WHEN Nancy De Garrs, the Brontes' former nanny, ended up in Bradford Workhouse, her dying wish was not to go to a pauper's grave.

Her plea was taken up by newspapers, including the New York Times, and money was raised for a headstone. But when she died in 1886, aged 82, Nancy was buried in an unmarked plot at Undercliffe Cemetery. Now volunteers have found the plot and cleared the waist-high undergrowth. And the cemetery has launched an appeal to fund a headstone finally paying tribute to Nancy, who had a significant impact on the Bronte children.

Aged 13, Nancy went to work for the Brontes in Thornton in 1816 with her sister, Sarah. They later moved with the family to Haworth. When the Brontes' mother died her sister looked after them, and Nancy and Sarah left, but Patrick thought highly of them and gave them £10 each. Years later, when Elizabeth Gaskell's famous biography of Charlotte Bronte was published, Nancy played a pivotal role in Patrick's legacy.

Stephen Lightfoot, a cemetery volunteer, researched Nancy after coming across her in newspaper archives. He said: "Elizabeth Gaskell was very critical of Patrick, and called Nancy and Sarah 'wasteful servants'. When Nancy alerted Patrick to this he wrote her a letter confirming that they were "kind, honest and not wasteful". Outraged by Gaskell's book, Patrick's friend, William Dearden, wrote a letter to the Keighley News in his defence. Gaskell later withdrew the excerpts on Patrick. Nancy played a major part in restoring his reputation."

When Nancy married, Patrick gave her presents, known as the "Bronte relics". They ended up in the hands of Nancy's nephew, John Hodgson Widdop of Girlington when she was in the workhouse, a destitute widow. When Nancy died Widdop had her buried in an unmarked family plot at Undercliffe, costing just a guinea. The whereabouts of the headstone funds remain a mystery - despite a letter by Widdop to the Keighley News thanking those who contributed. In 1896 he sold some of her Bronte relics to the Parsonage Museum.

Now the Friends of Undercliffe Cemetery aims to raise £3,000 for a headstone and to clear access to Nancy's grave.

"Nancy was the Brontes' nanny for eight years, she told them stories and took them for moorland walks. She had a huge impact, but she's been erased from history," said Mr Lightfoot.

Chairman Allan Hillary added: "She's been hidden in undergrowth - it's time to recognise her part in history with her name on a headstone. We'd like it to become part of the Bronte Trail."

For more information call (01274) 642276.