She had already drawn on her childhood memories for an article published in America, "The Last Generation in England" (1849), and for the town of Duncombe which featured in her extended story "Mr. Harrison's Confessions" (1851).

These accounts of life in a country town and the old-fashioned class snobbery prevailing there were carried over into what was originally intended simply as another story, published as "Our Society in Cranford" in the magazine Household Words in December 1851.

Seeing the possibilities of a longer work in the piece, which eventually formed the first two chapters of her novel, Charles Dickens, the magazine's editor, encouraged the author to write more episodes.

The first of these in Cranford's case was issued by Smith, Elder & Co in 1864 with illustrations by George du Maurier, whose approach was to interpret scenes in contemporary terms.

There was a change of emphasis in Hugh Thomson's 1891 illustrations, where the Cranford interiors and styles of dress are pictured as closer to the pre-industrial Regency period of Elizabeth Gaskell's memories.

There was also an emotional shift from Du Maurier's psychological but compassionate depiction of people in limited circumstances to a greater emphasis on humour and sentimentality, a change of approach which was to prove influential on other illustrators for decades to come.

[5] The work has no real plot, but is what The Athenaeum described as "a collection of sketches" on its appearance,[6] affectionately delineating people and customs that were already becoming anachronisms.

Necessary distancing is provided by the narrator, Mary Smith, whose point of view is that of a younger woman from a very different background simply reporting her experiences.

As the daughter of a businessman living in Manchester (which she calls Drumble in the novel) she only visits Cranford occasionally, a device which is made to account for the episodic nature of the narration.

The arrival of Captain Brown, retired from the military and now a railway employee, disrupts their small world by his unguarded references to taboo subjects.

Miss Matty recounts how she was prevented from marrying him when young for reasons of social status but gladly accepts an invitation to dinner in his house.

Tension follows the snobbery of Mrs Jamieson over this relationship, which is deflated when Lady Glenmire shows herself very approachable at a party given in her honour.

While out shopping, Matty hears the rumour that her bank may stop payment on its notes and, as an investor there, insists on paying in coin for a customer's purchase.

Miss Pole calls a meeting of the ladies and they agree to sacrifice some of their own income to support Matty, while getting Mary's father to pretend that it comes as a return on her investments.

[17] In 2007 the five-part television series that appeared under the title Cranford was in reality elided with three other works by Gaskell: My Lady Ludlow, Mr. Harrison's Confessions and The Last Generation in England.