William Carus Wilson William Carus Wilson William Carus Wilson (7 July 1791 – 30 December 1859) was an English churchman and the founder and editor of the long-lived monthly "The Children's Friend". He was the inspiration for Mr Brocklehurst, the autocratic head of Lowood School, depicted by Charlotte Brontë in her 1847 novel "Jane Eyre". He was born at Heversham as William Carus. While he was a child his father (also called William) inherited an estate at Casterton, near Kirkby Lonsdale in Westmorland and took on the surname Wilson (which was a condition of the bequest). His father served as one of Cockermouth's
Jane Eyre (2006 miniseries) one of many ill-treatments she is accused of being bad blood and in an attempt to get rid of her, Jane is sent to Lowood School by Mrs Reed. Like Gateshead Hall, Lowood School is a cold institution. Jane’s only friend at school, Helen Burns, dies and Jane is left alone once again. Resolving to become independent, she takes on the profession of a governess. At the age of eighteen, she is able to secure a position as governess to a girl at Thornfield Hall. Here Jane learns that her pupil, a French girl named Adele, is the ward of