Plymouth is a city in the southern part of England. It is a port city, and during the Industrial Revolution became a primary commercial port. It is home also to the University of Plymouth. In North and South, it is mentioned as the port from which Edith and her husband embark near the beginning of the novel. Additionally, Mr. Bell, Frederick's godfather, is acknolwedged as being a Fellow of Plymouth College at Oxford. At this point in time, the port was seperate from the town, which was named Devonport, as the two were not combined until 1914. It would have been thought of as a worker's town, with the primary employer being the dockyard.

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1. Gaskell, Elisabeth, North and South. London, Chapman and Hall, 1855.

2. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Plymouth". Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/place/Plymouth-England. Accessed 20 October 2021.