William Weightman MA. was the son of a brewer from Appleby, Westmorland.
He went to Appleby Grammar School. He was a Theology and Classical scholar at Durham university.
About 19th August 1839, he became curate to Rev Brontë. The girls gave him the nickname Miss Celia Amelia, and Charlotte described him as ...
bonny, pleasant, careless, fickle, unclericalOn his arrival, he said that he was engaged to Agnes Walton.
In August 1840, he applied to the Bishop of Ripon to be ordained.
Around 1840, Anne may have fallen in love with him, and his death may have inspired her poem A reminiscence. In 1840, learning that the girls had never received a Valentine's Day card, Weightman walked to Bradford to send them a poem.
He lectured at Haworth Mechanics Institute. He was interested in Caroline Dury.
He died in 1842 at the age of 28 in a cholera epidemic. He may have contracted the disease in his visits to the sick of the village. He was buried in Haworth Church.
He had a brother, Robert, who also became a clergyman, but was ejected from his living on account of his frequent drunkenness.
William may have been the model for the character Edward Weston in Agnes Grey
Page Ref: QQ_133
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