About
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (née Stevenson) was born in Chelsea, London, in 1810. After her mother's death, she was raised in Knutsford, Cheshire, which later became the model for her novel Cranford. Married to Reverend William Gaskell, she settled in Manchester, where she observed the social conditions of the industrial era. Her first novel, Mary Barton (1848), published anonymously, was a success. She went on to write Cranford, Ruth, North and South, and Sylvia's Lovers. She also authored The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857), a pioneering biography. She died suddenly in 1865, leaving Wives and Daughters unfinished.
* 1810-09-28 — † 1865-11-12
Major works
- Mary Barton (1848)novel
- Cranford (1853)novel
- Ruth (1853)novel
- North and South (1855)novel
- The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857)biography
Key milestones
- 1832Married Reverend William Gaskell, Unitarian minister in Manchester.
- 1848Published her first novel, Mary Barton, anonymously.
- 1857Published The Life of Charlotte Brontë, a biography commissioned by Charlotte's father.
Themes
Social and industrial conditionsRole of womenProvincial lifeReligion and moralityClass and gender
Sources: library.manchester.ac.uk · oxfordbibliographies.com