This chapter locates a discussion of Elizabeth Gaskell’s failed fathers in nineteenth-century discourse about masculinity and parenthood, analysing this in three of her short stories ‘The Old Nurse’s Story’ (1852), ‘A Manchester Marriage’ (1858) and ‘A Dark Night’s Work’ (1863). I contextualise my discussion in an examination of Gaskell’s own experience of home life, her relationship with her father and her Unitarian faith, arguing that the instability she experienced is reflected in the narrative disruptions explored in these short stories. Fathers in Gaskell’s stories are presented as a disruptive force, breaking rather than creating a stable, secure family environment. Their behaviour becomes a motivator for travel as an escape from home.