The Addictions of Branwell Brontë

Branwell Brontë (1817-1848) struggled with addiction to alcoholism, opium and laudanum starting at age 22. Stemming from a wild weekend with J. B. and Francis Leyland in Liverpool in 1839, Branwell fell into habitual opium use and drinking. Branwell's contemporaries remembered, even decades later, his love of the social pub scene in Haworth. Branwell's Masonic friends also received letters detailing his carousing. Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre, Villette) noticed her brother was losing weight after her aunt's funeral in 1842. This was a sign of his opium addiction which she detailed in letters to her friend Ellen Nussey. Unfortunately Branwell's addiction became brutal and violent, and he was confined to his bed. He died in 1848, at age 31.

Sources:

Hektoen International, https://hekint.org/2017/08/11/patrick-branwell-bronte-1817-1848-tale-aspiration-decline/

Nick Holland, http://www.annebronte.org/2020/09/13/the-old-apothecary-laudanum-and-the-brontes/

Brontë Parsonage Museum, https://www.bronte.org.uk/the-brontes-and-haworth/haworth

Daphne du Maurier, The Infernal World of Branwell Brontë (1960)

https://artuk.org/discover/artists/bronte-patrick-branwell-18171848

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