Harrison Ainsworth, Guy Fawkes, and Ordsall Hall (image courtesy of National Portrait Gallery)

William Harrison Ainsworth is a Manchester born author famous for his serialised tales of adventure, one of which, Guy Fawkes (1841), is set at Ordsall Hall. Ainsworth was a prolific writer and editor, and despite spending a large percentage of his adult life in London, he was greatly influence by his time growing up in Manchester. Other novels about the area are Mervyn Clitheroe (1858), The Lancashire Witches (1849) and The Manchester Rebels of the Fatal 45(1873) which covers Bonnie Prince Charlie’s attempts to take the British throne. Initially this presentation will focus on Ainsworth’s early life in the city; his birth in the city centre, his family, his attendance at Manchester Grammar School, and his later childhood in Cheetham Hill. The second part of the presentation will discuss Ainsworth’s portrayal of old Salford and Manchester in his novel, Guy Fawkes.

Dr. Diane Duffy was awarded a PhD from th…