現邸主 MEETING OF 強 E GASKELL SOCIETY WILL BE lN MAN C'昆 EST 限必 84 乱， YMOUT 聾 GROVE Date: Date: APRIL 26TH T1 箇e: 2. ∞p ・乱 CMmRMpueba4J ke ec 世&+』 ---e ふ GEOF 路島Y SI 強RPS を t1AMW HO 官 1 BECAME A GASKELLIA 琵 付wm T錦町 主1.00 叩川町 UHH 品世:ミ RSVP: MRS J 脅 LEAC 日- Tel: 0565 4;:¥ 五8 Jt ， 、:J C， iγγCCNず~t. 島民.00 鉱 ST. 続 IAP&L 制吋 揺蹄.G 制加語、 G師協 PIAN 守1:) F.N>> p、 "~o U1" H CHESHU 2.[ ミ G 時:T VE. 混 う J& ふ N WS 1L JE rTJE Comment8 ， contributioDS and suggestions welcomed by the 恕X 宝OR: Mrs J. Lea ch ， Far Yew Tree .House ， OVer OVer Tabley ，Knutsford ，Che~hire 砥晶 16 鑑賞 離 AllC 麗 19.' NO.I Telephone: Telephone: 0565 4668 EDITCR'S LETTER 工 have only 工'ecent 工y realised hoVJ many literarγsocieties there are and what exce 工工 ent 工iterature many of them produce~ so 工 am rather nervous about venturing into print as editor of this ，the first Gaskel 工 Society Newsletter 。 The B~cntg Society was founded in 1893 so 工 am sure that their first pub 工ications must now be co 工工 ectors' itemso Our two Societies share a common interest through tt. e 、寸 friendship of Elizabeth Gaskell and Charlotte Bron 七話; in the current Brontg Socie 七y Transactions Mrs Gaskell's name appears on a third of 七he pages 。 As members of The GB_skell Society we have some missionary work to do ，to win better recognition for Eユizabeth Gaske 工工 's varied achievemen 七S 。 工t is encouragins to note that her novels are now available in several paper-back series: OaUaPo ，Penguin and Den 七。 工was appal 工ed by the inaccuracy of Longman's Outline of English Literature entry for Elizabeth Gaske ユエ which 工 found on the shelves of my local library;ι'Ruth is the sad story of aεirl whose paren 七s are dead~ North and South is a study of the different lives led by English peop1e ， especia ユ1y the poor in the north and the happier ones in the south'o There is no mention of Cousin Phi1lis ，Sylvia 智 S Lover's or Wives and Daughters; the fact that it was written for overseas studen 七s does not excuse such omissions and inaccuracies and 1 wrote to te 工工 them so 。 Our steering committee has met twice since October and now has a draft constitution prepared to present to members at 七hεApri 工 meetingo ~e propose to hold the spring meeting ~ach year in Manchester on the 1ast Saturday in April and the -AoG 。刊。 in Knutsford on the last Saturday in Septembero As 1 have been asked s E' vera1 times when 工 am going to do ザ「 the Cranford Walk. again (sounds as if it should be set to music!) 工 shal1 repeat it on the 1ast Sunday in Sep 七ember ， }1 rs Gaske1l's bir 七hday being September 29tho 工f it takes place in the morning ，perhaps some of our members from distant p工aces may wish to stay overnight and join us; we 、 Knutsfordians might even treat them to a sandingo Many societ ies a. re trustee.s of the home of their authors which gives them a sense of purpose and identity ，but we ベノ 2 are fortunate in having avai ユable to us ヲ for n1E: 8七ings ， エNAUGURAT 工む N OF THE GASKEL1 SOC 工五 TY places ¥r Jith strong Gask E: 11 connections v.，r ithout ha.ving the A BrontM Society Member's Account re .s ponsibi 工ity for upkeep and maintenanceo Brook Street Chapel can only be described as Elizabeth Gaskel1 9 s On Saturday ，12th October 1985 ，the smal 工 Cheshire tow ロ spiritua1 home; one of her ancestors was a wi 七ness to the of Knutsford openly recognised a notable historic 工ink earliest extant trust deed in 169 斗 and many others are by providing the set 七ing for the formation of a new buried close to her in the chapel graveyarda All 1i ter; 三ry soci8ty ，to be known as The Gaske11 おociety" Ge ミske1 工ians w土工工 cherish Brook street Chape10 工七 was an event 喧 surprising only in that it had not happened long ago 四 that is of a11 the more interest in 工n Nεtnches 七81" there is Cross Street Chapel ¥vherε 'v li1liam view of the common ground which the new Society will Gaske1 工 minisiered for many years and a工工 the family inevitably share with the Bront 話 Society ，now not so joined in Sunday Schoo 工 teach 土ng and social work; at the many years short of its 100th anniversaryo Apart from Portico Library Wi 工工 iam was chairman for many years ，and the friendship which formed naturally between the two 84 Plymouth Grove ，where the Gaske 工工 family welcomed 80 nove ユists and advocates of women's rights ，i 七 was her rnany rnany visi to. T' S" rrhis 工atter Necca is where we shal 工 ho1d IILife f1 .of Char 工otte Brontg that won E1izabeth Gaske 工工 a ouf next meetinga place among the great biographers 。 