© Gaskell Blog The marble bust of Elizabeth was sculpted c. 1829-31 before her marriage to the Rev. William Gaskell. Mr. Losh told my cousins in town that he thought my bust so very like Napoleon– do you? The artist, David Dunbar, was a student of the prestigious Sir Francis Chantrey and inspired by the…
Category: Life
Elizabeth Gaskell and Effie Ruskin née Gray, later Lady Millais
Gaskell Blog © Katherine C. The full-length portrait is of Effie Gray. She married famous art critic John Ruskin but their marriage was never consummated. Pre-Raphealite artist, John Everett Millais, was brought into Ruskin’s circle when his paintings started being accepted by the Royal Academy. Effie modeled for him in Order of the Release an…
Elizabeth Gaskell’s Publishers – Part One: Chapman & Hall and the influences of the Howitts and John Forster
Gaskell Blog © Katherine C. Working on her first novel, which would come to be known as Mary Barton, Elizabeth Gaskell sent an unfinished copy to her friends Mary and William Howitt. The Howitts were a literary and somewhat radical family. William was a published novelist and editor of his own journal (which Gaskell contributed to…
84 Plymouth Grove Architect: Richard Lane
Gaskell Blog © Katherine C. Born in London in 1795 Richard Lane studied architecture in Paris at Le École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. He settled in Manchester in 1821 and soon became one of the most prominent architects; He was a founder and President of the Manchester Architectural Society. While mostly known for his architecture…
Living at Elizabeth Gaskell’s Residence – An Interview with Monica Fairview
Gaskell Blog © Katherine C. In 1849 Mrs. Gaskell and her husband William contemplated building a new house. Their income had increased; she was earning more as a writer and William was appointed a tutor at Manchester’s new college. They decided on moving to the villa at 42 (now 84) Plymouth Grove, designed by distinguished…
Elizabeth Gaskell Biography: Birth, Childhood, & Education
Gaskell Blog © Katherine C. At Belle Vue House in Chelsea, London on the 29th of September 1810, Elizabeth Cleghorn was born into the Stevenson family. She was named after her mother and a friend of her father, James Cleghorn, who was a writer and farmer. She had a brother, John, who was older by…
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