Gaskell, Margaret Emily I Miss Meta Gaskell I 1837–1913, second daughter of the Rev. William Gaskell and his wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth Gaskell wrote of her daughter to George Smith: "Please always call her Meta – she never was called 'Margaret' from her birth..." (Letters, No. 451). Attended a school conducted by Miss Rachel Martineau in Liverpool. Travelled much with her mother on the Continent. Worked with her mother in relieving distress of the poor in Manchester; taught in Ragged School; once thought of nursing as a career, but did not actively pursue the plan. Was the most talented and intellectual of the Gaskell daughters. Had ability in music and art; received drawing lessons from Ruskin; at one time thought of becoming professional artist. After parents' death, continued to live in Manchester; was active in support of charitable and civic institutions. Her writing confined almost entirely to letter writing. A letter written by her after a visit to Haworth with her mother contains "one of the best extant accounts of life at the parsonage in Mr. Brontë's later years" (Hopkins, Elizabeth GaskellI, p. 310). 

Author: Anne Lohrli; © University of Toronto Press, 1971