21 Aug Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell spent her formative years in Knutsford (15 miles south of Manchester) where she’s commemorated by the Gaskell Memorial Tower in the town center. Knutsford was the inspiration for Cranford (1851-53) in her novel of the same name, lovingly dramatized in the BBC’s 2007-10 mini-series starring Judi Dench and other great character actors. Mrs Gaskell’s later home in Manchester is a restored Regency villa – now a wonderful museum – where she lived from 1850 until her death in 1865, deserves to be included in any literary tour of England.

Mrs Gaskell wrote her greatest novels in the Manchester house, including Wives and Daughters (1865) and North and South (1854-55), both of which were also brilliantly adapted for television by the BBC. She entertained Charles Dickens, John Ruskin and other literati there also. All were admirers of the gritty realism of her writing. Charlotte Brontë was a frequent visitor between 1851 and 1854. The two became great friends, inspiring Gaskell to write a passionate biography: The Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857).