Gissing was born in
Wakefield,
West Riding of Yorkshire. His parents were Thomas Waller Gissing (1829–1870) and Margaret Gissing (1832–1913), and he had two older brothers named William and
George. His initial education was at Back Lane School in Wakefield, but from 1870 he started attending
Lindow Grove School in
Cheshire as a
boarder, as a result of his father's death. He went on to study Law at
London University, graduating with an
LLB in 1882. He practised as a
solicitor in Wakefield for a while, but failed to attract enough clients to sustain his practise. ==Published works==