British novelist and poet who is best remembered for Agnes Grey (1847) and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848). The latter work became known for its feminist themes. She left home at age nineteen to work as a governess. In 1846, she and her two, now-famous sisters Emily and Charlotte Bronte pseudonymously published a collection of their poetry entitled Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.
