Given the current Covid-19 outbreak, our committee has taken the decision to cancel or postpone our events until further notice. At time of writing, Elizabeth Gaskell’s House has closed its doors until a planned review in July. All events listed are subject to change or cancellation.
Please stay safe, dear members, and we hope to see you at our events and meetings again before too long.
December 2019
Victorian Christmas Games
A lunchtime talk by The Gaskell Society's Anthony Burton. Forfeits…Snap Apple…Musical Fright: just a selection of the curious Christmas games played around the Victorian fireside during the festive season! Join Anthony as he discusses weird and wonderful Victorian Christmas parlour games – with the chance for you to join in the fun too! Treat yourself to a mince pie and a warming mulled wine in the cosy Tea Room too! Entry included in your house entry ticket.
Find out more »January 2020
January Second-hand Book Sale
On the second Sunday of each month, Elizabeth Gaskell's House hosts a fantastic second-hand book sale, downstairs in the Servants Hall. All proceeds go towards supporting operations and events in the House. The tearoom always has a fine selection of new and second-hand books for sale, but this is the big one! It's a chance to browse a much wider selection – two rooms filled with second-hand books, donated by book-lovers! The selection includes a variety of fiction, art, gardening,…
Find out more »Gaskell Society New Year Lunch
We are delighted to be once again holding our New Year Lunch at The Cottons Hotel, Knutsford. The three-course lunch, including coffee costs £26 and will include after lunch entertainment, courtesy of Diane Duffy, who will, with her fellow Thespians, perform “The Old Nurse’s Story”. After her rave reviews at the Conference, we are in for a treat! Places must be booked in advance - please contact Mrs Carolyn McCreesh by 31st December. Cheques should be made payable to The…
Find out more »Wedding Afternoon Event
Did you know you can get married at Elizabeth Gaskell's House? We would be hard-pressed to think of anything more wonderful than that! Come along and meet the House's Wedding Co-ordinator, who will show you around and tell you all you'll need to know about having your wedding at this warm and friendly - but oh so elegant - house with its gorgeous gardens.. Booking is required for free entry - and your free glass of prosecco - so please…
Find out more »Reading the Nineteenth Century 1 – Ruth
A new, five-part evening reading course at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House - enter the world of fallen women in the Victorian novel. When a women’s virtue is compromised, what choices lie open to her? Whose fault is it that she falls in the first place? And what will happen to the children born as a result? To answer these questions, Sherry Ashworth, Visiting Teaching fellow at Manchester Writing School, will lead you into the turbulent fictional lives of these Nineteenth-Century women,…
Find out more »Knutsford Meeting – January 2020
In January, we'll be discussing the short story, Mr Harrison's Confessions. Our monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of each month, between October and April (except December). An excellent buffet lunch is served at 12.30pm followed by a talk and discussion, led by Dr Diane Duffy, 2-3pm. There will also be a chance to visit the Gaskell Exhibition Room, upstairs in the Chapel Hall building. Everyone is most welcome - £10 members, £11 non-members if you'd like lunch.…
Find out more »February 2020
The Old Nurse’s Story – a dramatic reading
Elizabeth Gaskell's House hosts a spine-tingling dramatic reading of Gaskell's Gothic ghost story. Join us in the Drawing Room - entry includes a glass of wine. Advance booking essential. Read Diane Duffy's blog about the Old Nurse's Story.
