140-466: The Britannia Theatre (1841–1900) was located at 115/117 High Street, Hoxton , London . The theatre was badly damaged by a fire in 1900, forcing the sale of the lease. The site was reused as a Gaumont cinema from 1913 to 1940, before being demolished to make room for a more modern cinema which was never built. Housing has now been built on the site, which is marked by a London Borough of Hackney historic plaque. A typical night's entertainment at
280-454: A debtors' prison . After three years, he returned to school before beginning his literary career as a journalist. Dickens edited a weekly journal for 20 years; wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles; lectured and performed readings extensively; was an indefatigable letter writer; and campaigned vigorously for children's rights , education and other social reforms. Dickens's literary success began with
420-597: A patent theatre . Lane lost his licence and paid a substantial fine. With the increase in London's population, and the increasing popularity of live entertainment, the law was finally changed with the Theatres Act 1843 . In 1840, Lane and his colleagues thought they had identified a loophole whereby performances could be offered without charge, with profits made from the sale of programmes, food and drink. The Britannia Tavern in Hoxton
560-785: A travelogue , American Notes for General Circulation . In Notes , Dickens includes a powerful condemnation of slavery which he had attacked as early as The Pickwick Papers , correlating the emancipation of the poor in England with the abolition of slavery abroad citing newspaper accounts of runaway slaves disfigured by their masters. In spite of the abolitionist sentiments gleaned from his trip to America, some modern commentators have pointed out inconsistencies in Dickens's views on racial inequality. For instance, he has been criticised for his subsequent acquiescence in Governor Eyre 's harsh crackdown during
700-456: A brief illness in 1837. Unusually for Dickens, as a consequence of his shock, he stopped working, and he and Catherine stayed at a little farm on Hampstead Heath for a fortnight. Dickens idealised Mary; the character he fashioned after her, Rose Maylie , he found he could not now kill, as he had planned, in his fiction, and, according to Ackroyd, he drew on memories of her for his later descriptions of Little Nell and Florence Dombey. His grief
840-678: A clerk in the Navy Pay Office afforded him a few years of private education, first at a dame school and then at a school run by William Giles, a dissenter , in Chatham. This period came to an end in June 1822, when John Dickens was recalled to Navy Pay Office headquarters at Somerset House and the family (except for Charles, who stayed behind to finish his final term at school) moved to Camden Town in London. The family had left Kent amidst rapidly mounting debts and, living beyond his means, John Dickens
980-401: A community centre, began life in 1863 as a "saloon style" music hall . It remains largely in its original form, as for many years it was used as a Quaker meeting house. There was also the 1870 Varieties Music Hall (by C. J. Phipps ) in nearby Pitfield Street, this became a cinema in 1910, closing in 1941. In 2018 construction started on a refurbished cinema (operated by Curzon Cinemas) keeping
1120-761: A few alterations and embellishments", as "Mrs Pipchin" in Dombey and Son . Later, he lived in a back-attic in the house of an agent for the Insolvent Court , Archibald Russell, "a fat, good-natured, kind old gentleman ... with a quiet old wife" and lame son, in Lant Street in Southwark. They provided the inspiration for the Garlands in The Old Curiosity Shop . On Sundays—with his sister Frances , free from her studies at
1260-569: A freelance reporter. A distant relative, Thomas Charlton, was a freelance reporter at Doctors' Commons and Dickens was able to share his box there to report the legal proceedings for nearly four years. In 1830, Dickens met his first love, Maria Beadnell, thought to have been the model for the character Dora in David Copperfield . Maria's parents disapproved of the courtship and ended the relationship by sending her to school in Paris. In 1832, at
1400-514: A friendship with William Harrison Ainsworth , the author of the highwayman novel Rookwood (1834), whose bachelor salon in Harrow Road had become the meeting place for a set that included Daniel Maclise , Benjamin Disraeli , Edward Bulwer-Lytton and George Cruikshank . All these became his friends and collaborators, with the exception of Disraeli, and he met his first publisher, John Macrone, at
1540-454: A good school: "Much of the haphazard, desultory teaching, poor discipline punctuated by the headmaster's sadistic brutality, the seedy ushers and general run-down atmosphere, are embodied in Mr Creakle's Establishment in David Copperfield ." Dickens worked at the law office of Ellis and Blackmore, attorneys, of Holborn Court, Gray's Inn , as a junior clerk from May 1827 to November 1828. He
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#17328439233511680-482: A home for the redemption of fallen women of the working class. Coutts envisioned a home that would replace the punitive regimes of existing institutions with a reformative environment conducive to education and proficiency in domestic household chores. After initially resisting, Dickens eventually founded the home, named Urania Cottage , in the Lime Grove area of Shepherd's Bush , which he managed for ten years, setting
1820-434: A large number of bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and art galleries. In this period, the new Hoxton residents could be identified by their obscurely fashionable (or " ironically " unfashionable) clothes and their hair (the so-called " Hoxton Fin ", as exemplified by Fran Healy of Travis ). The excesses and fashion-centricity of Hoxton and Shoreditch denizens have been satirised in the satirical magazine Shoreditch Twat , on
1960-422: A lasting impression on Dickens and later influenced his fiction and essays, becoming the foundation of his interest in the reform of socio-economic and labour conditions, the rigours of which he believed were unfairly borne by the poor. He later wrote that he wondered "how I could have been so easily cast away at such an age". As he recalled to John Forster (from Life of Charles Dickens ): The blacking-warehouse
2100-524: A letter arrived at the home of local resident William Parker, Lord Monteagle warning him not to attend the Parliament summoned by James I to convene on 5 November, because "yet I say they shall receive a terrible blow, the Parliament, and yet they shall not see who hurts them". The letter may have been sent by his brother-in-law Francis Tresham , or he may have written it himself, to curry favour. The letter
2240-724: A long association with the Britannia, and Alfred was one of Sarah Lane's many nephews. In Sarah Waters ' 1998 novel Tipping the Velvet , her lead characters are engaged to play pantomime in the theatre. The venue is mentioned in Chas and Dave 's song "Harry was a Champion", describing performer Harry Champion as "king of 'em all at the music hall or down at the Old Britannia". 51°31′48″N 0°04′48″W / 51.530°N 0.080°W / 51.530; -0.080 Hoxton Hoxton
2380-456: A major contributor to the journals Household Words (1850–1859) and All the Year Round (1858–1870). Both journals contained a mix of fiction and non-fiction, and dealt with aspects in the culture. For example, the latter journal included Dickens' assessment of Madame Tussauds wax museum on Baker Street, which he called "something more than an exhibition, it is an institution." In 1854, at
2520-425: A mother find her proper sphere inside the home: "I never afterwards forgot, I never shall forget, I never can forget, that my mother was warm for my being sent back." His mother's failure to request his return was a factor in his dissatisfied attitude towards women. Righteous indignation stemming from his own situation and the conditions under which working-class people lived became major themes of his works, and it
