Brontë

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Three English novelists, daughters of a Yorkshire parson. Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855), notably with Jane Eyre (1847) and Villette (1853), reshaped autobiographical material into vivid narrative. Emily Brontë (1818–1848) in Wuthering Heights (1847) expressed the intensity and nature mysticism which also pervades her poetry (Poems, 1846). The more modest talent of Anne Brontë (1820–1849) produced Agnes Grey (1847) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848).

The Brontës were brought up by an aunt in their father's rectory (now a museum) at Haworth in Yorkshire. In 1846 the sisters published a volume of poems under the pen-names Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily), and Acton (Anne) Bell. In 1847 (using the same names), they published the novels Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey. During 1848–49 Emily, Anne, and their brother Patrick Branwell (1817–1848) all died of tuberculosis, aided in Branwell's case by alcohol and opium addiction; his portrait of the sisters survives. Charlotte died during pregnancy in 1855. The sisters share a memorial in Westminster Abbey, London.

The cross represents the Greek Orthodox faith. Blue stands for the sea and sky. The shade has varied over the years. White symbolizes purity. Effective date: 22 December 1978. >>