What’s the Craic with… Elizabeth Gaskell?
In October 2022, our Chair, Libby Tempest (pictured), talked to journalist Danny Moran about just why she loves Elizabeth Gaskell so much. This is a longer version of the interview, […]
The Gaskells in Wales
To celebrate our forthcoming Conference in Caernarfon, North Wales, Dr Diane Duffy has revisited the works and letters of Elizabeth and her family to learn more about their links with Wales.
Croeso I Gymru – Welcome to Wales
This year the Gaskell Society Conference goes to Caernarfon. Dr Diane Duffy explores Elizabeth’s associations with North Wales and finds they’re very mixed.
‘This Land of Song’ – part 3
Gaskell and the Perception of Wales in Eighteenth and Nineteenth-century Writing The last section ended on a note of sexual licence creeping into the interpretation of Nest’s behaviour, which may […]
The Gaskell Memorial Service
Every year, on a Sunday, close to what would have been Elizabeth Gaskell’s birthday, Gaskell Society members assemble at Brook Street Chapel in Knutsford. We lay flowers on Elizabeth’s grave […]
Tea at Cranford II – Our Daily Bread
Following my last ‘Tea at Cranford’ post, I will now consider the dangers which may have been lurking in those dainty sandwiches, ‘cut to the imaginary pattern of excellence that […]
Tea at Cranford I – Charlotte Brontë and the Great Victorian Tea Fraud
Tea plays an integral role in Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Cranford. Grown in India, a British colony, and imported by the East India Company, it became a national beverage found in […]
Elizabeth Gaskell’s House – the final chapter
Meta and Julia Gaskell purchased 84 Plymouth Grove 16 years after their father’s death [see my previous blog] and remained there until their own deaths Julia in 1908 and Meta […]
To Buy or Not to Buy?
That is the question! Volunteers at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House are often asked whether Elizabeth ever bought 84 Plymouth Grove. The answer is definitely not, but her daughters, Meta and Julia, […]
Locations in ‘The Sexton’s Hero’
In January 2021, Dr Diane Duffy ran a discussion session on the short story, ‘The Sexton’s Hero’ about a daring rescue on Morecambe Bay. You can read her blog post […]