Online Talk: Mary Barton – An Introduction
onlineA new season of Mary Barton events begins at Elizabeth Gaskell's House with this introduction to her first novel, Mary Barton: A Tale of Manchester Life. The story is a tale of class strife, romantic love and action adventure as Mary Barton, daughter of a trade unionist, is torn between the working-class Jem Wilson and mill […]
Online Talk: Mary Barton’s Manchester
onlineBack by popular demand, Dr Diane Duffy leads us on a literary journey of discovery to the places, buildings and landmarks of Manchester as featured in Elizabeth Gaskell’s first novel Mary Barton, with extracts from the text to map the way. This fascinating talk will interest anyone who wants to find out more about historical […]
Knutsford Meeting – January 2023
Brook Street Chapel Adam's Hill,, Knutsford, United KingdomOur discussion series for 2022-23 looks at Wives and Daughters. First published in serial form in the Cornhill Magazine, between August 1864 and January 1866, Wives and Daughters was unfinished when Elizabeth died suddenly in 1865. This is many people's favourite Gaskell novel, which perhaps shows how her writing was getting better and better. We can […]
Letters and Elizabeth Gaskell
Francis Holland School 39 Graham Terrace, London, United KingdomCarolyn Lambert is the Gaskell Society’s Letters Recorder, responsible for hunting down and investigating new Gaskell letters. Her talk will cover academic theories of letter-writing; letters in Gaskell’s fiction and the wit and wisdom of Elizabeth Gaskell, according to Carolyn: “one of the best letter writers of the nineteenth-century: gossipy, acerbic and endlessly entertaining” The […]
Manchester Meeting – Rooms with a View
Cross Street Chapel Cross Street,, Manchester, United KingdomRooms with a View: Soft Furnishings in North and South This talk will explore what the furniture in North and South tells us about the social world Gaskell inhabits. Dr Clara Dawson reflects on whether furniture provides us with an alternative narrative to the romance plot and the depiction of north and south, and […]
Second-Hand Book Sale
Elizabeth Gaskell's House 84 Plymouth Grove,, Manchester, United KingdomThe monthly second-hand book sale at Elizabeth Gaskell's House is a must-visit for book lovers. Two rooms packed full of books of all genres, including contemporary fiction, art, gardening, photography, classics, OS maps, biographies, history, cookery, social history and children’s! With new stock every month there are treasures to be found. Prices start at just £1 […]
Online Valentines Talk: Mr Thornton vs Mr Darcy
onlineIn this lively online event we take a closer look at two of literature’s best loved heroes – Mr Thornton from Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South and Mr Darcy from Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Sit back and enjoy a Valentine’s treat as we celebrate two delicious literary leading men. Discover how our heroes compare […]
Online Talk: Passion and Propriety – Elizabeth Gaskell’s Fashion
onlineElizabeth Gaskell had a love of fashion, enjoying foreign styles on her travels, and a fan of beautiful shawls and patterns at home. This talk, by Margo Singer, looks at Elizabeth’s conflicting reactions to contemporary fashions in her letters and novels, as she sought to reconcile her desire for conservative dress for her daughters, and […]
Knutsford Meeting – February 2023
Brook Street Chapel Adam's Hill,, Knutsford, United KingdomOur discussion series for 2022-23 looks at Wives and Daughters. First published in serial form in the Cornhill Magazine, between August 1864 and January 1866, Wives and Daughters was unfinished when Elizabeth died suddenly in 1865. This is many people's favourite Gaskell novel, which perhaps shows how her writing was getting better and better. We can […]
Manchester Meeting – Elizabeth Gaskell’s Visit to Chatsworth
Cross Street Chapel Cross Street,, Manchester, United Kingdom‘I feel more like Cinderella, than anyone else you can imagine’: Elizabeth Gaskell’s visit to Chatsworth On Saturday 12 September 1857, Elizabeth Gaskell and her daughter Meta were amongst many tourists arriving at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire with their printed admission tickets. Their tour of the house was interrupted by an invitation to stay for […]
Second-Hand Book Sale
Elizabeth Gaskell's House 84 Plymouth Grove,, Manchester, United KingdomThe monthly second-hand book sale at Elizabeth Gaskell's House is a must-visit for book lovers. Two rooms packed full of books of all genres, including contemporary fiction, art, gardening, photography, classics, OS maps, biographies, history, cookery, social history and children’s! With new stock every month there are treasures to be found. Prices start at just £1 […]
Online Talk: Writing Women
onlineJoin Dr Diane Duffy for a special look at 19th century women writers’ experiences, starting with Elizabeth Gaskell and reflecting on the lives of giants of literature including Jane Austen, Mary Shelley, Charlotte Brontë and George Eliot. How were their experiences different to male writers? What did the reading public think of women? How did […]
Knutsford Meeting – March 2023
