𝗨𝗡𝗨𝗦𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗬 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗦 (NANNY TO THE BRONTËS) , Bradford

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 , 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗚𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘀 (𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘆)

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲 𝗖𝗲𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲!

𝗔 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸

The Remarkable Story of Nancy de Garrs, Charlotte Brontë’s Nurse. By Steve Lightfoot. 2019. 32 pages.

Nancy Garrs was born in 1803, the oldest in a family of twelve children. Her father, Richard De Garrs, was a shoemaker of French descent who had a shop in Bradford. Nancy and a younger sister Sarah (b. 1806) went to the Bradford Industrial School where they learnt housekeeping and childcare skills. In 1816, aged 12, Nancy went to work in the Brontë’s Thornton home to look after the three young Brontë children. Three more children later, sister Sarah came to assist, with Nancy promoted to be cook and assistant housekeeper. In 1820 the Garrs twosome accompanied the Brontë family in their move to Haworth. Here they experienced the sad early years there and the coming of ‘Aunt Branwell’ (‘cross like and fault findin’). After serving the Brontës for eight years, Nancy left in late 1824, shortly followed by Sarah, when the oldest Brontë children went to Cowan Bridge School.

Nancy then worked as a dressmaker, marrying John Wainwright in 1830. They had two children, Emily Jane and Hannah. Significantly, Nancy signed her wedding banns with ‘her mark’ (which I found a surprise, Nancy having lived in such a literary household). Husband John, a wool comber, later an engine tenter, died after a horrific accident at work in one of Titus Salt’s Bradford mills. He was buried in the Dr Garrs family plot in Bradford where four of Nancy’s sisters were buried. The 1841 census shows Nancy and a daughter living with sister Sarah and her children, just a few doors away from their sister, Martha, who had married Benjamin Hewitt. Clearly the families were supporting each other, with their parents also nearby. In 1844, Nancy married Irishman John Malone, a warehouseman. After John’s death in 1881, Nancy fell into poverty and three years later she was taken in at the Bradford Workhouse, where she died in 1886 aged 82.

Of her years with the Brontë family, author Steven Lightfoot highlights a number of incidents and myths – of Mrs Gaskeill’s hurtful remarks in her Life of Charlotte Brontë; of the confusing comment of Patrick’s about Nancy leaving the parsonage to marry a ‘Pat’ – not in 1824 she didn’t! And there is new information about the Brontë mementoes that Nancy had, of how they were displayed in a public bazaar in 1885, acquired by John Widdop, a son of Mary, another of Nancy’s sisters, and how they may have been sold to alleviate Nancy’s penury. Other members of the Dr Garrs family are briefly featured, notably her brother Henry, and sisters Ruth (who married John Binns) and sister Sarah, who married William Newsome in 1829, had five children, and eventually settled in Iowa, USA.

This focus on Nancy and her family circle does a good job of widening our knowledge of the social context of the time.

Bob Duckett
Past Editor Brontë Studies and The Bradford Antiquary.

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Hi! My name is Riaz Ahmed , born and bred in Bradford, UK. As you can see I have a taste for history, capturing interesting moments and eye for quirkiness!

If you live around the West Yorkshire area, I am sure you will like to view some of my videos. Better still , hope to reach out much further and interact with the viewer.

Thanks for watching.

[debwalls]

Thankyou for sharing this video🙂 After all the books and documentaries I've seen on the Brontes, I cant believe I hadnt come across Nancy de Garrs before this!!

[SineadScrap]

As someone with Haworth ancestors, I just love what you both do! Thank you! If you're ever Marske or Great Ayton way, I'd love to see a video. I've just found out my Redman grandfather from Haworth married into the Hutton family of Marske, where they bred race horses.

[margaretmills]

Brilliant video, thank you guys, thoroughly enjoyed watching your work

[markmemphis]

Great video guys!

JAS 1802 above the door of the Bronte Birthplace relates to John and Sarah Ashworth, who were said to have built the house in 1802.