The Real Cali Cali

“Gods be good, why would any man ever want to be king? When everyone was shouting King in the North, King in the North, I told myself.. swore to myself.. that I would be a good king, as honorable as Father, strong, just, loyal to my friends and brave when I faced my enemies.. now I can’t even tell one from the other. How did it all get so confused?”

elizabeth gaskell  

elizabeth cleghorn stevenson was born on the 29th september 1910 in london, to a unitarian family. her mother died suddenly when she was a baby, and she was sent to live with her mother’s sister, hannah, in the cheshire town of knutsford in northern england.

it was there she would marry her husband, william gaskell, in 1832. william was a unitarian minister at cross street chapel in manchester, which is where the couple would settle and live for their entire marriage. the couple had six children, but only four survived infancy. their first child was a daughter, stillborn in 1833; they then had four other daughters, marianne, margaret (known as meta), florence, and julia, as well as a son, william (known as willie). sadly, willie died in infancy of scarlet fever.

it was the death of willie that led to william suggesting that elizabeth explore writing as an outlet for her grief. this in turn resulted in the writing and publication of her first novel, mary barton. she would go on to write other novels, novellas, and short stories, many of which explored themes of poverty, social class, and industrialisation. she was noted for her use of lancashire dialect in her work and for covering controversial subjects that were considered shocking for the time, such as having children out of wedlock or prostitution. her choosing to write on these topics was considered especially controversial given her role as a minister’s wife. in fact, members of her husband’s congregation would actually burn copies of her novel ruth.

aside from her writing, elizabeth was an active member of her local community, helping with many charitable causes. she was also something of a social butterfly, counting some of the period’s most famous people amongst her circle of friends, including charles dickens, florence nightingale, john ruskin, and harriet beecher stowe, amongst others; but perhaps the most famous of these is her close friendship with fellow novelist charlotte bronte. the two were very close to one another, close enough that when charlotte died her father patrick asked elizabeth to write a biography of his daughter’s life. the life of charlotte bronte became one of elizabeth’s most controversial works, as she included many scandalous details about prominent members of society. some of these people threatened to sue her for libel, forcing her to rewrite chunks of the text.

elizabeth was also a very independent person. whilst she and william had a very close and understanding relationship, he allowed her a great deal of freedom - indeed, some of their contemporaries believed her gave her too much freedom. she was known for her headstrong and bold personality. she would often go travelling with her daughters without her husband, who preferred to remain on british soil. in fact, when elizabeth died she was in the process of completing the purchase of a house in hampshire, which she had bought without william’s knowledge, with the intention it would be a retirement home for them.

she died of a heart related illness in 1865, aged 55, inside that very house. she was survived by her husband and their four daughters, and had not finished her final novel, wives and daughters. elizabeth is primarily remembered today for her writing, particularly north and south and cranford, the latter being inspired by her upbringing in knutsford. her novels have been adapted for television, introducing a new audience to her works.

the white queen / the white princess + queen consorts

H O U S E   T A R G A R Y E N ➻ fake book of the houses

Like their dragons the Targaryens answered to neither gods nor men.

pt. v - family members         - catelyn, robb, sansa, arya