Brook Street Chapel Adam's Hill,, Knutsford, United KingdomOur discussion series for 2022-23 looks at Wives and Daughters. First published in serial form in the Cornhill Magazine, between August 1864 and January 1866, Wives and Daughters was unfinished when Elizabeth died suddenly in 1865. This is many people's favourite Gaskell novel, which perhaps shows how her writing was getting better and better. We can […]
Second-Hand Book Sale
Elizabeth Gaskell's House 84 Plymouth Grove,, Manchester, United KingdomThe monthly second-hand book sale at Elizabeth Gaskell's House is a must-visit for book lovers. Two rooms packed full of books of all genres, including contemporary fiction, art, gardening, photography, classics, OS maps, biographies, history, cookery, social history and children’s! With new stock every month there are treasures to be found. Prices start at just £1 […]
Online Talk: Literary Heroines
onlineA celebration of Mary Barton and the greatest 19th century literary heroines by women writers from Jane Austen to the Brontës. Writers like Elizabeth Gaskell question our views of Victorian women by creating characters who break the rules and challenge convention. Why are we drawn to Mary Barton and so many others? What sets them […]
ALS AGM Weekend
Winchester various venuesThe Alliance of Literary Societies has its AGM weekend in April (the same weekend as our own AGM on 22 April, unfortunately). The Gaskell Society is a member of the ALS, and as such, our members are invited to the event. Hosted by the Charlotte M. Yonge Fellowship, the 2023 AGM/ALS Weekend runs from April 21st – […]
The Gaskell Society Annual General Meeting 2023
Cross Street Chapel Cross Street,, Manchester, United KingdomOur Annual General Meeting takes place at Cross Street Chapel in Manchester 10.00 Tea and Coffee 10.30 Annual General Meeting 11.45 The Daphne Carrick Memorial Lecture Why Read Elizabeth Gaskell? by Elizabeth Williams Elizabeth will highlight some of her very favourite passages from Gaskell’s work and discuss how relevant she still seems to be today. […]
Knutsford Meeting – April 2023
Brook Street Chapel Adam's Hill,, Knutsford, United KingdomOur discussion series for 2022-23 looks at Wives and Daughters. First published in serial form in the Cornhill Magazine, between August 1864 and January 1866, Wives and Daughters was unfinished when Elizabeth died suddenly in 1865. This is many people's favourite Gaskell novel, which perhaps shows how her writing was getting better and better. We can […]
Domestic Mental Cruelty in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Works
Francis Holland School 39 Graham Terrace, London, United KingdomA talk by Kathleen Gentle Kathleen Gentle, a postgraduate researcher at Anglia Ruskin University, examines the depiction of psychological abuse in familial and spousal relationships and focusing on Sylvia’s Lovers and the short stories “Morton Hall” and “The Grey Woman”. We are very grateful to Kathleen for stepping in at short notice to replace our […]
Of Song and Speech: Music and Words from Industrial Lancashire
The John Rylands Research Institute and Library 150 Deansgate, Manchester, United KingdomGaskell Society member and good friend, Professor Michael Sanders, in conversation exploring the defining literary and cultural pioneers of the era. He’ll be joined by folk singer, Jen Reid, who sings Lancashire dialect songs. 5:30-6:10: Collections Encounter Drop in at the Rylands and discover objects and books connected to our exhibition Workers' Playtime: Culture and […]
Online Talk: The Gaskells’ Garden on a Plate
onlineElizabeth Gaskell had great hopes for the garden at Plymouth Grove, not just as a beautiful place to relax, but as a source of food for the family. She even joked that ‘I find my proper vocation is farming‘. Now you can find out about what she grew, where and why based on original sources […]
Elizabeth Gaskell Conference
Anglia Ruskin University East Road, Cambridge, United KingdomWe're absolutely delighted to tell you about a new Elizabeth Gaskell conference, organised by Gaskell Society members at Anglia Ruskin University, working with the British Association for Victorian Studies (BAVS). The conference takes place in person at Anglia Ruskin University (Cambridge), but also online, so you can attend, no matter where you are. Read more about […]
A Visit to Tabley House
Tabley House Tabley Lane, KnutsfordKnutsford is luckier than many English towns as it boasts two historic houses with Gaskell connections: Tatton Park, the seat of the Egerton family, and Tabley House, which belonged to the Leicester family until 1975. Both houses feature in Gaskell’s final novel Wives and Daughters. Although Cumnor Park is considered to be loosely based on […]
Open Day at Cairo Street Unitarian Chapel
Cairo Street Unitarian Chapel 4 Cairo Street, Warrington, United KingdomCairo Street Unitarian Chapel Chapel members are opening the chapel and garden to visitors and guests on Saturday 15th July. The chapel contains memorials and information regarding the Gaskell family and the important role they played in the life of the chapel. The grounds contain not only a well-maintained and attractive hidden walled garden in […]
Online Talk: North and South Fan Fiction – A Writing Passion
onlineElizabeth Gaskell’s North and South continues to be beloved by fans around the world. Many who admire the novel or the BBC series, have been inspired to contribute their own twist to this iconic love story set against the backdrop of industrial England. Through the use of retellings and continuations, Gaskell fans have developed a […]