The Manchester Man, Classics To Go

The Manchester Man is a novel by the British writer Isabella Banks. It was first published in three volumes in 1876 under her married name, Mrs G. Linnæus Banks. The story follows the life of a Manchester resident, Jabez Clegg, during the nineteenth century and his rise to prosperity in the booming industrial city. It depicts a number of real historical events such as the Peterloo Massacre. An orphaned child is rescued by a tanner and his daughter from the River Irk during a storm. Simon, the tanner learns that the child's family did not survive the flood and Bess, his daughter, decides to foster the child herself. They christen him Jabez Clegg and he is educated as a Blue Coat Boy at Chetham's Hospital School under the supervision of clergyman Joshua Brookes. Jabez meets his antagonist, the wealthy Laurence Aspinall, who is to be a rival for the rest of his life.