Emily Jane BrontëEssays, field notes, and archival encounters.

Life timeline

Thirty years in the record.

A working chronology assembled from manuscripts, institutional records, and responsible biographical accounts. Documented dates appear precisely; broader or disputed periods remain broad.

1818Thornton
1848Haworth

Working chronology

Life, work, and publication

The line records major documented turns. It does not pretend that every year of Emily’s life left equal evidence.

  1. 30 July 1818

    Born in Thornton

    Emily Jane Brontë is born in Thornton, Yorkshire, the fifth child of Patrick Brontë and Maria Branwell Brontë. 14

  2. 1820

    The family moves to Haworth

    Patrick becomes incumbent at Haworth, and the family moves into the Parsonage beside the churchyard and the moors. It remains Emily’s home for most of her life. 23

  3. 15 September 1821

    Her mother dies

    Maria Brontë dies. Her sister Elizabeth Branwell moves into the Parsonage and helps care for the six children. 24

  4. 1824–1825

    Cowan Bridge and two deaths

    Emily and three of her sisters attend the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge. After Maria and Elizabeth die in 1825, Emily and Charlotte return to Haworth. 12

  5. 1826–1834

    The imaginary worlds take shape

    Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne write stories around shared imaginary worlds. Emily and Anne develop Gondal apart from Charlotte and Branwell’s Angria; Gondal is named in Emily and Anne’s surviving diary paper of 24 November 1834. 25

  6. July–October 1835

    A short stay at Roe Head

    Emily joins Roe Head while Charlotte teaches there. The stay lasts only a few months before she returns to Haworth. 4

  7. 1837–1839

    Law Hill, with the dates still unsettled

    Emily teaches at Law Hill School near Halifax. The Academy of American Poets dates the appointment to 1837; the Poetry Foundation places her arrival in autumn 1838 and her departure in March or April 1839. The difference remains visible here until the underlying evidence is reconciled. 14

  8. February–November 1842

    Brussels

    Emily and Charlotte study at the Pensionnat Heger. They return to Haworth after Aunt Branwell dies; Emily does not go back to Brussels. 4

  9. February 1844

    The poems enter notebooks

    Emily begins transcribing poems into manuscript volumes. The British Library’s Add MS 89488 opens with her initials and the note “Transcribed February 1844.” 6

  10. Autumn 1845

    Charlotte finds the poems

    Charlotte encounters one of Emily’s manuscript volumes. After an angry beginning and prolonged persuasion, Emily agrees to publication with Charlotte and Anne. 4

  11. 1846

    Ellis Bell appears in print

    Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell is privately published. Emily contributes under the name Ellis Bell. 17

  12. December 1847

    Wuthering Heights is published

    Thomas Cautley Newby publishes Wuthering Heights under Emily’s pseudonym, Ellis Bell, alongside Anne’s Agnes Grey. 47

  13. September–December 1848

    The final months

    Branwell dies in September. Emily becomes ill soon afterward and dies at Haworth on 19 December, aged thirty. She is buried in the family vault beneath Haworth church. 128

Sources

Chronology notes

  1. Academy of American Poets, “About Emily Brontë”, checked 23 August 2026.
  2. Brontë Parsonage Museum, “The lives of the Brontës”, checked 23 August 2026.
  3. Brontë Parsonage Museum, “The Brontës’ Haworth”, checked 23 August 2026.
  4. Poetry Foundation, “Emily Brontë”, checked 23 August 2026.
  5. University of Leeds Special Collections, “Branwell Brontë Angrian manuscripts”, checked 23 August 2026.
  6. British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue, “Emily Brontë’s notebook of poems,” Add MS 89488, checked 23 August 2026.
  7. National Portrait Gallery, “Emily Brontë”, checked 23 August 2026.
  8. St Michael and All Angels, Haworth, church history and the Brontë family vault, checked 23 August 2026.