Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865)
Author of North and South
About the Author
Elizabeth Gaskell was born on September 29, 1810 to a Unitarian clergyman, who was also a civil servant and journalist. Her mother died when she was young, and she was brought up by her aunt in Knutsford, a small village that was the prototype for Cranford, Hollingford and the setting for numerous show more other short stories. In 1832, she married William Gaskell, a Unitarian clergyman in Manchester. She participated in his ministry and collaborated with him to write the poem Sketches among the Poor in 1837. Our Society at Cranford was the first two chapters of Cranford and it appeared in Dickens' Household Words in 1851. Dickens liked it so much that he pressed Gaskell for more episodes, and she produced eight more of them between 1852 and 1853. She also wrote My Lady Ludlow and Lois the Witch, a novella that concerns the Salem witch trials. Wives and Daughters ran in Cornhill from August 1864 to January 1866. The final installment was never written but the ending was known and the novel exists now virtually complete. The story centers on a series of relationships between family groups in Hollingford. Most critics agree that her greatest achievement is the short novel Cousin Phillis. Gaskell was also followed by controversy. In 1853, she offended many readers with Ruth, which explored seduction and illegitimacy that led the "fallen woman" into ostracism and inevitable prostitution. The novel presents the social conduct in a small community when tolerance and morality clash. Critics praised the novel's moral lessons but Gaskell's own congregation burned the book and it was banned in many libraries. In 1857, The Life of Charlotte Brontë was published. The biography was initially praised but angry protests came from some of the people it dealt with. Gaskell was against any biographical notice of her being written during her lifetime. After her death on November 12, 1865, her family refused to make family letters or biographical data available. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell: The Complete Novels [Mary Barton, Cranford, Ruth, North and South, etc.] (Book House) (2012) 20 copies
The Life of Charlotte Brontë (Cambridge Library Collection - Literary Studies) (Volume 1) (2001) 19 copies
The Life and works of Charlote Bronte and Her Sisters (Collected Works of Charlotte Bronte 7 volumes) (1872) 7 copies
My Lady Ludlow and Other Tales 7 copies
[unidentified works] 5 copies
Right at last, and other tales 4 copies
The Lady Chillers: classic ghost and horror stories by women authors (15 complete stories by Victorian and Edwardian… (2014) 4 copies
The works of Elizabeth Gaskell. Volume 3, Novellas and shorter fiction II, Round the Sofa, and Tales from Household… (2017) 2 copies
Reading & Training - Life Skills : Elizabeth Gaskell : North and South [book + sound recording] (2017) — Writer — 2 copies
Mrs Gaskell"s works pocket edition Mary Barton, and Other Tales. Cranford, and Other Tales. Ruth, and Other Tales,… (1890) 2 copies
The Collected Short Stories of Elizabeth Gaskell [Annotated] (Civitas Library Classics) (2012) 2 copies
The Collected Works of Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell: The Complete Works PergamonMedia (Highlights of World Literature) (2015) 1 copy
Life in Manchester (1847) 1 copy
The Collected Supernatural and Weird Fiction of Mrs. Gaskell-Volume 2: Including One Novel 'a Dark Night's… (2012) 1 copy
Hand in A Wisker Cranford 1 copy
Gaskell, Elisabeth Archive 1 copy
Esposas e Hijas [DVD] 1 copy
The Collected Supernatural and Weird Fiction of Mrs. Gaskell-Volume 1: Including Three Novellas 'Lois the Witch,… (2012) 1 copy
The English Christmas 1 copy
Martha Preston 1 copy
Gaskell Shorter Works 1 copy
English Short Stories 1 copy
Short stories. Selections^Four short stories / Elizabeth Gaskell ; introduced by Anna Walters 1 copy
Cranford and other tales 1 copy
(all) 1 copy
Disappearances 1 copy
The Shah's English Gardener 1 copy
Elizabeth Gaskell 1 copy
Cousin Phillis: To which are added: Lois the Witch, The crooked branch, Curious if true, Right at last, The grey woman, (1972) 1 copy
Clopton House 1 copy
The Manchester marriage El matrimonio de Manchester : versión bilingüe abreviada y simplificada (2000) 1 copy
Grey Woman and Other Tales 1 copy
Elizabeth Gaskell: The Complete Supernatural Stories (tales of ghosts and mystery: The Grey Woman, Lois the Witch,… (2018) 1 copy
La Clarissa 1 copy
Stop What You’re Doing and Read…To Warm You in Cold Weather: Little Women And Good Wives & The Cranford Chronicles (2012) 1 copy
