So writes Elizabeth Gaskell in April 1850 about 42, Plymouth Grove, the house that was to become the Gaskells’ family home for the next sixty-three years. Over the years, visitors to Elizabeth Gaskell’s House have shown a great deal of interest in the building and the development of the Manchester suburbs. Attempts have previously been made to date the house, with a consensus settling on a period between 1837 and 1840. However, using the Manchester Rate Books, which give a year-by-year account of properties and their owner/occupiers, it is possible to make a more accurate calculation. Furthermore, these documents give a clear picture of the development of Manchester as an industrial city.
In the nineteenth century most people rented houses and a wealthy landlord might hold a large number of properties in his portfolio. Such was the case with William Occleshaw, a lead manufacturer with leasehold and freehold manufacturing properties in Lees-street, Whittle’s Croft, Junction-street, Mather-street, and Aqueduct-street, in Piccadilly, central Manchester. When Elizabeth Gaskell moved into 42, Plymouth Grove in 1850, Occleshaw’s estate ( he died in 1848) owned 25 properties in Plymouth Grove, including what was later to become the Elizabeth Gaskell House. Read all: gaskellsociety/building-plymouth-grove/