The inscription on Anne's grave states that she 'died aged 28'. No one disputes that this is incorrect (she was, in fact 29), but is it really a 'mistake'? Anne's age is also given as 28 on her death certificate (currently at the Bronte Parsonage Museum), and also in the Scarborough 'Christ Church' death register (where her funeral was conducted). Winifred Gerin attributes these discrepancies to Ellen Nussey, whom she claims registered the death; however, it seems to me unlikely that Ellen would be the one to dictate the wording for Anne's gravestone. This seems to indicate that Charlotte must have been the culprit. Meanwhile, back at Haworth, Emily's funeral card states that she died aged 29; when, in fact, she was 30; Branwell's funeral card indicates that he was 30 when he died, and he was actually 31 - Charlot e's doing again? It becomes even more intriguing when, on the third anniversary of Anne's death, Charlotte made her first, and what turned out to be her only visit to Anne's grave since the funeral, she discovered five mistakes on the headstone and ordered it to be re-faced, but the incorrect age was repeated yet again! I put this to one of the parsonage librarians, who, with a shrug of the shoulders merely answered - "just a mistake, and coincidence that it occurred more than once". Six separate occurrences of the same error (actual age minus one) - coincidence? I wondered whether this could have been the result of some sort of rule from their world of Angria/Gondal, that Charlotte maintained as a final tribute to her siblings: a rule where, perhaps, all its ruler's/inhabitant's ages were to be stated as one year less han they actually were. Yes, I know this sounds rather far-fetched, but I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has any better explanations, or, indeed, any thought on the matter. Mick.