2660-507: A penniless refugee. George William Lupino was a puppeteer and the family continued to earn a theatrical living becoming associated with the harlequinade at Drury Lane . George Lupino Hook (1820–1902) adopted the stage name Lupino from performing with the family and was associated with the Britannia, performing in leading roles and taking the role of Harlequin in pantomime. A prolific man, reputed to have had 16 children, many became singers, dancers and actors, receiving their first experience in
2800-479: A portmanteau he inhabited long before The Economist took it up. For a writer who made his reputation crusading against the squalor of the Industrial Revolution , Dickens was a creature of capitalism; he used everything from the powerful new printing presses to the enhanced advertising revenues to the expansion of railroads to sell more books. Dickens ensured that his books were available in cheap bindings for
2940-417: A pot of ointment from an apothecary's shop. When a certain number of grosses of pots had attained this pitch of perfection, I was to paste on each a printed label, and then go on again with more pots. Two or three other boys were kept at similar duty down-stairs on similar wages. One of them came up, in a ragged apron and a paper cap, on the first Monday morning, to show me the trick of using the string and tying
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#17328439233513080-668: A pseudonym for some years. Dickens apparently adopted it from the nickname 'Moses', which he had given to his youngest brother Augustus Dickens , after a character in Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield . When pronounced by anyone with a head cold, "Moses" became "Boses"—later shortened to Boz . Dickens's own name was considered "queer" by a contemporary critic, who wrote in 1849: "Mr Dickens, as if in revenge for his own queer name, does bestow still queerer ones upon his fictitious creations." Dickens contributed to and edited journals throughout his literary career. In January 1835,
3220-534: A renewed enthusiasm for the joys of Christmas in Britain and America. The seeds for the story became planted in Dickens's mind during a trip to Manchester to witness the conditions of the manufacturing workers there. This, along with scenes he had recently witnessed at the Field Lane Ragged School , caused Dickens to resolve to "strike a sledge hammer blow" for the poor. As the idea for the story took shape and
3360-583: A reply confirming Powell's embezzlement, but once the directors realised this information might have to be produced in court, they refused to make further disclosures. Owing to the difficulties of providing evidence in America to support his accusations, Dickens eventually made a private settlement with Powell out of court. Angela Burdett Coutts , heir to the Coutts banking fortune, approached Dickens in May 1846 about setting up
3500-567: A resident dramatist, C.H. Hazlewood, who wrote many melodramatic spectacles for it, often based on successful novels of the time, including an adaptation of Lady Audley's Secret (1863). Sam married Sarah Borrow in 1843. She was the daughter of an old friend, William Borrow, who Lane had appointed to a managerial position in the Britannia. On Lane's death in 1871, Sarah, succeeded him as proprietor and manager, and continued until her own death in August 1899. She appeared regularly as principal boy , in
3640-562: A rural part of Shoreditch parish . It achieved independent ecclesiastical status in 1826 with the founding of its own parish church dedicated to St John the Baptist , though civil jurisdiction was still invested in the Shoreditch vestry. The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers remains Patron of the advowson of the parish of St John's . In 1415, the Lord Mayor of London "caused the wall of
3780-403: A satire on the judicial system, helped support a reformist movement that culminated in the 1870s legal reform in England. A Tale of Two Cities (set in London and Paris) is regarded as his best-known work of historical fiction. The most famous celebrity of his era, he undertook, in response to public demand, a series of public reading tours in the later part of his career. The term Dickensian
3920-697: A scale more like the Scala at Milan. or the San Carlo at Naples, or the Grand Opera at Paris, than any notion a stranger would be likely to form of the Britannia Theatre at Hoxton, a mile north of St Luke’s Hospital in the Old-street-road, London. The Forty Thieves might be played here, and every thief ride his real horse, and the disguised captain bring in his oil jars on a train of real camels, and nobody be put out of
4060-440: A significant artistic break in Dickens's career as his novels became more serious in theme and more carefully planned than his early works. At about this time, he was made aware of a large embezzlement at the firm where his brother, Augustus , worked (John Chapman & Co). It had been carried out by Thomas Powell , a clerk, who was on friendly terms with Dickens and who had acted as mentor to Augustus when he started work. Powell
4200-498: A trip 30 miles into Illinois . During his American visit, Dickens spent a month in New York City, giving lectures, raising the question of international copyright laws and the pirating of his work in America. He persuaded a group of 25 writers, headed by Washington Irving , to sign a petition for him to take to Congress, but the press were generally hostile to this, saying that he should be grateful for his popularity and that it
4340-422: A work called The Life of Our Lord (1846), a book about the life of Christ, written with the purpose of sharing his faith with his children and family. In a scene from David Copperfield , Dickens echoed Geoffrey Chaucer 's use of Luke 23:34 from Troilus and Criseyde (Dickens held a copy in his library), with G. K. Chesterton writing, "among the great canonical English authors, Chaucer and Dickens have
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4480-528: Is an area in the London Borough of Hackney , England . It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. Hoxton lies north-east of the City of London and is considered to be a part of London East End and was once part of the civil parish and subsequent Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch , prior to its incorporation into Hackney. The area is generally considered to be bordered by Regent's Canal on
4620-473: Is mentioned in a fine of 1220-1221. The name is likely to derive from the possessive form of a person's name, possibly Hocg , and the Old English word tun , meaning a fortified enclosure, village, or manor . Little is recorded of the origins of the settlement, though there was Roman activity around Ermine Street , which ran to the east of the area from the first century. In medieval times, Hoxton formed
4760-509: Is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era . His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read today. Born in Portsmouth , Dickens left school at age 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory when his father John was incarcerated in
4900-512: Is the Hoxtonian verdict upon Mr. Crauford's latest Christmas production, King Doo-Dah. Indeed, the fourteen scenes that are utilised in telling the story are so full of good things that it would be quite impossible to do justice to them in the space at our command. The ever-popular Albert and Edmunds troupe, assisted by Mr. Fred Lawrence and the Montrose Bros., very clever and humorous acrobats, keep
5040-561: Is the Sam Weller Bump." A publishing phenomenon, John Sutherland called The Pickwick Papers "[t]he most important single novel of the Victorian era". The unprecedented success led to numerous spin-offs and merchandise including Pickwick cigars, playing cards, china figurines, Sam Weller puzzles, Weller boot polish and joke books. The Sam Weller Bump testifies not merely to Dickens's comic genius but to his acumen as an "authorpreneur",
