Today, the 22nd November, is the birthday of George Gissing, the notable Victorian novelist, who was born in 1857, and lived in Thompson’s Yard in Wakefield. His novel “A Life’s Morning” transforms Wakefield into fiction as a town called Dunfie. Many of the places mentioned in the novel are easily recognisable: St Luke’s is St John’s, Banbrigg is Agbrigg, Pendal Castle is Sandal Castle and the Heath is Heath Common. As for the characters, the Dunfield MP, Mr Baxendale, is modelled on the Wakefield MP, Robert Bownas Mackie, who was a friend of Gissing’s father.
More information about George Gissing, and the Gissing Centre in Wakefield, including a short film: https://www.wakefieldhistoricalsociety.org.uk/links/the-gissing-trust/