Gaskell House Blogs

Quiz – How Well Do You Know Elizabeth Gaskell’s House? Part 1

This six-part quiz will test your knowledge of Elizabeth Gaskell’s House. We will be posting four questions a week for six weeks, each week based on a different room or area of the House. The answers can all be found within our blogs and social media posts. You can also find some of the answers in the two blogs 10 things you might not know about Elizabeth Gaskell’s House and Six Famous Visitors. It’s purely for fun. We won’t be scoring you – the answers are at the bottom of the page, below the picture.

Part 1 The Morning Room

1. The picture below by Charles Duval in the Morning Room, painted in 1845, shows three of Elizabeth Gaskell’s daughters. Who is missing?
   
   
2. Which of Elizabeth’s daughters did she describe as having “no talents under the sun”?
   
   
3. What was Marianne Gaskell’s nickname?
   
   
4. After Meta died, the House was bought by the Harpers. What were the occupations of Constance and Lilian Harper, two of the daughters?

Answers

1. Julia, born in 1846, is missing from the picture. It shows Meta (left), Florence (centre) and Marianne (right). You can see this picture and objects from the Gaskell family, including Elizabeth’s wedding veil, in our Morning Room. Read more about Julia
   
   
2. Florence was described as having “no talents under the sun”? Although “Flossie” knew her own mind. She was the first to marry, becoming engaged at 20 without consulting her parents. Read more about Florence
   
   
3. Marianne Gaskell’s nickname was “Polly.” Elizabeth also called her “Minnie” sometimes. Read more about Marianne
   
   
4. Lilian Harper was an actress and Constance was a musician. Constance played the harp in the Hallé orchestra. We had some visitors to the House who remembered seeing the harp through the window of the Morning Room at the time the Harper family lived there. The Harpers used it as a Music room. Read more about the Harpers at Plymouth Grove