mr Walsh was responsible for collating much of the Bronte artefacts, including letters, drawings, manuscripts and personal relics, from the Dewsbury and Hartshead districts.
“He also wrote a book on Patrick’s stay in Dewsbury in an attempt to rectify an omission made by Mrs Gaskell, whose famous biography of Charlotte failed to mention he had spent two eventful years in Dewsbury and had a great influence on the development of Dewsbury itself.
“He came to Dewsbury from the south of England, but just imagine if he had stayed there. The chances are he would never have come to Yorkshire at all. Dewsbury certainly plays an import part in the Bronte story.”
The festival starts on Friday September 25 and continues on Saturday 26, Sunday 27 and throughout the following week.

EDIT: More information can be found in this article on BBC News:

As Dewsbury man Denis Ripley points out: "It was as a result of him coming here that the Yorkshire connection was launched and became famous worldwide!"
Denis should know, after all he's one of the people behind Brontë Dewsbury 200 - a weekend of celebrations held in September 2009 marking the town's links with the famous family - a a chance to put Dewsbury on the literary map.
As Denis explains: "Particularly since this started, I've read up quite a lot about the Brontës and very rarely does Dewsbury get a mention. Hopefully in future it will!"
So what brought Patrick Brontë to Dewsbury in the first place? Amateur local historian Graham Hardy explains that back in 1809 it seems that he was facing a choice between working in the West Riding or the much warmer climes of the West Indies. Perhaps surprisingly, Patrick chose Dewsbury!
Graham believes he decided on Dewsbury because it was believed to be fertile ground for 'spreading the word': "They regarded Yorkshire - which was just going through the throes of the Industrial Revolution at that time - as The Promised Land, the land where they were going to save souls."
There are people coming from all over the country. What else could we do that would pull them in like that?
Denis Ripley on Brontë Dewsbury 200
It wasn't long before Patrick Brontë made his mark on Dewsbury: "There was the occasion when a drunk tried to stop a Sunday School procession and Patrick Brontë unceremoniously threw the drunk into the ditch at the side of the road.
"There was also another occasion when Patrick was doing his Sunday evening meditation in the old vicarage by the side of the Minster and the church bell ringers decided to have an extra practice. Patrick was so upset about this that he seized his shillelagh [a large stick], dashed up to the belfry and actually drove them out!"
Denis Ripley adds that as well as saving souls, Patrick also saved someone's life: "He was walking along the River Calder and he met a group who were acting silly. One boy pushed another into the river. In spite of the fact that he couldn't swim, he jumped in and saved the boy."
Patrick Brontë was clearly no shrinking violet, but he was also - even in his early days in Dewsbury - a man of influence who wanted to right any wrongs which took place in the town.
Graham explains: "There was a young man called William Nowell who was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. It was claimed by another young man that William had enlisted in the army at Lee Fair - a gathering just outside Dewsbury. William denied this...but he was hauled before the magistrates and flung into prison as a deserter.
"Patrick was very upset about this so he got together some of the prominent members of the town, credible witnesses, and he wrote to Lord Palmerston, who was Secretary of State for War but who Patrick had known at Cambridge. Palmerston intervened, as well as [social reformer and anti-slave trade supporter] William Wilberforce.
"Between them the case was reviewed, William Nowell was freed and the chap who'd given the false evidence was transported to the colonies!"
Back in the 21st century, Graham says Brontë Dewsbury 200 was a big thing for the town: "In contrast to the bad publicity we've had over the past few years with suicide bombers and fake kidnappings and goodness knows what else, this is a town which has a rich cultural history and it's a place of interest to visit and to enjoy."
And Denis says, he's now hoping to attract Brontë fans from far afield: "There are people coming from all over the country. What else could we do that would pull them in like that? And once they start coming here, they'll keep coming!"

Categories: Alert, Art-Exhibitions, Patrick Brontë