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The Festive Season in Victorian England
The Brontës’ Christmas invites you to step back in time and explore the delights of a Victorian Christmas through the eyes of our most beloved authors.
While the Brontë family’s celebrations weren’t the most exuberant, Victorian society cheerfully embraced the newfound idea of Christmas as a time for feasts, decorations, the exchanging of gifts and parlour games.
Through a selection of seasonal recipes, letters, poetry and extracts, The Brontës’ Christmas meanders back in time to explore long-forgotten customs, including Vessel Maids and furmenty; the spice cake that Charlotte took around to her husband’s parishioners; and childhood games enjoyed by the family.
This festive season, curl up and experience a Haworth Christmas.
30th May, 2024 in Biography & Memoir, Women in History
Brimming with lies, hagiography and exaggeration! Elizabeth Gaskell’s sensational 1857 biography of her friend Charlotte Brontë continues to divide historians, critics and Brontë fans over 160 years after its first publication. Some see it as a unique first-hand insight into the…
17th April, 2024 in Biography & Memoir, Women in History
21st April marks the anniversary of the birth of English novelist and poet Charlotte Brontë. While she lived only 38 years, her legacy – and her celebrity – have remained perennially present. Her 1847 novel Jane Eyre is one of the most enduring texts of the 19th century, a novel…
22nd November, 2021 in History, Society & Culture
It’s a common misconception that our modern view of Christmas and how to celebrate it in the UK originated only in the nineteenth century. But although Queen Victoria and Prince Albert did much to promote various seasonal customs – for which I, for one, am grateful! – many of tho…
15th December, 2016 in Society & Culture, Trivia & Gift
Christmas pudding as we know it first appeared in the reign of King George III. It was said to have been invented especially for him by his chef, because of his inordinate love of English puddings. Before this, the pudding was more of a pottage or porridge, with all the right ing…
