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 […]
Cranford for Beginners – a talk by Libby Tempest (video)
https://vimeo.com/522747640 Libby Tempest, Chair of the Gaskell Society, tells us about how she came to know and love the work of Elizabeth Gaskell and the ‘excellent women’ of Cranford in particular. […]
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 […]
Building Plymouth Grove
‘And We’ve Got a House. Yes! We really have.’ So writes Elizabeth in April 1850 about 42, Plymouth Grove, the house that was to become the Gaskells’ family home for […]
The Portico Sadie Massey Awards
We’re thrilled to learn that Elizabeth Gaskell is inspiring a new generation of readers and writers! Now in their sixth year, the prestigious Portico Sadie Massey Awards, organised by The […]
Brontë’s Mistress – a talk by Finola Austin (video)
https://vimeo.com/507999520 In February 2021, we enjoyed a real transatlantic treat! Historical novelist Finola Austin talked to us (from her home in New York) about Brontë’s Mistress. The novel tells the story […]
Christmas with the Gaskells
With Christmas only weeks away, Dr Diane Duffy looks at how Elizabeth Gaskell prepared for and celebrated Christmas through the years. Despite the fact that Unitarians did not recognise the […]
Elizabeth & Esther – a talk by Sherry Ashworth (video)
That Elizabeth Gaskell knew her Bible hardly needs stating, but what use did she make of it in her fiction? In particular, what use did she make of The Book […]
Marriage and Family Life
Diane Duffy continues her investigation into the lives and families of William Gaskell’s parents. See also Margaret Gaskell and Wiliam Gaskell Senior. The marriage between William and Margaret took place in […]