5180-488: Is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social or working conditions, or comically repulsive characters. Charles Dickens was born on 7 February 1812 at 1 Mile End Terrace (now 393 Commercial Road), Landport in Portsea Island ( Portsmouth ), Hampshire , the second of eight children of Elizabeth Dickens (née Barrow; 1789–1863) and John Dickens (1785–1851). His father
5320-722: The Corn Laws . Dickens lasted only ten weeks on the job before resigning due to a combination of exhaustion and frustration with one of the paper's co-owners. A Francophile, Dickens often holidayed in France and, in a speech delivered in Paris in 1846 in French, called the French "the first people in the universe". During his visit to Paris, Dickens met the French literati Alexandre Dumas , Victor Hugo , Eugène Scribe , Théophile Gautier , François-René de Chateaubriand and Eugène Sue . In early 1849, Dickens started to write David Copperfield . It
5460-534: The East London Line (completed in 2010), has provided the local rail access which was lost when the line from Broad Street closed to services. Hoxton Market, which is now in Hoxton Street rather than its original site to the west of Hoxton Square, was founded in 1687. This market was the cornerstone of the local community but, from the 1980s onwards, changed from a thriving market to one that lost its trade to
5600-638: The London Overground network. In the southwest of the district, the nearest London Underground station is Old Street on the Northern line . The station is also a stop on National Rail 's Northern City Line , operated by Govia Thameslink Railway . Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens ( / ˈ d ɪ k ɪ n z / ; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist , journalist , short story writer and social critic . He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and
5740-605: The Morning Chronicle launched an evening edition, under the editorship of the Chronicle ' s music critic, George Hogarth . Hogarth invited him to contribute Street Sketches and Dickens became a regular visitor to his Fulham house—excited by Hogarth's friendship with Walter Scott (whom Dickens greatly admired) and enjoying the company of Hogarth's three daughters: Georgina, Mary and 19-year-old Catherine. Dickens made rapid progress both professionally and socially. He began
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5880-594: The RMS Britannia during their first trip to the United States and Canada. At this time Georgina Hogarth , another sister of Catherine, joined the Dickens household, now living at Devonshire Terrace, Marylebone to care for the young family they had left behind. She remained with them as housekeeper, organiser, adviser and friend until Dickens's death in 1870. Dickens modelled the character of Agnes Wickfield after Georgina and Mary. He described his impressions in
6020-635: The Royal Academy of Music —he spent the day at the Marshalsea. Dickens later used the prison as a setting in Little Dorrit . To pay for his board and to help his family, Dickens was forced to leave school and work ten-hour days at Warren's Blacking Warehouse, on Hungerford Stairs, near the present Charing Cross railway station , where he earned six shillings a week pasting labels on pots of boot blacking. The strenuous and often harsh working conditions made
6160-462: The TVGoHome website, and in the sitcom Nathan Barley . This fashionable area centres around Hoxton Square, a small park bordered mainly by former industrial buildings, as well as the elegant 19th century parish church of St John's . The northern half of the district is more residential and contains many council housing estates and new-build private residences. Residents are typically older and
6300-451: The 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers , a publishing phenomenon—thanks largely to the introduction of the character Sam Weller in the fourth episode—that sparked Pickwick merchandise and spin-offs. Within a few years, Dickens had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most of them published in monthly or weekly instalments, pioneered
6440-543: The 1860s Morant Bay rebellion in Jamaica and his failure to join other British progressives in condemning it. From Richmond, Virginia , Dickens returned to Washington, D.C., and started a trek westward, with brief pauses in Cincinnati and Louisville, to St. Louis, Missouri. While there, he expressed a desire to see an American prairie before returning east. A group of 13 men then set out with Dickens to visit Looking Glass Prairie,
6580-820: The 18th-century magazines Tatler and The Spectator . Dickens was perturbed by the return to power of the Tories, whom he described as "people whom, politically, I despise and abhor." He had been tempted to stand for the Liberals in Reading, but decided against it due to financial straits. He wrote three anti-Tory verse satires ("The Fine Old English Gentleman", "The Quack Doctor's Proclamation", and "Subjects for Painters") which were published in The Examiner . On 22 January 1842, Dickens and his wife arrived in Boston , Massachusetts, aboard
6720-545: The 1900 pantomime, a serious fire damaged the building. The cost of bringing the building up to standard, forced the sale of the lease. It came into the hands of the Gaumont organisation, and became a cinema in 1913. The original theatre was demolished to make way for a modern cinema which was never built because of the war. In 1940 the nearby Toy Theatre [Pollock's Toy Museum], was destroyed in World War II by German bombing but
6860-507: The 21st century as property developers have moved to cash in on the area's trendy image, central location and transport links. Some galleries have, as a result, moved to nearby Shoreditch , or have relocated further afield to cheaper districts such as London Fields or Bethnal Green . In response, the local council formed a not-for-profit corporation, Shoreditch Our Way (now called The Shoreditch Trust), to buy local buildings and lease them out as community facilities and housing. The extension of
7000-413: The Britannia Theatre would include 3–4 plays, with variety acts in the intervals between. Many music hall acts would appear during the interval, and sometimes their acts were woven into the performance. The plays varied, from Shakespeare , Victorian melodrama and comedy. During the winter season pantomime was performed. Unusually for a theatre, food and drink were served in the auditorium, in
7140-441: The Britannia's annual pantomimes and in the annual benefit night, appearing in a final tableaux as The Queen of Hoxton . Her name "appeared on . . . playbills as the author of a series of plays translated and adapted from the French." Sarah Lane made her last stage appearance at the Britannia's 1898 Christmas show, aged 76. Large crowds lined the route of her funeral procession from the theatre to Kensal Green Cemetery . Her estate
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#17328439233517280-663: The Catholic Church as "that curse upon the world." Dickens also rejected the Evangelical conviction that the Bible was the infallible word of God. His ideas on Biblical interpretation were similar to the Liberal Anglican Arthur Penrhyn Stanley 's doctrine of " progressive revelation ". Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky referred to Dickens as "that great Christian writer". In December 1845, Dickens took up
7420-577: The City to be broken towards Moorfields , and built the postern called Moorgate , for the ease of the citizens to walk that way upon causeways towards Islington and Hoxton" – at that time, still marshy areas. The residents responded by harassing walkers to protect their fields. A century later, the hedges and ditches were destroyed, by order of the city, to enable city dwellers to partake in leisure at Hoxton. By Tudor times many moated manor houses existed to provide ambassadors and courtiers country air nearby
