Editing Elizabeth Gaskell (section)

==Character and influences==
Much of Gaskell's childhood was spent in Cheshire, where she lived with her aunt Hannah Lumb in Knutsford, the town she immortalized as ''[[Cranford (novel)|Cranford]]''. They lived in a large red-brick house called The Heath (now Heathwaite).<ref>{{cite book |author=Jenny Uglow |author-link=Jenny Uglow |title=Elizabeth Gaskell: A Habit of Stories |publisher=Faber & Faber |year=1993 |isbn=0-571-20359-0 |pages=13–14}}</ref><ref>Heathside (now Gaskell Avenue), which faces the large open area of Knutsford Heath.</ref> She grew to be a beautiful young woman, well-groomed, tidily dressed, kind, gentle, and considerate of others.  Her temperament was calm and collected, joyous and innocent, she revelled in the simplicity of rural life.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gaskell |first=Elizabeth Cleghorn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B-Y9jgEACAAJ |title=The Doom of the Griffiths (annotated) |date=1858 |publisher=Interactive Media |isbn=978-1-911495-12-3 |pages=introduction |oclc=974343914}}</ref> 

From 1821 to 1826 she attended a school in [[Warwickshire]] run by the [[Maria Byerley|Misses Byerley]], first at [[Barford, Warwickshire|Barford]] and from 1824 at Avonbank outside [[Stratford-on-Avon (district)|Stratford-on-Avon]],<ref name="Chronology"/> where she received the traditional education in arts, the classics, decorum and propriety given to young ladies from relatively wealthy families at the time. Her aunts gave her the classics to read, and she was encouraged by her father in her studies and writing. Her brother John sent her modern books, and descriptions of his life at sea and his experiences abroad.<ref name="Pocket">{{cite book |title=Introduction to The Manchester Marriage |last=Michell |first=Sheila |year=1985 |publisher=Alan Sutton |location=UK |isbn=0-86299-247-8 |pages=iv–viii }}<!--|access-date=29 February 2012--></ref>

After leaving school at the age of 16, she travelled to London to spend time with her Holland cousins.<ref name="Pocket"/> She also spent some time in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] (with the [[William Turner (Unitarian minister)|Rev William Turner]]'s family) and from there made the journey to [[Edinburgh]].  Her stepmother's brother was the [[portrait miniature|miniature artist]] [[William John Thomson]], who in 1832 painted her portrait (see top right).  A bust was sculpted by David Dunbar at the same time.<ref name="Pocket"/>