Our membership is increasing steadi 工y and now i8 near1y 工n the ユate afternoon of a bright autumn day ，at the sixtYa We are pleased to have Dr Edgar Wright southern end of the tmvn the Brook Stree 七， Chapel school 町 (1-11" 8 Gaske11: The Basis for Reassessment ，OaUoPo 1965) ~ room l. .;as opened tc the public ，i :n vi ted there ，in 七he j五五「芯守芯 5r ちntario ，Canada 了石 ldτT 古5Td Duthie (?与 e terms of the prospectus ，"to discuss the fo 士、 matiori of the The 盗塁_of El:b~_~þg1 .h. Ga8 訟斗ラ ihcIT11 工工8. n '1980) who '.!Jrote to Gas l:<今工ユ Society" c 1n the event ， thE' only discussion me ，f1t was a joy to me to 1ive in the Gaskel 工 wor ld ¥^ihen needed centred on a few practical details ，for as had v.r riting my book" 1 become evident to anyone with even a cursory acquaintance .c .c ¥1e are especia ユly pleased 土o announce that--Profes s. or with recent developments at Knutsford ，七 he concep 七 of a ~.Arthur Pollard has accepted our invi tation toγbe our Gaskel 工 Society had been steadily growing during the Presidento Not on1y 1JJ as he joi 立t editor ヲ with course of 198 ラ， the 175th anniversary year of Jo Ao Vo Chapple ，of the Collected Letters but a180 Mr8 Gaskell's birth; 七he series of events arranged to a. uthor of f! vIrs Gaskel 工: Nove1ist and Biogra pher ' nJJ <J UP00 ce ユebratE ・ this anniversary had ，by the end of September ， 1965)" The 泊三 dea for a collection of letter 正予三 s so much taken 0ηthe form they wou1d have taken had a germinated in Knutsford when ProfeS80 工・ Pollard attended Gaske 工工 Society existed ，that it needed on 工y the presence an event t0 mark the 150th anni versary '" Dr J" K" tvalley of 80me 与5 int.erested persons in the schoolroom on 七he was Chairman of the Committee for that anniversary and 守之 th October to acknowledge that the Gaskell Society was is now Chairman of our Society" Although 1 am a genuine not just virtually but verily in beingo Knutsfordian ヲ工 was living in Kent at that time 事 or The Society owes its inauguration to the work of perhaps The Gaske11 Society might have originated 七hen; 工 am sure Mrs Gaske 工1 wi11 still have faithfu 工 readers Mrs Joan Leach ，herse 工fa Knutsfordian ，who at the outset at her 200th anniversary ，but 1 might not have had 七he became interested in local history. .But as her ，research necessary dfive for a founding secretary if 1 had 10ft proeeeded ，her findings became so inextricab1y interwoven it til1 then! with Knutsford's Gaske 工1 associations that inevitably Mrs Gaskell came to occupy a great part of her interest 。 工t was this that 1ed her to cel~brate the 29th September ， 四 000- Hrs Gaske 工工 's birthday ，by organising and conducting a q ノ h this amount"μrs Leach had a1rsady obtained subventions nCranford ~Jalkìl (for ¥'uhich she also published an from 工oca1 bodies for the anniversary ce1ebrations ，and admirab 工y informati -v e a n: d.attractive leaflet) ，and to thought that more cou ユd be done in this directiono エt fo11ow this up 七he next day ~ith a Literary Luncheon held was envisaged that two general meetings wou1d be held each in the Royal George Hotelo year: a September meeting 事 probably combined with a Literary.Luncheon ，at Knutsford 事 and a spring meeting 事 Hrs Gaskell. vJ." as :brought up in Knu 七eford from her second most probab ユy in Hanchestero Other .mooted activities year by her aunt ，her deceased mother's sister ，and she inc1uded .the publication of an annua 工 magazine or journa1 う paid her tribute to it in her book HCranford" 事 by which and visits to places connected with Mrs Gaske エエ， such as she is perhaps most generally knowno The Brook Street Gawthorpe Hall ヲ Silverda ユe ，and the Lake Districto The Unitarian Chapel 守 bui 工七 in 1689 and loving 工y preserved; aim of the new Society ，as stated on the day's prograrume ， became her spiritual homeo She herself was buried there ， is to link a11 those with an interest in Mrs Gaske 工1 ，and together with her husband and two of her daughters; nearby to promote connected act ュvit ュes and research ，as we 工1 as are the gra~es of her ancestorso 工七 was thu.s fitting that a wider appreciation of her achiev&mentso in the earlier part of the afternoon of 12th October the Chapel should be the scene of a present a.