Why was Mary Barton set around 7 years previous to the time of writing?

It seemed a little strange to me that the tale is set about 6 years previous to the time of writing. I would have thought that Mrs Gaskell would have wanted to show the social problems as current ones. Does anyone know why she might have set her tale approximately in 1842?

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Originally Posted by Catriona L

It seemed a little strange to me that the tale is set about 6 years previous to the time of writing. I would have thought that Mrs Gaskell would have wanted to show the social problems as current ones. Does anyone know why she might have set her tale approximately in 1842?

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Maybe it was to coincide with one of the Chartists' marches that Mary Barton's father was involved with.