Emily Jane Bront~ was born on July 30， 1818， atThornton in Yorkshire. She was the fifth of six childrenand the fourth of five daughters， her only brother，Branwell， having been born the previous year. Herfather， Patrick Bront~， became perpetual curate of HaworthParsonage in Yorkshire in 1820. Her mother， Maria Branwell Bront~， died in 1821， after which her sister Elizabeth Branwell moved to Haworth from Cornwall to care for the Bront~ children. In 1824 the four eldest daughters--Maria， Elizabeth， Charlotte， and Emily-- attended the Clergy Daughters School at Cowan Bridge. It was a dismal charity school for the daughters of clergymen too poor to go elsewhere， and conditions where such that many of the students became seriously ill. Among the casualties were Maria and Elizabeth Brontr， both of whom died of a combination of tuberculosis and typhoid fever in 1825. Charlotte and Emily returned to Haworth and thereafter were educated at home. Emily briefly attended the Roe Head School in 1835， and in 1837 was a governess at Law Hill near Halifax. In 1841 she went with Charlotte to study languages at the Pensionnat Hrger in Brussels， only to be called home again in 1842 when her Aunt Branwell died. With the exception of these brief periods Emily Bront6 spent her life in seclusion at Haworth. She dutifully visited her father s parishioners but did not form close acquaintances