The influence of British colonialism on the literary family and their work is examined in a new exhibition, ‘The Colonial Brontës’, which will run from 4 February 2026 – 1 January 2027 at the Brontë Parsonage Museum.

‘The Colonial Brontës’ is co-curated by Professor Corinne Fowler, Honorary Professor of Colonialism and Heritage at University of Leicester and Brontë Parsonage Museum curators Ann Dinsdale and Murray Tremellan. The exhibition examines the period of exploration, conquest and intercultural encounters of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and shows the extent to which the Brontë siblings were fascinated by colonial military campaigns and British missionary activity.

Professor Corinne Fowler said: “The Brontë children were avid readers and their literary imaginations were fired up by what they learned about British colonial activity in Africa and India. This exhibition reveals that the young Brontës fictionalised real-life colonial battles, British explorers, missionaries and Asante warriors. It identifies their source material and traces the influence of empire writing into their mature works, particularly ‘Jane Eyre’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’.”

In 1826, Charlotte (then aged 10), Branwell (9), Emily (8) and Anne (6) invented their own colonies, collectively called the Glass Town Federation. They used this imaginary world as a setting for their stories, poems and plays creating characters based on their toy soldiers. This ‘kingdom’ was inspired by the real-life Asante Empire in West Africa, an area regularly in the news of the day. Their juvenile writings clearly show that the children engaged with news and current affairs, and these colonial fantasies inspired important characters in Charlotte and Emily’s adult writing, including St John Rivers, the missionary in Jane Eyre and Heathcliff, the Wuthering Heights anti-hero.

Ann Dinsdale, Principal Curator at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, said:
“This exhibition shows how these young Yorkshire children interpreted world news, incorporating it into their play and later, into their adult writings. That they were able to look critically at global events gave them a world view that was ahead of its time, just one of the building blocks that makes their writing still so relevant and inspiring two centuries on.”

Rebecca Yorke, Director of the Brontë Parsonage Museum added:
“We are delighted that Professor Corinne Fowler accepted our invitation to co-curate this exhibition with us. Academics and readers alike have long discussed the influence of colonial Britain on the Brontës’ lives and works, particularly in relation to the story of Heathcliff, and with a new film adaptation of Wuthering Heights about to be released, it’s a fitting time to explore the connections between what the Brontës read and what they wrote.”

Items in the exhibition include manuscripts created by the Brontës as children, but the exhibition also looks beyond the Parsonage to explore the real-life presence of people of African heritage in 19th century Yorkshire. Items relating to race and Heathcliff’s ethnicity, reading materials (with handwritten notes and doodles), and matchbox-sized miniature books are just some of the items on display.

A programme of events and talks will complement the exhibition throughout the year, see www.Brontë.org.uk for details.