7560-666: The Collected Farces of Elizabeth Inchbald . At the age of seven, he first saw Joseph Grimaldi —the father of modern clowning —perform at the Star Theatre in Rochester , Kent. He later imitated Grimaldi's clowning on several occasions, and would also edit the Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi . He retained poignant memories of childhood, helped by an excellent memory of people and events, which he used in his writing. His father's brief work as
7700-591: The Miles family, and expanded rapidly into the surrounding streets being described by Coleridge as the Hoxton madhouse. Here fee-paying 'gentle and middle class' people took their exercise in the extensive grounds between Pitfield Street and Kingsland Road; including the poet Charles Lamb . Over 500 pauper lunatics resided in closed wards, and it remained the Naval Lunatic Asylum until 1818. The asylum closed in 1911;
7840-539: The Riots of 'Eighty , as part of the Master Humphrey's Clock series (1840–41), were all published in monthly instalments before being made into books. Dickens biographer Peter Ackroyd has called Barnaby Rudge "one of Dickens's most neglected, but most rewarding, novels". The poet Edgar Allan Poe read Barnaby Rudge , and the talking raven that featured in the novel inspired in part Poe's 1845 poem " The Raven ". In
7980-546: The US ended with a trip to Canada—Niagara Falls, Toronto, Kingston and Montreal—where he appeared on stage in light comedies. Soon after his return to England, Dickens began work on the first of his Christmas stories, A Christmas Carol , written in 1843, which was followed by The Chimes in 1844 and The Cricket on the Hearth in 1845. Of these, A Christmas Carol was most popular and, tapping into an old tradition, did much to promote
8120-513: The Union Tavern in Shoreditch . This hall catered for 500–seated and a similar number standing. Jack Adam's company performed a successful programme of drama, song, dance and acrobatics. Sam married Jack's daughter Mary, in 1835. The troupe always had ambitions to perform serious drama, and in 1839, the company performed Othello , breaking the law on theatrical performance, as they were not
8260-512: The age of 20, Dickens was energetic and increasingly self-confident. He enjoyed mimicry and popular entertainment, lacked a clear, specific sense of what he wanted to become, and yet knew he wanted fame. Drawn to the theatre—he became an early member of the Garrick Club —he landed an acting audition at Covent Garden, where the manager George Bartley and the actor Charles Kemble were to see him. Dickens prepared meticulously and decided to imitate
8400-515: The area. Some parts of Hoxton, however, remain deprived, with council housing dominating the landscape. The geographical distinction between Hoxton and Shoreditch is often confused. The two districts have a historical link as part of the same manor , and in the 19th century both formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch . This was incorporated into the newly created London Borough of Hackney in 1965, but old street signs bearing
8540-465: The audience that expressed beyond any other the spirit of London I would say the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton, at a pantomime. This was the apotheosis of the Cockney . This was the incarnation of his humour and gaiety and warm humanity. The women in their plumed hats! The costers in their pearlies! The oranges and nuts! That immense audience would seethe with enjoyment: it was a vast bubbling kettle of mirth. This
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#17328439233518680-500: The baby died. By 1858 having purchased the leases of surrounding properties, the theatre was rebuilt in larger form, with 3,000 seats. This building designed by Finch Hill , consisting of two circles, a pit and a gallery and had a reported record attendance of 4,790. The Britannia was notable for melodramas. These included The String of Pearls (1847), the first stage adaptation of the story of Sweeney Todd , written specifically for this venue by George Dibdin Pitt . The theatre had
8820-426: The beginning of the 1990s. During this time Joshua Compston established his Factual Nonsense gallery on Charlotte Road in Shoreditch and organised art fetes in Hoxton Square . Their presence gradually drew other creative industries into the area, especially magazines, design firms, and dot-coms . By the end of the 20th century, the southern half of Hoxton had become a vibrant arts and entertainment district boasting
8960-478: The behest of Sir John Franklin 's widow Lady Jane , Dickens viciously attacked Arctic explorer John Rae in Household Words for his report to the Admiralty , based on interviews with local Inuit , that the members of Franklin's lost expedition had resorted to cannibalism . These attacks would later be expanded on his 1856 play The Frozen Deep , which satirises Rae and the Inuit. Twentieth-century archaeology work in King William Island later confirmed that
9100-453: The best we have seen. The same young lady also fetched the audience with a clever descriptive song, "The Language London Talks." The Imperial Russian Troupe of Singers and Dancers are an innovation in pantomime. Their singing and dancing were so excellent that they scored one of the greatest successes of the evening. Miss Emma Chambers, as a high class domestic, was quaint and humorous, and Miss Kate Sharplin sang sweetly as Titania. In fact, there
9240-411: The best-selling novels of all time. Themes in Great Expectations include wealth and poverty, love and rejection, and the eventual triumph of good over evil. In early September 1860, in a field behind Gads Hill, Dickens made a bonfire of most of his correspondence; he spared only letters on business matters. Since Ellen Ternan also destroyed all of his letters to her, the extent of the affair between
9380-422: The city. This included many Catholics , attracted by the house of the Portuguese Ambassador, who, in his private chapel, celebrated the masses forbidden in a Protestant country. One such resident was Sir Thomas Tresham , who was imprisoned here by Elizabeth I of England for harbouring Catholic priests. The open fields to the north and west were frequently used for archery practice, and on 22 September 1598
9520-401: The comedian Charles Mathews, but ultimately he missed the audition because of a cold. Before another opportunity arose, he had set out on his career as a writer. In 1833, Dickens submitted his first story, "A Dinner at Poplar Walk", to the London periodical Monthly Magazine . His uncle William Barrow offered him a job on The Mirror of Parliament and he worked in the House of Commons for
9660-410: The comedic merits of Punch and Judy , a puppet show dominated by the anarchic clowning of Mr. Punch. In late November 1851, Dickens moved into Tavistock House where he wrote Bleak House (1852–53), Hard Times (1854) and Little Dorrit (1856). It was here that he indulged in the amateur theatricals described in Forster's Life of Charles Dickens . During this period, he worked closely with
9800-442: The company. The eldest son, civil registration as George Emanuel Samuel Hook (1853–1932) became both a clown and a prominent actor, amongst his grandchildren was the Hollywood actress Ida Lupino . Lupino Lane was the son of Harry Charles Lupino (1825–1925), a favourite of Sarah Lane and pursued a career in films and musical theatre . Lupino Lane originated The Lambeth Walk , in the 1937 musical Me and My Girl ' . Soon after
9940-488: The couple returned to lodgings at Furnival's Inn . The first of their ten children , Charles, was born in January 1837 and a few months later the family set up home in Bloomsbury at 48 Doughty Street, London (on which Charles had a three-year lease at £80 a year) from 25 March 1837 until December 1839. Dickens's younger brother Frederick and Catherine's 17-year-old sister Mary Hogarth moved in with them. Dickens became very attached to Mary, and she died in his arms after
