« All Events Samuel Bamford and the Gaskells 7 October , 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm £5 – £6 We're delighted to welcome Robert Poole to our October meeting. He'll talk about the radical writer and reformer, Samuel Bamford (1788-1872), best known for his prominent role in the 1819 Peterloo demonstration in Manchester and his […]

« All Events The Rural Idyll and the Changing World: Challenging Conventionality in the Novels of Elizabeth Gaskell and Thomas Hardy 4 November , 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm £5 – £6 Dr Diane Duffy continues her exploration of Elizabeth Gaskell's literary legacy.This paper developed from an idea that Thomas Hardy could be viewed as […]

Anthony Burton, one of our most popular speakers, returns for his annual festive lecture - now a traditional part of every Gaskell Society Christmas celebration. Elizabeth Gaskell liked to spend Christmas quietly by her fireside.  But around her, Victorian people showed increasing seasonal mobility.   Children came to celebrate with the family:  “Home for the Holidays” […]

The term grand tour conjures up English aristocrats sent to the Continent to complete their cultural education.  Less well known is the reverse grand tour. In the first half of the eighteenth century Continental visitors came in increasing numbers to Great Britain (including Voltaire, Montesquieu and Rousseau).  None came to Manchester. It was not until […]

« All Events Manchester Meeting – ‘Elizabeth and Ruth’ with Livi Michael 3 March , 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm £5 – £6 We're thrilled that our speaker for March will be the wonderful author Livi Michael, who will talk about the background research undertaken for her Victorian novel, Elizabeth and Ruth, published by Salt […]