The Gaskell Society South-West: Victorian Literature and Culture was founded by Rosemary Marshall and Prof Peter Skrine in 1999 and has been holding two joint meetings a year at BRLSI for many years which are open to the public.  It is now led by five committee members who plan an active programme of lectures, discussion groups, and social occasions.  The remit of the Society has been broadened to include other Victorian authors and cultural themes, as well as the books and stories of Elizabeth Gaskell.