Record Number: 28649

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

James Chesterton Bradley to Robert Keating Smith, 3 May 1902:

'A short paper of yours in "The Tatler" of April 2nd brought before me my old friend James W[illiam]. Smith. He and I were fellow curates in Yorkshire, he curate of Haworth, and I of the hill part of Keighley which joined on to Haworth [...] He and I with another of the name of Grant were the three curates in Charlotte Bronte's "Shirley." I need not say how indignant I have often been at the way in which she speaks of him in the novel. He was a thorough gentleman in every sense of the word, and there was not the slightest ground for the insinuation she makes against him [...] We used to read together, walk together, and as often as we could, about once a week, would meet either at his or my lodgings.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 2 Apr 1902 and 3 May 1902

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

county: Warwickshire

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

James Chesterton Bradley

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Clergy (includes all denominations)

Occupation:

Rector of Sutton-under-Brayles

Religion:

Church of England

Country of Origin:

n/a

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Robert Keating Smith

Title:

'A Well Known Character in Fiction'

Genre:

Essays / Criticism, Biography

Form of Text:

Print: Serial / periodical

Publication Details

In The Tatler, 2 April 1902

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

28649

Source:

Print

Author:

n/a

Editor:

Thomas James Wise and John Alexander Symington

Title:

The Brontes: Their Lives, Friendships, and Correspondence

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

2:1

Page:

3-4

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Thomas James Wise and John Alexander Symington (ed.), The Brontes: Their Lives, Friendships, and Correspondence, (Oxford , 1980), 2:1, p. 3-4, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=28649, accessed: 14 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

Bradley's letter is an enquiry for further information on the whereabouts of Smith, an Irishman, who was rumoured to have been shipwrecked during emigration to Canada; see p.2 in source for eds.' speculations as to his fate after leaving Britain with his family, who had suffered in the Irish famine of 1847. Robert Keating Smith was the nephew of James William Smith.