MRS. GASKELL AND KNUTSFORD. 
(Illustrated by the Lantern). 
By Rev. G. A. PAYNE. October 19/A, 1909. 
Mr. Payne is, and has been for some time, a resident of 
Knutsford, an interesting old-world town where memories 
of Mrs. Gaskell are affectionately cherished to this day. 
Mrs. Gaskell was born at Chelsea in 1810, her mother being 
a daughter of Mr. Holland, of Sandlebridge, near Knutsford, 
a descendant of an ancient Lancashire family. Within 
a month after her birth her mother died, and the baby was 
taken to Knutsford to live with an aunt. At fifteen she 
was sent to a school near Stratford-on-Avon, where she was 
taught Latin and Greek. As a girl she knew the Knutsford 
district very well. In a letter to William and Mary Howitt, 
written in 1838, she prettily describes the old hall at Tabley, 
so faithfully portrayed in Chapter 5 of “ Mr. Harrison’s 
Confessions.” She occasionally visited London and New- 
castle-on-Tyne. 
In the Knutsford Parish Church she was married in~1832 
to the Rev. William Gaskell, a Minister of Cross Street Uni- 
tarian Chapel, Manchester, Dissenters then being unable to 
marry in their own Chapels. It was a happy marriage, and 
each was able to help the other very considerably. She 
was ready at all times to engage in works of charity, and 
during the cotton famine in Manchester she shewed a practical 
sympathy with the poor which won for her a place in their 
hearts. 
It is a matter of controversy whether or no Mrs. Gaskell 
drew her characters directly from life, and described places 
with which she was actually associated. Knutsford is believed 
to be the original of “ Cranford,” and it is just as likely to 
be the “ Duncombe ” of “ Mr. Harrison’s Confessions,” the 
“ Hollingford ” of “ Wives and Daughters,” and the “ Eltham” 