10080-545: The editorship of the London-based Daily News , a liberal paper through which Dickens hoped to advocate, in his own words, "the Principles of Progress and Improvement, of Education and Civil and Religious Liberty and Equal Legislation." Among the other contributors Dickens chose to write for the paper were the radical economist Thomas Hodgskin and the social reformer Douglas William Jerrold , who frequently attacked
10220-519: The event, but reserved his fury for Indians, wishing that he was the commander-in-chief in India so that he would be able to "do my utmost to exterminate the Race upon whom the stain of the late cruelties rested." In 1857, Dickens hired professional actresses for The Frozen Deep , which he and his protégé Wilkie Collins had written. Dickens fell in love with one of the actresses, Ellen Ternan , and this passion
10360-469: The expectation of this legacy, Dickens was released from prison. Under the Insolvent Debtors Act , Dickens arranged for payment of his creditors, and he and his family left the Marshalsea, for the home of Mrs Roylance. Charles's mother, Elizabeth Dickens, did not immediately support his removal from the boot-blacking warehouse. This influenced Dickens's view that a father should rule the family and
10500-550: The family moved to Norfolk Street, Fitzrovia . When Charles was four, they relocated to Sheerness and thence to Chatham , Kent, where he spent his formative years until the age of 11. His early life seems to have been idyllic, though he thought himself a "very small and not-over-particularly-taken-care-of boy". Charles spent time outdoors, but also read voraciously, including the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett and Henry Fielding , as well as Robinson Crusoe and Gil Blas . He read and re-read The Arabian Nights and
10640-470: The first time early in 1832. He rented rooms at Furnival's Inn and worked as a political journalist, reporting on Parliamentary debates, and he travelled across Britain to cover election campaigns for the Morning Chronicle . His journalism, in the form of sketches in periodicals, formed his first collection of pieces, published in 1836: Sketches by Boz —Boz being a family nickname he employed as
10780-403: The following description: The character of the whole locality is working-class. Poverty is everywhere, with a considerable admixture of the very poor and vicious ... Large numbers have been and are still being displaced by the encroachment of warehouses and factories ... Hoxton is known for its costers and Curtain criminals, for its furniture trade ... No servants are kept except in
10920-404: The following year in England and Ireland. Other works soon followed, including A Tale of Two Cities (1859) and Great Expectations (1861), which were resounding successes. Set in London and Paris, A Tale of Two Cities is his best-known work of historical fiction and includes the famous opening sentence "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." It is regularly touted as one of
11060-461: The fun at boiling point from start to finish. Mr. H.G. Sharplin made an imposing figure as Cerberus, his magnificent voice delighting the vast audience. Miss Josephine Henley looked a dapper little Prince, and Miss Emmie Ames a charming Princess. Her first song, "Matilda," in which she introduces several mechanical toys with excellent effect, brought down the house. Miss Lily Sharplin's imitations of Marie Collins, Bessie Wentworth, and Billie Barlow, were
11200-420: The house rules, reviewing the accounts and interviewing prospective residents. Emigration and marriage were central to Dickens's agenda for the women on leaving Urania Cottage, from which it is estimated that about 100 women graduated between 1847 and 1859. As a young man, Dickens expressed a distaste for certain aspects of organised religion. In 1836, in a pamphlet titled Sunday Under Three Heads , he defended
11340-420: The house. The success of Sketches by Boz led to a proposal from publishers Chapman and Hall for Dickens to supply text to match Robert Seymour 's engraved illustrations in a monthly letterpress . Seymour committed suicide after the second instalment and Dickens, who wanted to write a connected series of sketches, hired " Phiz " to provide the engravings (which were reduced from four to two per instalment) for
11480-610: The knot. His name was Bob Fagin; and I took the liberty of using his name, long afterwards, in Oliver Twist. When the warehouse was moved to Chandos Street in the smart, busy district of Covent Garden , the boys worked in a room in which the window gave onto the street. Small audiences gathered and watched them at work—in Dickens's biographer Simon Callow 's estimation, the public display was "a new refinement added to his misery". A few months after his imprisonment, John Dickens's mother, Elizabeth Dickens, died and bequeathed him £450. On
11620-523: The land between by benefactors, most of whom were City liverymen . Aske's Almshouses were built (to Robert Hooke 's design) on Pitfield Street in 1689 from Robert Aske 's endowment for 20 poor haberdashers and a school for 20 children of freemen . Almshouses endowed by Robert Geffrye were estabslished by the Ironmongers' Company on the Kingsland Road in 1714. The almshouses closed in 1911, with
11760-516: The lower orders as well as in morocco-and-gilt for people of quality; his ideal readership included everyone from the pickpockets who read Oliver Twist to Queen Victoria, who found it "exceedingly interesting". On its impact on mass culture, Nicholas Dames in The Atlantic writes, " 'Literature' is not a big enough category for Pickwick . It defined its own, a new one that we have learned to call 'entertainment'." In November 1836, Dickens accepted
11900-605: The main Road shopping streets and in a few remaining middle class squares in the west. In Hoxton Street, a plaque marks the location of the Britannia Theatre . This evolved from the former Pimlico tea gardens, a tavern and a saloon, into a 3,000-seat theatre, designed by Finch Hill. Together with the nearby Pollock's Toy Museum , it was destroyed in Second World War bombing. Hoxton Hall , also in Hoxton Street, which survives as
12040-541: The members of the Franklin expedition resorted to cannibalism. In 1855, when Dickens's good friend and Liberal MP Austen Henry Layard formed an Administrative Reform Association to demand significant reforms of Parliament, Dickens joined and volunteered his resources in support of Layard's cause. With the exception of Lord John Russell , who was the only leading politician in whom Dickens had any faith and to whom he later dedicated A Tale of Two Cities , Dickens believed that
12180-511: The midst of all his activity during this period, there was discontent with his publishers and John Macrone was bought off, while Richard Bentley signed over all his rights in Oliver Twist . Other signs of a certain restlessness and discontent emerged; in Broadstairs he flirted with Eleanor Picken, the young fiancée of his solicitor's best friend and one night grabbed her and ran with her down to
12320-624: The most in common." Dickens disapproved of Roman Catholicism and 19th-century evangelicalism , seeing both as extremes of Christianity and likely to limit personal expression, and was critical of what he saw as the hypocrisy of religious institutions and philosophies like spiritualism , all of which he considered deviations from the true spirit of Christianity, as shown in the book he wrote for his family in 1846. While Dickens advocated equal rights for Catholics in England, he strongly disliked how individual civil liberties were often threatened in countries where Catholicism predominated and referred to
