The Bronte Sisters’ Photograph: I Was Shocked At New Evidence

When people try to identify someone in a photograph, they often overlook one of the most telling physical characteristics: the ear. Our ears often look almost identical to that of one of our parents (as opposed to a merger between our mother's and father's ears). In this photo, the visible portions of the ears of the women purported to be Emily and Anne appear to have a very distinctive and unusual "valley" along the bottom of the earlobe, beneath the opening of the ear. A similar feature can be seen on the ear of the known photograph of Patrick Bronte, providing further support for this being a photograph of the Bronte sisters.

I have twice visited Anne Bronte's grave in Scarborough. I tidied it up and put fresh flowers. It has a lovely view and Anne has the sound of the sea to calm her rest.

What a great follow up, I think the Brontë Society need to climb down from their high horse and accept the evidence … well done you!

Great video. I was convinced by what you showed us last year, and if anything I'm even more convinced now. That photo IS of the Brontë sisters.

The Bronte Society has been far too dismissive from the start. The evidence is mounting that this is them.

I believe it’s the Brontë sisters wholeheartedly. Thanks for this.

While watching this I remembered the 1st time I read Wuthering Heights. I was walking home from school. Growing tired, I stopped to sit in the oldest cemetery in the city. There are tombs of the ministers of the 1st church in the city. As you spoke, I thought of Jenny Lind who performed in the city in 1850, for some reason? Then, you spoke of John Brown who cared for the cemetery where the Bronte family was buried. Very interesting, I thought. Then I thought, "Look up the 1st Church of Christ." It stated that Jenny Lind performed at the 1st Church of Christ when in Northampton. Here I was sitting in the cemetery where there are tombs of ministers and the very people who attended that church. Many who saw Jenny Lind, and most certainly read Wuthering Heights as I am doing right now! Very, VERY Nearly Interesting INDEED! Thank you!

Look at the character on the faces of those 3 women. I said the last time that if that's not the Bronte sisters than it certainly should be. It's them, man, not a doubt in my mind.

I'm convinced! The known painting of Charlotte overlaid on the photograph was stunning. I hadn't come across the photo before today - I think the Bronte Society need to take another look.

Such a pity he did not use Patricks' profile over Anne's in this video. They are SO similar! And the portrait of George Henry Lewes, who Charlotte met in London, and who reminded her so much of Emily . ‘the aspect of Lewes’s face almost moves me to tears - it is so wonderfully like Emily. Her eyes, her features, the very nose, the somewhat prominent mouth, the forehead - even, at moments, the expression.’

This is quite riveting - as far as the update goes, I really do think the Bronte Society need to think long and hard about their stance on the matter, and at the very least should be looking very seriously into these findings. The evidence is all extremely compelling in my view, and very well presented - great job👍

As someone who practices historical sewing, the more I learn about historical clothes, the more I realise that the ‘rules’ and assumed styles of various eras are really not as set in stone as we often think. Peoples' choices and styles varied just as much as they do today so I think rejecting this photo based on clothing style is a mistake.

It has to be Charlotte - the first thing i noticed on the picture were those piercing eyes. Then you have the same hair as in the sketch. The mouth has a full bottom lip. Then you notice the one stood up has a slightly manly face. When they took photos in those days the people being photographed had to stay perfectly still for over 10 minutes. Trying not to blink or move slightly is very difficult. So sometimes a photographer would actually paint onto the picture where an eye movement like blinking had ruined a good shot. They would also sometimes take a couple of photos in a session where they could cut & paste if needed. They actually had tall iron stands that they would put behind the models out of view with a flat U shaped top they would fit behind their necks to keep them in position for the whole of the shoot. Also, in a studio they would have various costumes and hats. The daguerreotype would end up a reversal of left to right, and they were usually a few inches by a couple of inches in size. These were made of tin plate.

Thats Charlotte for sure. Absolutely no doubt in my mind whatsoever. A great update mate, ty kindly 😊

my observations: The woman who appears to be Anne in the photo has dark, deep set eyes. This is an indication of someone who does not get enough oxygen. She also has a long sloping nose like her painted portrait. The woman who appears to be Charlotte has a protruding lower lip much like her painted portrait as well as the piercing gaze that Charlotte was known for. Her brow line is curved over the top of each eye giving her eyes a more rounded appearance. This matches the painted portrait as well. The woman who appears to be Emily is difficult to get as good a look at because the hat is shading her face and she is turned away from the camera. However, the woman can clearly be seen to have slightly masculine features as Emily was said to have and the painted portrait captures this well in that her face has a slightly more serious and determined expression and looks more like that of a young boy in comparison to Charlotte and Anne. The photograph clearly shows the "Emily" figure as slightly more mature and and possibly having a more "caretaker" role in the relationship between the three figures

I stumbled on this by acdcident, and watched - I'm curious and a trivia nut, and I was impressed by the cleverness and intelligence of the commenters. I expected to see people sniping at each other - and was surprised to see the first one comparing the ear-folds of their Father to theirs...they really are hereditary. Thank you, this was really well-researched and presented. 13:20 ..."why would anyone have wanted to photograph them at that time?" - because they're women and sisters. Men get them to commemorate something - women have have sentimental reasons, usually. Thank you, what a clever and interesting video.

I love that that first protrait is basically what a 13 year old would draw people to look like and they willingly acceot that as a portrait but because the photograph doesnt look like spoons with eyes its not similar?

There's a sadder reason the photograph may have been taken. The family likely knew they were ill and likely to die young, and wanted a memory of themselves together. Note how Emily's hand is curled protectively around Anne, whose asthma would have made her seem the more vulnerable. Their novels have a significant weight of gloom and death - and living in a parsonage they would have been more conscious of that than most other locals. I say that because contrasting with writers like Jane Austen and Thackeray for example, you don't get that sense of darkness.

As a collector of cabinet cards, carte de visite and other types of Victorian photographs, this is EXTREMELY exciting. Your enthusiasm for this photograph is well placed and infectious. ❤❤❤

As Tabitha Ratcliffe talks about the photo on glass, it does sound more like she is referring to the mystery photograph rather than the photograph of the Pillar Portrait