Brontë was born at Imdel (or Emdale) in the parish of Drumballyroney, County Down,[2] the eldest of the ten children of Hugh Brunty, an Anglican, and Elinor Alice (née McClory), an Irish Catholic.

[5] The family was "large and very poor", owning four books (including two copies of the Bible) and subsisting on "porridge, potatoes, buttermilk and bread" which "gave Patrick a lifetime of indigestion".

He moved to England in 1802, having won a scholarship[6] to study theology as a sizar[7][8] at St John's College, Cambridge, first registered as "Branty" or "Brunty", then "Brontë",[9][10][11] receiving his AB degree in 1806.

[15] Brontë's first post as curate was at St Mary Magdalene Church, Wethersfield, Essex with the vicar being Joseph Jowett, Regius Professor of Law at Cambridge.

After a disagreement and an undisclosed insult, with Burder's father's brother, her legal guardian, Mary was shipped out of town and Patrick decided it was best to take a new curacy.

Brontë taught reading and writing at Dewsbury's Sunday School and was deputised by Buckworth to attend twice weekly meetings of the Church Mission Society on his behalf.

[16] After several attempts to seek a new spouse, Patrick came to terms with widowhood at the age of 47, and spent his time visiting the sick and the poor, giving sermons and communion,[19] leaving the three sisters Emily, Charlotte, Anne, and their brother Branwell alone with their aunt and a maid, Tabitha Aykroyd (Tabby), who tirelessly recounted local legends in her Yorkshire dialect while preparing the meals.

He remained active in local causes into his old age, and between 1849 and 1850 organised action to procure a clean water supply for the village, which was eventually achieved in 1856.