12460-458: The move towards supermarkets and away from the traditional street market meeting all of the community's needs. In 2013 the local business community, working with the council, started work to revive the market and this has attracted great attention and increased trade, complemented by new shops opening along the length of the market. Hoxton is a National Rail station on the East London line of
12600-582: The name are still to be found throughout the area. Both are also considered to be part of the East End of London . Manufacturing developments in the years after the Second World War meant that many of the small industries that characterised Hoxton moved out. By the early 1980s, these industrial lofts and buildings came to be occupied by young artists as inexpensive live/work spaces, while exhibitions, raves and clubs occupied former office and retail space at
12740-514: The next decade, in which he was to write only two novels. His first reading tour, lasting from April 1858 to February 1859, consisted of 129 appearances in 49 towns throughout England, Scotland and Ireland. Dickens's continued fascination with the theatrical world was written into the theatre scenes in Nicholas Nickleby , and he found an outlet in public readings. In 1866, he undertook a series of public readings in England and Scotland, with more
12880-535: The north side, Wharf Road and City Road to the west, Old Street to the south, and Kingsland Road to the east. There is a Hoxton electoral ward which returns three councillors to Hackney London Borough Council . The area forms part of the Hackney South and Shoreditch parliamentary constituency. The earliest recorded names of the settlement are Hochestone, in the Domesday Book in 1086, and Hocston, which
13020-452: The novelist and playwright Wilkie Collins . In 1856, his income from writing allowed him to buy Gads Hill Place in Higham, Kent . As a child, Dickens had walked past the house and dreamed of living in it. The area was also the scene of some of the events of Shakespeare 's Henry IV, Part 1 and this literary connection pleased him. During this time Dickens was also the publisher, editor and
13160-559: The only remains are by Hackney Community College, where a part of the house was incorporated into the school that replaced it in 1921. In the late 17th Century, Hoxton Square and Charles Square were laid out, forming a popular area for residents. Non-conformist sects were attracted to the area, away from the restrictions of the City 's regulations. In the Victorian era the railways made travelling to distant suburbs easier, and this combined with infill building and industrialisation to drive away
13300-505: The other children. During this period, whilst pondering a project to give public readings for his own profit, Dickens was approached through a charitable appeal by Great Ormond Street Hospital to help it survive its first major financial crisis. His "Drooping Buds" essay in Household Words earlier on 3 April 1852 was considered by the hospital's founders to have been the catalyst for the hospital's success. Dickens, whose philanthropy
13440-652: The peace of the world, and would be a rock in Louis Napoleon 's way," and that "I feel for Italy almost as if I were an Italian born." Dickens also published dozens of writings in Household Words supporting vaccination , including multiple laudations for vaccine pioneer Edward Jenner . Following the Indian Mutiny of 1857 , Dickens joined in the widespread criticism of the East India Company for its role in
13580-399: The people's right to pleasure, opposing a plan to prohibit games on Sundays. "Look into your churches—diminished congregations and scanty attendance. People have grown sullen and obstinate, and are becoming disgusted with the faith which condemns them to such a day as this, once in every seven. They display their feeling by staying away [from church]. Turn into the streets [on a Sunday] and mark
13720-442: The place, rise up visibly before me, as if I were there again. The counting-house was on the first floor, looking over the coal-barges and the river. There was a recess in it, in which I was to sit and work. My work was to cover the pots of paste-blacking; first with a piece of oil-paper, and then with a piece of blue paper; to tie them round with a string; and then to clip the paper close and neat, all round, until it looked as smart as
13860-758: The playwright Ben Jonson fought a fatal duel in Hoxton Fields, killing actor Gabriel Spencer . Jonson was able to prove his literacy, thereby claiming benefit of clergy to escape a hanging. Hoxton's public gardens were a popular resort from the overcrowded City streets, and it is reputed that the name of Pimlico came from the publican, Ben Pimlico, and his particular brew. Have at thee, then, my merrie boyes, and beg for old Ben Pimlico's nut-brown ale. The gardens appear to have been situated near Hoxton Street, known at that time, as Pimlico Path . The modern area of Pimlico derives its name from its former use in Hoxton. On 26 October 1605 Hoxton achieved notoriety, when
14000-601: The political aristocracy and their incompetence were the death of England. When he and Layard were accused of fomenting class conflict, Dickens replied that the classes were already in opposition and the fault was with the aristocratic class. Dickens used his pulpit in Household Words to champion the Reform Association. He also commented on foreign affairs, declaring his support for Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini , helping raise funds for their campaigns and stating that "a united Italy would be of vast importance to
14140-478: The position of editor of Bentley's Miscellany , a position he held for three years, until he fell out with the owner. In 1836, as he finished the last instalments of The Pickwick Papers , he began writing the beginning instalments of Oliver Twist —writing as many as 90 pages a month—while continuing work on Bentley's and also writing four plays, the production of which he oversaw. Oliver Twist , published in 1838, became one of Dickens's better known stories and
14280-649: The principal partners at John Chapman & Co. Dickens immediately sent a letter to Lewis Gaylord Clark , editor of the New York literary magazine The Knickerbocker , saying that Powell was a forger and thief. Clark published the letter in the New-York Tribune and several other papers picked up on the story. Powell began proceedings to sue these publications and Clark was arrested. Dickens, realising that he had acted in haste, contacted John Chapman & Co to seek written confirmation of Powell's guilt. Dickens did receive
14420-450: The regular artistes were taken on at an early stage in their careers and remained with the theatre until retirement. The theatre prospered with the increasing free time and prosperity of its audience, and declined with the introduction of the cinema and later, radio. Author and critic Compton Mackenzie summed up the enduring legacy of the Britannia, in Echoes (1954): If I were asked to name
14560-508: The remaining pensioners moving to Kent and Hampshire. The LCC took on the almshouses and opened the Geffrye Museum in 1914 to house collections of furniture and wood crafts. Museum of the Home now occupies the site, and following an extensive refurbishment, is a free museum with access directly opposite Hoxton Station. Hoxton House, was established as a private asylum in 1695. It was owned by
14700-595: The rigid gloom that reigns over everything around." Dickens honoured the figure of Jesus Christ . He is regarded as a professing Christian. His son, Henry Fielding Dickens , described him as someone who "possessed deep religious convictions". In the early 1840s, he had shown an interest in Unitarian Christianity and Robert Browning remarked that "Mr Dickens is an enlightened Unitarian." Professor Gary Colledge has written that he "never strayed from his attachment to popular lay Anglicanism ". Dickens authored
