in her late teens, rossetti became engaged to the painter james collinson, the first of three suitors. he was, like her brothers dante and william, one of the founding members of the avant-garde artistic group, the pre-raphaelite brotherhood (founded 1848). the engagement was broken in 1850 when he reverted to catholicism. in 1853, when the rossetti family was in continuing financial difficulties, christina helped her mother keep a school in fromefield, frome, but it was not a success. (a plaque commemorates the house.) in 1854 the pair returned to london, where christina's father died. later she became involved with the linguist charles cayley, but declined to marry him, also for religious reasons. the third offer came from the painter john brett, whom she likewise refused.