Education and societies
Gaskell was a gifted teacher and lecturer, with a lifelong determination to expand the educational opportunities available to the working classes in Manchester. Such opportunities were limited in the 1830s; a Manchester Statistical Society report of 1834 showed that, with the exception of Manchester Grammar School and Chetham's Hospital, the main establishments involved in educating the poor were Sunday Schools. These schools gave children of 5–15 years a few hours of education each Sunday, with two-thirds of children benefitting. Two-thirds of the Sunday Schools worked outside the Church of England.
Both the Gaskells taught at the two Mosley Street Sunday Schools, which instructed young mill workers. Lessons covered basic numeracy and literacy in addition to traditional Biblical teaching, and Gaskell defended the practice of giving non-religious instruction on a Sunday, saying that they were doing 'their Father's business' by teaching reading. He and others lobbied successfully in 1832 for the two schools to be moved to improved premises, and some 400 pupils had been enrolled by 1847.
In 1836, Gaskell started to give evening classes at the Manchester Mechanics' Institute, which was later to become the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. Founded in 1824 to teach the poorest mill workers the institute was the first of its kind in the country. Its principal goal was to give mill workers sufficient knowledge so they might keep pace with the rapid technological progress of the time. From the first, however, Gaskell seems to have embraced the idea of a broader education: his initial lecture series was entitled 'The Poets and Poetry of Humble Life'. Elizabeth wrote that her husband's lectures aimed to increase appreciation of 'the beauty and poetry of many of the common things and daily events of life in its humblest aspect'. The lectures were popular, and Gaskell repeated them in several other venues. Who those 'humble poets' actually were no one knows but he is known to have studied J. F. Bryant and many other contemporary poets living in Manchester, including his friend, Samuel Bamford. Gaskell became renowned for his reading, which a former student described as 'clear and sweet'; his reading of poetry was recalled to have 'a peculiar charm, for while he had a keen ear for the subtleties of rhyme, rhythm and metre, nothing was ever lost of the meaning or the beauty of the words'.
When the New College moved to Manchester in 1840 Gaskell continued to lecture on literature. From 1846 to 1853, he was Professor of history, English literature and logic at New College (Another professor was Gaskell's contemporary from his studies at York, the prominent Unitarian James Martineau.) When the college later moved to London, he served as Chairman of the Trustees. He also lectured at the Owens College, founded in 1846 with a legacy from John Owens (it became the Victoria University of Manchester in 1904). Beginning in 1858, Gaskell taught literature at the Manchester Working Men's College. He also gave private tutoring to both men and women; notable pupils included hymn translator Catherine Winkworth and her sister, the translator Susanna Winkworth. He was also chairman of the Portico Library in Manchester for 30 years.
In 1854 Gaskell co-founded (with John Beard) the Unitarian Home Missionary Board, which trained working-class Unitarian ministers. He taught literature, history, and New Testament Greek, initially from his study at Plymouth Grove. He became its Principal in 1874.
In addition to his tutoring and lecturing, Gaskell campaigned for better education for the working classes, co-founding the Lancashire Public Schools Association in 1847. He served on the committee of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, which gave public lectures and campaigned for social change; in 1849, he became the Chairman of the Portico Library, a subscription lending library. In 1861, he helped to organise a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science which brought scientists from across the world to Manchester. Gaskell seemed to relish the immense teaching burden he accumulated in later life. Elizabeth Gaskell complained that 'you might as well ask St Pauls to tumble down, as entreat him to give up this piece of work; which does interest him very much, & which no one could do so well certainly...' Though she was referring specifically to his Owens College lectures, he seems to have diligently pursued all his various projects, and found excuses to avoid giving up any obligation he had once started.