14840-551: The roof, with a careful reference to sight and sound in every corner; the result is, that its form is beautiful, and that the appearance of the audience, as seen from the proscenium -- with every face in it commanding the stage, and the whole so admirably raked and turned to that centre, that a hand can scarcely move in the great assemblage without the movement being seen from thence -- is highly remarkable in its union of vastness with compactness. The stage itself, and all its appurtenances of machinery, cellarage, height, and breadth, are on
14980-526: The sea. He declared they were both to drown there in the "sad sea waves". She finally got free, and afterwards kept her distance. In June 1841, he precipitously set out on a two-month tour of Scotland and then, in September 1841, telegraphed Forster that he had decided to go to America. Master Humphrey's Clock was shut down, though Dickens was still keen on the idea of the weekly magazine, a form he liked, an appreciation that had begun with his childhood reading of
15120-408: The serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication. Cliffhanger endings in his serial publications kept readers in suspense. The instalment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience's reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback. For example, when his wife's chiropodist expressed distress at
15260-533: The story. The resulting story became The Pickwick Papers and, although the first few episodes were not successful, the introduction of the Cockney character Sam Weller in the fourth episode (the first to be illustrated by Phiz) marked a sharp climb in its popularity. The final instalment sold 40,000 copies. On the impact of the character, The Paris Review stated, "arguably the most historic bump in English publishing
15400-555: The studios, and films including The Lady Vanishes and The Wicked Lady were shot there. The studios operated there from 1924 to 1951, and were demolished in 2002, replaced by a modern apartment block, also named Gainsborough Studios. The Stag's Head, Hoxton was built in 1936 for Truman's Brewery , and designed by their in-house architect A. E. Sewell . With a new-found popularity, large parts of Hoxton have been gentrified . This has inevitably aroused hostility among some local residents, who believe they are being priced out of
15540-484: The style of contemporary music halls . Samuel Haycraft Lane was born in Lympstone , Devon in 1803. In 1821, he decided to escape the life of a fisherman and walk to London . After living hand to mouth and educating himself, with the help of a friend, William Brian, he encountered a troupe of actors who he had previously met on his journey. He helped the leader of the troupe, Jack Adams, to find premises for performance at
15680-516: The style of the original facade but expanding vertically to include residential properties. Planning permission for the refurbishment took a considerable time due to local opposition to the design. The cinema plans to open in 2019. The National Centre for Circus Arts is based in the former vestry of St Leonard Shoreditch Electric Light Station, just to the north of Hoxton Market. Inside, the "Generating Chamber" and "Combustion Chamber" provide facilities for circus training and production. The building
15820-404: The theatre building had already gone by this time. The Britannia Theatre was unique amongst theatres of the time, for a number of reasons. Entry to the entertainment was always cheap, the income was made from sales of food and drink. There was an extraordinary continuity of management, the theatre was in the hands of the same family throughout its lifetime. The theatre also nurtured talent, many of
15960-475: The two remains speculative. In the 1930s, Thomas Wright recounted that Ternan had unburdened herself to a Canon Benham and gave currency to rumours they had been lovers. Dickens's daughter, Kate Perugini, stated that the two had a son who died in infancy to biographer Gladys Storey in an interview before the former's death in 1929. Storey published her account in Dickens and Daughter , though no contemporary evidence
16100-492: The unemployment and crime rates, with the exceptions of drug offences, robbery and theft, are relatively high compared to some parts of the borough. Hoxton Street Market is the focal point of this end of the district. The market sells a wide range of household goods during the week and specialises in independent fashion, art and design products on Saturdays. Nearby is the Museum of the Home and Hoxton War Memorial . The Hoxton Trust
16240-774: The way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her own disabilities, Dickens improved the character with positive features. His plots were carefully constructed and he often wove elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the illiterate poor would individually pay a halfpenny to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers. His 1843 novella A Christmas Carol remains especially popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every creative medium. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1853 novel Bleak House ,
16380-572: The way. This really extraordinary place is an achievement of one man’s enterprise, and was erected on the ruins of an inconvenient old building, in less than five months, at a round cost of five-and-twenty thousand pounds. A review of King Doo-Dah , the Christmas pantomime, 1900, at the Britannia Theatre, appeared in the News of the World : Biggest, brightest best, and jolliest pantomime ever produced at "The Brit,"
16520-636: The wealthier classes, leaving Hoxton a concentration of the poor with many slums. The area became a centre for the furniture trade. In the 1860s Hoxton Square became home to the Augustinian Priory , school and Church of St Monica (architect: E. W. Pugin ) built 1864-66 and the first Augustinian House in England since the Reformation era. Charles Booth in Life and Labour of the People in London of 1902 gave
16660-499: The writing began in earnest, Dickens became engrossed in the book. He later wrote that as the tale unfolded he "wept and laughed, and wept again" as he "walked about the black streets of London fifteen or twenty miles many a night when all sober folks had gone to bed". After living briefly in Italy (1844), Dickens travelled to Switzerland (1846), where he began work on Dombey and Son (1846–48). This and David Copperfield (1849–50) mark
16800-415: Was a clerk in the Navy Pay Office and was temporarily stationed in the district. He asked Christopher Huffam, rigger to His Majesty's Navy, gentleman and head of an established firm, to act as godfather to Charles. Huffam is thought to be the inspiration for Paul Dombey, the owner of a shipping company in Dickens's novel Dombey and Son (1848). In January 1815, John Dickens was called back to London, and
16940-464: Was a gifted mimic and impersonated those around him: clients, lawyers and clerks. Captivated with London's theatre scene, he went to theatres obsessively: he claimed that for at least three years he went to the theatre every day. His favourite actor was Charles Mathews and Dickens learnt his " monopolylogues " (farces in which Mathews played every character) by heart. Then, having learned Gurney 's system of shorthand in his spare time, he left to become
17080-431: Was also an author and poet and knew many of the famous writers of the day. After further fraudulent activities, Powell fled to New York and published a book called The Living Authors of England with a chapter on Charles Dickens, who was not amused by what Powell had written. One item that seemed to have annoyed him was the assertion that he had based the character of Paul Dombey ( Dombey and Son ) on Thomas Chapman, one of
17220-566: Was constructed by the Vestry in 1895 to burn local rubbish and generate electricity. It also provided steam to heat the public baths. This replaced an earlier facility providing gas-light, located in Shoreditch . Gainsborough Studios were located in a former power station, in Poole Street, by the Regents Canal . Alfred Hitchcock , Michael Balcon , Ivor Novello and Gracie Fields all worked at
