Born in London on 29 September 1810, Elizabeth Gaskell grew up in the early decades of the nineteenth century in rural Cheshire and, despite her reputation as a writer of industrial fiction, it was the older, pre-urban world of her childhood which provided the setting and stimulus for her finest and most mature work. She was brought up in the care of her maternal family, the Hollands, her mother, Elizabeth, having died when she was 13 months old. An old-established Cheshire family, the Hollands were typical of the Unitarian tradition and faith to which they belonged: solidly middle-class (they were widely represented in the professions of law, medicine, farming, banking, and business, and connected through friendship and marriage to the Wedgwoods, the Turners, and the Darwins), their outlook was politically liberal and religiously tolerant. This...
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Citation: Billington, Josie. "Elizabeth Gaskell". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001; last revised 09 October 2025. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1699, accessed 13 December 2025.]
