Dotting the Es: abbey corrects spelling of Brontë in Poets' Corner after 85 years

An 85-year injustice has been rectified at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey with a correction to the spelling of one of the greatest of all literary names. Reader, it is finally Brontë, not Bronte.

- Mark Brown

An amended memorial to Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë was unveiled yesterday with the added diaereses (two dots) that ensure people pronounce it with two syllables. As if it rhymed with Monty, not font.

The memorial was installed in 1939 and, for whatever reason, came without the diaeresis the Brontës used.

The correction came about after an approach to the abbey by Sharon Wright, the editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, who visited Poets' Corner as part of research for a book.

"The first thing I thought was: 'They've spelt the names wrong!' Surely I can't be the first person to notice it, but I might be the first to call it to anyone's attention and say: 'Can we spell the names right please?"," Wright said. "These women are three of this country's greatest writers. They deserve to have their names spelt correctly on the memorial created to honour them."