17360-410: Was established in 1983 and exists to make the area of Hoxton and Shoreditch a better place for everyone who lives or works there. The award-winning community garden is a private space for the benefit of everyone who lives and works in the area. It is maintained by our volunteers and community gardener and is not a council-run park. Property prices have continued to rise steeply since the early years of
17500-515: Was forced by his creditors into the Marshalsea debtors' prison in Southwark , London in 1824. His wife and youngest children joined him there, as was the practice at the time. Charles, then 12 years old, boarded with Elizabeth Roylance, a family friend, at 112 College Place, Camden Town. Mrs Roylance was "a reduced impoverished old lady, long known to our family", whom Dickens later immortalised, "with
17640-540: Was found in the early hours of 5 November. Most of the conspirators fled on the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot, but Francis Tresham was arrested a few days later at his house in Hoxton. A commemorative plaque is attached to modern flats at the site of Parker's house in Hoxton Street. By the end of the 17th century the nobility's estates began to be broken up. Many of these large houses came to be used as schools, hospitals or mad houses , with almshouses being built on
17780-405: Was given. On his death, Dickens settled an annuity on Ternan which made her financially independent. Claire Tomalin 's book The Invisible Woman argues that Ternan lived with Dickens secretly for the last 13 years of his life. The book was turned into a play, Little Nell , by Simon Gray , and a 2013 film . During the same period Dickens furthered his interest in the paranormal becoming one of
17920-404: Was identified as suitable premises. This was the former Pimlico tea gardens, an Elizabethan tavern and had a large hall attached, holding about 1,000 people. The Royal Britannia Saloon and Brittania Tavern was opened on Easter Monday 1841 by Sam Lane. The theatre was a success. Sadly, private life was more difficult, Mary became pregnant, and slipped and fell at a rehearsal, both she and
18060-506: Was mercenary to complain about his work being pirated. The popularity he gained caused a shift in his self-perception according to critic Kate Flint, who writes that he "found himself a cultural commodity, and its circulation had passed out his control", causing him to become interested in and delve into themes of public and personal personas in the next novels. She writes that he assumed a role of "influential commentator", publicly and in his fiction, evident in his next few books. His trip to
18200-420: Was not a mediocre character in the whole show. The flying ballet, concluding with a shower of gold, was really magnificent, as was the grand transformation scene. The pantomime does the greatest credit to the talents of the Britannia's popular stage manager, Mr. Bigwood, and is a distinct score for Mr. Crauford. The Lupinos were a theatrical family who often claimed that their scion arrived in England in 1620, as
18340-423: Was published between 1849 and 1850. In Dickens's biography, Life of Charles Dickens (1872), John Forster wrote of David Copperfield , "underneath the fiction lay something of the author's life". It was Dickens's personal favourite among his novels, as he wrote in the author's preface to the 1867 edition of the novel. His collection of letters included a correspondence with Mary Tyler, dated 6 November 1849, on
18480-480: Was read aloud at supper, before prominent Catholics, and then he delivered it personally to Robert Cecil at Whitehall . While the conspirators were alerted, by the public reading, to the existence of the letter they persevered with their plot as their gunpowder remained undiscovered. William Parker accompanied Thomas Howard , the Lord Chamberlain , at his visit to the undercroft of Parliament, where Guy Fawkes
18620-711: Was so great that he was unable to meet the deadline for the June instalment of The Pickwick Papers and had to cancel the Oliver Twist instalment that month as well. The time in Hampstead was the occasion for a growing bond between Dickens and John Forster to develop; Forster soon became his unofficial business manager and the first to read his work. His success as a novelist continued. The young Queen Victoria read both Oliver Twist and The Pickwick Papers , staying up until midnight to discuss them. Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39), The Old Curiosity Shop (1840–41) and, finally, his first historical novel, Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of
18760-600: Was the first Victorian novel with a child protagonist . On 2 April 1836, after a one-year engagement, and between episodes two and three of The Pickwick Papers , Dickens married Catherine Thomson Hogarth (1815–1879), the daughter of George Hogarth, editor of the Evening Chronicle . They were married in St Luke's Church , Chelsea , London. After a brief honeymoon in Chalk in Kent,
18900-402: Was the last house on the left-hand side of the way, at old Hungerford Stairs. It was a crazy, tumble-down old house, abutting of course on the river, and literally overrun with rats. Its wainscoted rooms, and its rotten floors and staircase, and the old grey rats swarming down in the cellars, and the sound of their squeaking and scuffling coming up the stairs at all times, and the dirt and decay of
19040-413: Was the stuff out of which came the London able to 'take it' forty years on. I used to have tears in my eyes just from the pleasure of being one in such a gathering. The man who was never one of an audience at the Britannia, Hoxton, has missed something in the life of London. The Britannia Theatre was the subject of a 1933 novel Sam and Sallie: A novel of the theatre by Alfred L. Crauford. The Craufords had
19180-606: Was this unhappy period in his youth to which he alluded in his favourite, and most autobiographical, novel , David Copperfield : "I had no advice, no counsel, no encouragement, no consolation, no assistance, no support, of any kind, from anyone, that I can call to mind, as I hope to go to heaven!" Dickens was eventually sent to the Wellington House Academy in Camden Town , where he remained until March 1827, having spent about two years there. He did not consider it to be
19320-552: Was to last the rest of his life. In 1858, when Dickens was 45 and Ternan 18, divorce would have been scandalous for someone of his fame. After publicly accusing Catherine of not loving their children and suffering from "a mental disorder"—statements that disgusted his contemporaries, including Elizabeth Barrett Browning —Dickens attempted to have Catherine institutionalised . When his scheme failed, they separated. Catherine left, never to see her husband again, taking with her one child. Her sister Georgina, who stayed at Gads Hill, raised
19460-463: Was valued at a quarter of a million pounds, a significant sum in 1889. Charles Dickens was a frequent visitor to the theatre, and noted in the Uncommercial Traveller (1861): Magnificently lighted by a firmament of sparkling chandeliers, the building was ventilated to perfection. [...] The air of this theatre was fresh, cool, and wholesome. [...] It has been constructed from the ground to
19600-524: Was well-known, was asked by his friend, the hospital's founder Charles West , to preside over the appeal, and he threw himself into the task, heart and soul. Dickens's public readings secured sufficient funds for an endowment to put the hospital on a sound financial footing; one reading on 9 February 1858 alone raised £3,000. After separating from Catherine, Dickens undertook a series of popular and remunerative reading tours which, together with his journalism, were to absorb most of his creative energies for
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