Find out more »London & South East Gaskell Society Meeting
Was it quite impossible but that your Ruth should die?: Elizabeth Gaskell’s self-sacrificial heroine and the Life of Charlotte Brontë A talk by Dr Angharad Eyre How did Elizabeth Gaskell manage to present the controversial Charlotte Brontë as a popular Victorian heroine? This was no easy task, especially given Gaskell’s own disapproval of Brontë’s novels. Nevertheless, Gaskell’s Life of Charlotte Brontë secured Brontë’s place in respectable Victorian culture for the rest of the century. This paper explores the various religious literary traditions…
Find out more »February Second-hand Book Sale
On the second Sunday of each month, Elizabeth Gaskell's House hosts a fantastic second-hand book sale, downstairs in the Servants Hall. All proceeds go towards supporting operations and events in the House. The tearoom always has a fine selection of new and second-hand books for sale, but this is the big one! It's a chance to browse a much wider selection – two rooms filled with second-hand books, donated by book-lovers! The selection includes a variety of fiction, art, gardening,…
Find out more »Writing Anne Lister – SOLD OUT
To celebrate LGBT History Month, the Gaskell Society is delighted to welcome Dr Jill Liddington, whose scholarly research into the diaries of Anne Lister inspired the BBC/HBO series Gentleman Jack. How do you begin to write about a woman who has already written a diary of over four million words? How do you start to decipher the code in which she writes about the most private parts of her life? In 1990, Dr Liddington began work on the now-famous Anne…
Find out more »Lunchtime Reading: International Mother Language Day
It’s International Mother Language day! Join the fabulous team of Elizabeth Gaskell House volunteers from across the globe, as they read extracts from Elizabeth Gaskell’s writings in their own languages. Lunch-time talks and readings are included in usual House entry No booking required, but please make sure you arrive in good time to get a seat.
Find out more »Knutsford Meeting – February 2020
In February, we'll be discussing the short story, The Doom of the Griffiths. Click here to download our points for discussion. Our monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of each month, between October and April (except December). An excellent buffet lunch is served at 12.30pm followed by a talk and discussion, led by Dr Diane Duffy, 2-3pm. There will also be a chance to visit the Gaskell Exhibition Room, upstairs in the Chapel Hall building. Everyone is most welcome…
Find out more »Lunchtime Talk: Ruskin in Manchester
John Ruskin had a lot to say about Manchester. Find out just what he thought of our great city in this lunch-time lecture with the Gaskell Society's Anthony Burton. Stay to explore some of the correspondence between Ruskin and Elizabeth Gaskell in the Ruskin exhibition too. Lunch-time talks are included in usual House entry No booking required, but please make sure you arrive in good time to get a seat.
Find out more »Reading the Nineteenth Century 2 – Adam Bede
A new, five-part evening reading course at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House - enter the world of fallen women in the Victorian novel. When a women’s virtue is compromised, what choices lie open to her? Whose fault is it that she falls in the first place? And what will happen to the children born as a result? To answer these questions, Sherry Ashworth, Visiting Teaching fellow at Manchester Writing School, will lead you into the turbulent fictional lives of these Nineteenth-Century women,…
Find out more »March 2020
Manchester Meeting at Cross Street Chapel
Patrick & Charlotte Brontë's Manchester A talk by Susan Dunne, of the Gaskell Society In the late summer of 1847, Charlotte & Patrick Brontë came to Manchester in the hope that an eye operation would save Patrick's failing sight. Although the stay was brief, their experience in Manchester would transform the lives of the Brontës forever. It was here, living in an obscure street in Hulme just half a mile away from Elizabeth Gaskell, that Charlotte began to write the literary…
Find out more »March Second-hand Book Sale
On the second Sunday of each month, Elizabeth Gaskell's House hosts a fantastic second-hand book sale, downstairs in the Servants Hall. All proceeds go towards supporting operations and events in the House. The tearoom always has a fine selection of new and second-hand books for sale, but this is the big one! It's a chance to browse a much wider selection – two rooms filled with second-hand books, donated by book-lovers! The selection includes a variety of fiction, art, gardening,…
Find out more »Lunchtime Talk: International Women’s Day
