A descendant of a Haworth family who had links with the Brontes has written a book tracing his origins.

Andrew Heaton said the lineage could be followed back a thousand years.

And the family fortunes fluctuated, from the height of influence as medieval knights to the depths of life in the workhouse.

“You never know what you’re going to find when you begin researching your family history, and it was fascinating – you get hooked,” said Mr Heaton, 62, a former dairy farmer.

While going through some belongings of his late father, Oakworth-born Allan Green Heaton, who died last November, he found some old charts produced by a previous family researcher.

“That got me interested in looking further into it, and I found a lot of information in Keighley and Bradford libraries and, of course, on the internet – that’s an amazing resource,” he added.

The Heatons are inextricably linked with Haworth through an inscription on a stained glass window at the village’s parish church, which reads: ‘In memory of the Heatons of Ponden – Trustees of Haworth Church 1560 to 1897.’ And the family had associations with the Brontes. Indeed, Allan’s great grandmother – Elizabeth Heaton – was baptised by the Rev Patrick Bronte.

During his research, Mr Heaton discovered Elizabeth gave birth in Keighley workhouse.

“She became pregnant out of wedlock and had to seek poor relief in the workhouse, where her son was born,” he said.

“As the child’s father was never declared, he took his mother’s surname. So if the truth was known, I would not be called Heaton!”

Elizabeth died in 1880, and was buried alongside her father and sister-in-law at Dockroyd cemetery in Oakworth.

Mr Heaton has visited the graveyard, but said he was shocked at the state of the site.

“It was covered in thorns and bramble bushes, with ivy entwined around the gravestones – I was taken aback at the neglect,” he added.

The book – entitled Never Had A Better – retails at £12.95, and is available from the Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth or by e-mail from Mr Heaton at peelpark@btinternet.com.