LONDON (AP) — The Brontë sisters have regained the proper spelling of their name, thanks to a recent update to their memorial in Westminster Abbey, which was made on Thursday. After more than 80 years, the diaereses— the two dots over the “e” in their surname—have been restored, indicating that the name is pronounced “brontay” instead of “bront.”
This correction was necessary because the dots were left out when the stone tablet honoring Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë was first unveiled in October 1939, shortly after World War II began. Brontë historian Sharon Wright, who is also the editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, highlighted the omission. She expressed her commitment to preserving the legacy of these influential writers by advocating for the accurate spelling of their name.
Following her appeal to Dean of Westminster David Hoyle, the abbey enlisted their stonemason to inscribe the dots and asked their conservator to paint them accordingly. Wright stated, “There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really. These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
Patrick Brontë, their father, originally had a different spelling of the family name—either Brunty or Prunty—before he changed it upon attending university in England.
Raised amid the rugged beauty of the Yorkshire moors, all three sisters passed away before they turned 40, yet they left behind a remarkable legacy through their timeless novels, including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights,” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, the director of the Brontë Society, celebrated this restoration, noting, “As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial.”
