Elizabeth Gaskell - John Galt knew her father!

In John Galt’s Autobiography (Volume 1) he mentions his friend Mr Stevenson.  Galt writes - 

“Many years after, my friend Mr Stevenson, the brother in law of Mr Holland, compiled a work about voyages and travels, I forget the name of it, but I expected he would have noticed the Statistical Account of Sicily, not because it was mine, but because it was truly valuable.”

Here Galt is probably referring to William Stevenson’s work – Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery, Navigation and Commerce published in 1824 and seems a bit annoyed that his own work Voyages & Travels published in 1812 was ignored.  Galt continues -

"But he [Stevenson] said nothing of it; not, however, being a man of practical ideas, although I noticed to him the omission it did not surprise me, for I had long before observed that bookish men are not very good appraisers of facts; they have no adequate conception of the cost and care which such compilations require.”

Quite a put down!

William Stevenson (1772-1829) is perhaps best known as the father of Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson, the novelist Elizabeth Gaskell.  Stevenson was born at Berwick upon Tweed and had a variety of careers including tutor, farmer at Saughton, and boarding house keeper in Edinburgh before moving to London, where he  obtained a government post at the Treasury.  He also wrote for various publications including Blackwoods in Edinburgh and for a while was editor of the Scots Magazine.  In 1797 he married Eliza Holland, and had two children.  Eliza died in 1811 and he married Catherine Thomson, sister of Dr Anthony Todd Thomson, a great friend of John Galt..

“Mr Holland” mentioned by Galt was Swinton Holland, a partner in the Barings Bank.  He had been in business in Trieste and Malta and had built up a considerable fortune.  He died in London in December 1827.

Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson (1810-1865) married Rev William Gaskell in 1832.  She is the author of many well loved works including Mary Barton and Cranford.

Elizabeth’s middle name, Cleghorn was possibly given in memory of Robert Cleghorn, farmer at Saughton Mills.  This farm was tenanted by her father, William Stevenson after Cleghorn’s death in 1797.  Robert Cleghorn was a friend of Scottish poet Robert Burns.  There is a very interesting article on Robert Cleghorn, Robert Burns, Saughton Mills and the Stevenson family here.