Gawthorpe Hall and the Story of a Friendship

An alert for tomorrow, June 21:

Gawthorpe Hall and the Story of a Friendship

An illuminating talk on the friendship between Elizabeth Gaskell and Charlotte Brontë and how the Kay-Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe Hall played a major part in it

by Dr Diane Duffy.

Gawthorpe Hall, Fri 21 Jun 2024 at 13:00 - 14:00

This event is held in the Nursery on the second floor of Gawthorpe Hall.

In 1850 Charlotte Brontë and Elizabeth Gaskell met for the first time in Bowness on Windermere, the Kay-Shuttleworth's holiday home. By this time both were established novelists and they became firm friends. The story of their friendship is well documented, what is perhaps less well documented is the integral part the Kay-Shuttleworths of Gawthorpe played in this relationship, both during Charlotte’s lifetime and after her death in 1855. In this talk Dr Duffy will explore this three-way friendship and its ramifications both before and after Charlotte’s death, paying particular attention to Elizabeth’s representation of her friend in the controversial biography published in 1857.

Dr Diane Duffy has a PhD in women writing history during the early 19th century. Since retiring from teaching she has been a member of the Gaskell Society, becoming its Chair last year. She is also a volunteer, researcher and Trustee at the Elizabeth Gaskell House in Manchester. Published articles have appeared in Romantic Textualities and the Gaskell Society Journal.