Elizabeth Gaskell: The Complete Novels A Biography of the Author (The Greatest Writers of All Time) (2017) 1 copy
Cranford and Mary Barton 1 copy
Elizabeth Gaskell's Collected Works: Mary Barton, Cranford, North and South, Wives and Daughters, and More! (26… (2014) 1 copy
All the Year Round. Bound Volume of Issues 177 to 200 from September 13, 1862 to February 21, 1863 (1863) 1 copy
Curioso, se fosse vero 1 copy
Cousin Phillis & Other Tales 1 copy
Works of Mrs. Gaskell 1 copy
Noord en Zuid 1 copy
Mi prima Filis novela 1 copy
Associated Works
The Penguin Book of Ghost Stories: From Elizabeth Gaskell to Ambrose Bierce (2010) — Contributor — 140 copies
The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories, Volume One (2016) — Contributor — 125 copies
In the Shadow of Agatha Christie: Classic Crime Fiction by Forgotten Female Writers, 1850-1917 (2018) — Contributor — 89 copies
Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: 1852-1923 (2020) — Contributor — 80 copies
Delphi Complete Works of Charles Dickens (Illustrated) (2011) — Contributor, some editions — 77 copies
The Phantom Coach: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Ghost Stories (The Connoisseur's Collections) (1900) — Contributor — 57 copies
The Darker Sex: Tales of the Supernatural and Macabre by Victorian Women Writers (2009) — Contributor — 48 copies
The Lifted Veil: The Book of Fantastic Literature by Women 1800-World War II (1806) — Contributor — 41 copies
The Elizabeth Gaskell Collection (Wives and Daughters / Cranford / North and South) (2014) — Original Books — 31 copies
The Gentlewomen of Evil: An Anthology of Rare Supernatural Stories from the Pens of Victorian Ladies, (1967) — Contributor — 28 copies
Cranford: The Collection [Cranford & Return to Cranford TV series] (2008) — Original book — 24 copies
Regarding Jane Eyre: Writers Respond to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1997) — Contributor — 16 copies
Isaac Asimov Presents the Best Horror and Supernatural of the 19th Century (1983) — Contributor — 16 copies
Holy Ghosts: Classic Tales of the Ecclesiastical Uncanny: 38 (British Library Tales of the Weird) (2023) — Contributor — 9 copies
English short stories of the nineteenth century — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
- Other names
- Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn
Stevenson, Elizabeth Cleghorn (birth name) - Birthdate
- 1810-09-29
- Date of death
- 1865-11-12
- Burial location
- Brook Street Chapel graveyard, Knutsford, Cheshire, England, UK
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- UK
- Birthplace
- Chelsea, London, England, UK
- Place of death
- Holybourne, Hampshire, England, UK
- Cause of death
- heart attack
- Places of residence
- Lindsay Row (now 93 Cheyne Walk)
Heathwaite, Heathside, Knutsford, Cheshire, England, UK
Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
Barford, Warwickshire, England, UK
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, UK
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England, UK (show all 7)
Plymouth Grove, Manchester, England, UK - Education
- Avonbank School, Stratford-upon-Avon, England, UK
Barford House - Occupations
- novelist
short story writer
biographer
ghost story writer - Relationships
- Gaskell, Jane (great-great-great-grand-niece)
Stevenson, William (father)
Stevenson, John (brother)
Holland, Bryan T. (grandson)
Members
Discussions
Group read: Curious, If True by Elizabeth Gaskell / The Lifted Veil by George Eliot in Virago Modern Classics (November 15)
Victorian Q2 Read-Along: North and South in Club Read 2022 (September 2022)
Group Read, December 2021: North and South in 1001 Books to read before you die (December 2021)
Group Read, January 2017: Cranford in 1001 Books to read before you die (February 2017)
1816: Charlotte Brontë - Resources and General Discussion in Literary Centennials (January 2016)
July Group Read: Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell in 2014 Category Challenge (August 2014)
North and South, Chapters 27-52 (Spoiler Thread) in 75 Books Challenge for 2011 (January 2012)
North and South, Chapters 1-26 (Spoiler Thread) in 75 Books Challenge for 2011 (December 2011)
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell (Non-Spoiler Thread) in 75 Books Challenge for 2011 (December 2011)
Anyone care to discuss, or read and discuss, 'Sylvia's Lovers' by Elizabeth Gaskell? in Girlybooks (October 2011)
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 198
- Also by
- 106
- Members
- 26,060
- Popularity
- #799
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 724
- ISBNs
- 1,572
- Languages
- 21
- Favorited
- 175