Celebrate International Women’s Day with Dr Diane Duffy, as she explores the writing of Elizabeth Gaskell’s fellow female authors. Were Elizabeth Gaskell’s women writer friends female scribblers or literary lions? Find out in this talk on Victorian women writers. And it’s our famous second-hand book sale today too! Enjoy a leisurely browse of our huge selection of books, and treat yourself to delicious tea and cake in our tea room! Lunch-time talks and readings are included in usual House entry…
Find out more »Knutsford Meeting – March 2020 – CANCELLED
In March, we'll be discussing the short story, The Well of Pen-Morfa. Our monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of each month, between October and April (except December). An excellent buffet lunch is served at 12.30pm followed by a talk and discussion, led by Dr Diane Duffy, 2-3pm. There will also be a chance to visit the Gaskell Exhibition Room, upstairs in the Chapel Hall building. Everyone is most welcome - £10 members, £11 non-members if you'd like…
Find out more »April 2020
The Gaskell Society AGM 2020 – POSTPONED
Given the current situation, we have decided to postpone our Annual General Meeting. We intend to reschedule it for later in the year. ---------------- A warm welcome to our Annual General Meeting. The AGM is open to Gaskell Society members only, but the talks and lunch are open to members and non-members alike. Timetable 10.00 am: Tea and Coffee 10.30 am: AGM 11.30 am: The Daphne Carrick Memorial Lecture: ‘Was it quite impossible but that your Ruth should die?’ Elizabeth Gaskell’s self-sacrificial heroine and…
Find out more »Reading the Nineteenth Century 4 – The Unclassed – POSTPONED
Please note that this event has been postponed, due to the Covid-19 outbreak. We hope to reschedule the sessions as soon as it's safe and we're able to do so. ---------- A new, five-part evening reading course at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House - enter the world of fallen women in the Victorian novel. When a women’s virtue is compromised, what choices lie open to her? Whose fault is it that she falls in the first place? And what will happen to…
Find out more »Lunchtime Talk: Forgotten Female Novelists – POSTPONED
Please note that this event has been postponed, due to the Covid-19 outbreak. We hope to reschedule the sessions as soon as it's safe and we're able to do so. ---------- Discover the work of women authors whose fiction has been forgotten. Join our Chair, the wonderfully engaging Libby Tempest, as she uncovers the work of these unsung writers. Lunch-time talks and readings are included in usual House entry No booking required, but please make sure you arrive in good…
Find out more »Knutsford Meeting – April 2020 – CANCELLED
In April, we'll be discussing the short story, The Squire's Story. Our monthly meetings are held on the last Wednesday of each month, between October and April (except December). An excellent buffet lunch is served at 12.30pm followed by a talk and discussion, led by Dr Diane Duffy, 2-3pm. There will also be a chance to visit the Gaskell Exhibition Room, upstairs in the Chapel Hall building. Everyone is most welcome - £10 members, £11 non-members if you'd like lunch.…
Find out more »May 2020
London & South East Gaskell Society Meeting – POSTPONED
Please note that this event has been postponed, due to the Covid-19 outbreak. We hope to reschedule the sessions as soon as it's safe and we're able to do so. ---------- Eco-Gothic and Mary Barton A talk by Dr Lindsey Stewart This talk will consider how Mary Barton presents emotional and psychological distress and argue that, in this novel, Gaskell uses eco-gothic tropes to frame the environment as pathological. Lindsey is a member of our branch and a Visiting Fellow in the…
Find out more »Peak District Tour, with Elizabeth Gaskell & Florence Nightingale connections – CANCELLED
As part of the tour, we are promised a privileged tour of Lea Hurst, where Florence Nightingale grew up and where Elizabeth Gaskell wrote part of the novel North and South in October 1854. The novel was being serialised in Dickens’s journal Household Words. Lea Hurst was the summer home of William Nightingale and his family. Several letters, describing Gaskell’s precise location in the house and the visits she made whilst staying there, were also written, including those to Marianne,…
Find out more »Reading the Nineteenth Century 5 – Esther Waters – POSTPONED
Please note that this event has been postponed, due to the Covid-19 outbreak. We hope to reschedule the sessions as soon as it's safe and we're able to do so. ---------- A new, five-part evening reading course at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House - enter the world of fallen women in the Victorian novel. When a women’s virtue is compromised, what choices lie open to her? Whose fault is it that she falls in the first place? And what will happen to…
Find out more »As you’ll appreciate, arrangements can change, so please be sure to check details before you leave home.