A newly-discovered photograph of three Victorian women could be a picture of Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte, according to a researcher.

The image, which has ‘Bronte Sisters’ written in French on its reverse, was found among a private Scottish collection by Robert Haley, 45, of Lancashire, as he carried out research for a book on Victorian photography.

He claims there are similarities between the women in the photograph and images of the famous novelists, including a photograph of Charlotte Bronte at the National Portrait Gallery and portraits of Anne and Emily.

The clothing worn by the women in the photograph fits descriptions of that worn by the sisters, who were said to wear hats at a time when bonnets were in fashion.

Mr Haley took the picture to the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth, where he was told it would be difficult to verify as there are no known photographs of the sisters together in existence.

He also showed it to experts at the National Media Museum, who said the photograph had been taken in the 1850s, after Emily and Anne had died.

However, Mr Haley now believes the photograph to be a copy of one taken around a decade earlier.

John Stewart, who lived in France and was the only professional photographer to visit the Bronte Parsonage, pioneered the copying and enlarging of photographs in the 1850s. The photograph is also framed in the same unusual manner as a photograph of the parsonage at the Bronte Parsonage Museum.

Mr Haley said: “Whereas initially I thought it couldn’t possibly be the Bronte sisters, I now feel it couldn’t be anyone but them. The research is complicated and involves not just the Brontes, but Victorian photography and fashion. It needs experts in these fields to look at the photo if there is to be any chance of solving the mystery.”

Ann Dinsdale, collections manager at the Bronte Parsonage Museum, cast doubt on whether the photograph is of the three sisters. She said: “We do get contacted regularly by people who have discovered images or portraits they believe may be the Brontes. The thing you have to bear in mind is why would anyone have wanted to paint or photograph them at that time?

“They weren’t famous and were relatively poor women. There’s no reference in any surviving correspondence to a group photograph of the sisters.

“We would all love to know what the Brontes looked like and the fact that there are only a few portraits in existence makes you want to know what they look like.”