Elizabeth Gaskell

Elizabeth Gaskell was born in 1810. Her mother died not too long afterwards. Her father saw no alternative for Elizabeth except to live with her mother's sister in the north of England. She only met her family occasionally after this time. Elizabeth Gaskell married and settled in the northern city of Manchester, where her husband worked for a church. Living in an industrial city was to have a great effect on Mrs. Gaskell’s writing, as she saw poverty first-hand. Her first child, a daughter, was stillborn. A son also died when he was only a year old. This tragedy was the reason for Gaskell's first novel, ‘Mary Barton’, as the doctors thought a ‘hobby’ would do her good. Her novels are detailed pictures of the lives of individuals from many social classes, including the very poor. When she died of a heart attack at the age of fifty-five, she was one of only two authors exploring issues of social justice – the other was a friend of hers, Charles Dickens. Mrs. Gaskell remains well-known today, especially for her great novels of working life, ‘North and South’ and ‘Wives and Daughters’.